What will a MacBook 2024 offer compared to the high-end maxed out laptops 2024?

[Appletoni]

What will a MacBook 2024 offer compared to the high-end maxed out notebooks 2024?
Take also a look at the high-end maxed out notebooks 2023.

 

[Fishrrman]

No one who actually knows will reply.
Those who reply almost certainly don't know.

 

[Spock]

No one who actually knows will reply.
Those who reply almost certainly don't know.

That is not true, I can tell you that they will be faster

 

[maerz001]

I guess MacOS

 

[Pakaku]

Could you be a bit more specific than just "the high-end maxed out notebooks 2024"?

 

[mectojic]

Will be the same as any other year. Apple doesn't bring to market half-baked technologies like other so-called "high-end maxed out notebooks". So don't expect a sudden 240hz display or "gaming turbo mode" or something.

 

[dmccloud]

What will a MacBook 2024 offer compared to the high-end maxed out notebooks 2024?
Take also a look at the high-end maxed out notebooks 2023.

You'll find out when Apple formally announces new MacBooks.

 

[Appletoni]

Could you be a bit more specific than just "the high-end maxed out notebooks 2024"?

-Instead of IPS displays, there will be mini-LED and especially OLED. Some 2023 notebooks already have it.
-Instead of Full HD, QHD, WQHD, there will finally be 4K with at least 120 Hz, rather 240 Hz. Some 2023 notebooks already have it.
-Instead of i9 13980HX, there will be an i9 14980HX.
-Instead of AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, there will be an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX3D.
-Instead of Nvidia RTX 4090 with 16 GB, there will be a Nvidia RTX 5090 with 32 GB and Nvidia RTX 6090 with 48 GB.
-2 to 4 RAM slots. Some 2023 notebooks already have it.
-Instead of a maximum of 64 GB RAM, there will be a maximum of 128 GB RAM (Some 2023 notebooks already have it.) and 256 GB RAM.
-2 to 4 SSD slots. Some 2023 notebooks already have it.
-Instead of a maximum of 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB SSD, there will be 8 TB SSD (Some 2023 notebooks already have it.) (4x 8 TB = 32 TB)
-Instead of 1000 cd/me, there will be 1500 to 2000 cd/me display brightness.
-18-inch (Some 2023 notebooks already have it.), 19-inch, 20-inch devices with narrower bezels and larger displays will become the new standard.
-There will not only be SO-DIMMs, but also the new CAMMs as the new standard.
-WLAN 7
-Bluetooth 6
-Thunderbolt 5
-Gigabit LAN (up to 10 Gbit/s)
-PCI Express 6.0
-Full-HD 1080p webcam. Some 2023 notebooks already have it.

Example:
Stockfish Chess Engine

Ipman Chess

Intel i9 13900 = approximately only 30.000.000 nodes per second.
AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX = about 50.000.000 nodes per second.
It's a pity that AMD doesn't achieve double the performance.
The AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D will be / is a killer.
Apple M1 MAX only 12.556.848 nodes per second.

 

[DaveEcc]

MBP users will have an OS that doesn't push ads in the start bar, file explorer, etc.
MBP users will have an OS that doesn't report all their activity back to the OS vendor.
MBP users will have a trackpad that isn't so sensitive and jumpy that they just plug in a mouse to avoid having to use it.
MBP users will have a battery that lasts more than 2-3 hours.
MBP users will have machines that run quiet and cool.
MBP users will have access to iMessage and Facetime.

None of this is new to 2024 however, but it's all far more valuable to me than any of the hardware spec bumps you mention. As you seem focused on hardware, well, we honestly have no idea what M3 and new MBPs will add.

Hopefully:
- The CPU remains competitively fast
- The GPU continues to close the gap somewhat with discrete GPUs, maybe adds RT.
- Typically max RAM is increased on each M chip, so we'll get a higher max RAM for those who need it.
- Relatedly, as the RAM is unified on AS, we have no need to for 32GB/48GB GPUs. If you need that much, for AI or whatever, you buy a system with more RAM.
- Hopefully the latest WiFi, Bluetooth, USB-C options. If there's a new SD variant, support for that.
- Support for any high-end HDMI features currently missing (if any).

Would be nice, but I doubt it:
- At least dual-monitor support on the low-end M3, so the Airs become an option to more users.
- Stop with the half-speed storage on low-end configurations.
- eGPU support for those who really really really want an nVidia GPU.
- Hopefully they've figured out how to mix SOC RAM and off-SOC RAM, allowing upgradeability, and higher RAM cap for those who need it. I'd fully expect any RAM upgradability to require a visit to an Apple Store to fit specialty RAM. The old iMac 27's user accessible RAM door is an anomaly I don't see Apple repeating (sadly).

