The anticipation for Apple’s upcoming iMac Pro 2017 has just gotten stronger after developers stumbled upon codes that appear to suggest the presence of the “Hey Siri” functionality in the Cupertino giant’s new computer.
Over the weekend, developers Guilherme Rambo and Steven Troughton-Smith revealed what they found after some digging into Apple’s “BridgeOS 2.0” code and macOS. According to them, Apple’s next iMac Pro will likely sport an A10 Fusion chip with 512 MB of RAM. What’s very interesting here is that the chip seems to have support for “Hey Siri” functionality.
“Looks like the iMac Pro’s ARM coprocessor is arm64. Seems to handle the macOS boot & security process, as expected; iMac Pro lets Apple experiment with tighter control without the rest of the userbase freaking out,” Troughton-Smith wrote on Twitter.
As per Apple Insider, this could mean that the ARM coprocessor controls the boot process, security and the FaceTime camera. Not only that, the publication said that the inclusion of the A10 Fusion means the iMac Pro is capable of accepting and processing the “Hey Siri” voice command sans the need of clicking the Siri icon or keystroke to activate the voice assistant.
“The ‘Hey Siri’ setup on macOS is identical to the one on iOS, but it’s implemented with regular AppKit, there’s no magical UIKit port or UXKit being used,” Rambo tweeted. He also noted that “‘Hey Siri’ on macOS depends on the presence of a BridgeOS device (A10 coprocessor).”
Based on the developer’s discovery, it appears the new iMac Pro will be capable of handling multiple accounts quite well. This may not mean that the “Hey Siri” functionality would be able to understand multiple users when one is logged into a specific user account. However, this suggests that users could easily switch between multiple accounts on a Mac and have the device recognize the “Hey Siri” setup for each user.
MacRumors also learned that the “Hey Siri” feature on the upcoming iMac Pro could potentially work even when the computer is turned off. The outlet says Troughton-Smith has theorized that the chip inside the computer might be capable of supporting an always-on “Hey Siri.”
Meanwhile, it was reported early this month that a new Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad could likely be launching alongside the new iMac Pro next month. The assumption came to be after it was found out that Apple was delaying the shipment of the peripheral in the U.S. and other markets. Apple’s online stores indicated that the peripheral won’t arrive until 4 to 5 weeks later, and this sparked rumors that there could be a modified version of the keyboard — one with a Touch Bar — for the iMac Pro 2017.
However, there are sources who brushed off the rumored Magic Keybboard with Touch Bar and pointed out that the delay in the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad’s shipment may have to do with Apple’s preparations for the demand for both the iMac Pro and the keyboard when the holiday season starts.
Apple introduced the new iMac Pro at Worldwide Developers Conference this past June. The device is now expected to launch in December, though Tim Cook’s company has not really announced a specific launch date thus far. The high-end desktop will retail starting at $4,999.
The new iMac Pro is now believed to come with “Hey Siri” functionality.