I can't see 18, 19, and 20" laptops being normal. I find the 16" MBP heavy already. Perhaps it's needed to have >1hr battery when you have 128+48GB of RAM, an i9 14980, a 6090 GPU, a 240Hz 4K 2000 nit screen, etc. Apple typically makes machines useful for a majority, not a small niche that need the absolute high-end in laptop form.

 

[dmccloud]

CAMMs won't become the new standard for a while. I believe Dell is still the only company attempting to push that at this time.

 

[gpat]

What will a MacBook 2024 offer compared to the high-end maxed out notebooks 2024?
Take also a look at the high-end maxed out notebooks 2023.

Hardware-wise, best trackpad, best screen, best build quality, best performance per watt.
Software-wise, macOS will still be a love or hate affair regarding compatibility so if you loved/hated it in 2021 it will be the same (or slightly better) in 2024.

 

[Appletoni]

CAMMs won't become the new standard for a while. I believe Dell is still the only company attempting to push that at this time.

CAMMs are 57% thinner than SO-DIMMs.
So we can have for example 2x 96 GB RAM CAMM sticks instead of 2x 64 GB RAM SO-DIMM sticks.
or more space for other stuff or slightly improve the airflow or cooling.

Or course we can still buy a notebook with 3-4 RAM slots.
4x 64 GB = 256 GB RAM SO-DIMM
4x 96 GB = 384 GB RAM CAMM

Apple MacBook has only 96 GB RAM.
Apple Mac Studio has only 192 GB RAM.

 

[Appletoni]

MBP users will have an OS that doesn't push ads in the start bar, file explorer, etc.
MBP users will have an OS that doesn't report all their activity back to the OS vendor.
MBP users will have a trackpad that isn't so sensitive and jumpy that they just plug in a mouse to avoid having to use it.
MBP users will have a battery that lasts more than 2-3 hours.
MBP users will have machines that run quiet and cool.
MBP users will have access to iMessage and Facetime.

None of this is new to 2024 however, but it's all far more valuable to me than any of the hardware spec bumps you mention. As you seem focused on hardware, well, we honestly have no idea what M3 and new MBPs will add.

Hopefully:
- The CPU remains competitively fast
- The GPU continues to close the gap somewhat with discrete GPUs, maybe adds RT.
- Typically max RAM is increased on each M chip, so we'll get a higher max RAM for those who need it.
- Relatedly, as the RAM is unified on AS, we have no need to for 32GB/48GB GPUs. If you need that much, for AI or whatever, you buy a system with more RAM.
- Hopefully the latest WiFi, Bluetooth, USB-C options. If there's a new SD variant, support for that.
- Support for any high-end HDMI features currently missing (if any).

Would be nice, but I doubt it:
- At least dual-monitor support on the low-end M3, so the Airs become an option to more users.
- Stop with the half-speed storage on low-end configurations.
- eGPU support for those who really really really want an nVidia GPU.
- Hopefully they've figured out how to mix SOC RAM and off-SOC RAM, allowing upgradeability, and higher RAM cap for those who need it. I'd fully expect any RAM upgradability to require a visit to an Apple Store to fit specialty RAM. The old iMac 27's user accessible RAM door is an anomaly I don't see Apple repeating (sadly).

I can't see 18, 19, and 20" laptops being normal. I find the 16" MBP heavy already. Perhaps it's needed to have >1hr battery when you have 128+48GB of RAM, an i9 14980, a 6090 GPU, a 240Hz 4K 2000 nit screen, etc. Apple typically makes machines useful for a majority, not a small niche that need the absolute high-end in laptop form.

About the 6 MBP.
-High-End maxed out laptops doesn't have most of these problems.
-And for Example if I run the Stockfish chess engine, CPU only, the 16-inch Macbook becomes hot and loud and the battery lasts 1 hours.
-And if I run the LC0 chess engine, GPU only, it becomes even hotter and louder. So same problems here.

Hopefully:
- The CPU will offer much more stuff and GPU will offer RT and much more stuff too and both will double the speed.
- The RAM will be at least as twice as big and fast.
- Newest and fastest SD card slot support.
- Support of newest high-end HDMI and DVI

-Rosetta 3!!!

-18-inch is nothing, that's tiny.
I you find the 16" MBP heavy, then you will find a plate with food and without food heavy too.

 

[Burnincoco]

Holograms and a food replicator

 

[Wandersonsc]

I guess we are gonna have to wait and see! You know, 2024 is just around the corner.
Would be nice to have some OLED panels, I daily drive a 42" OLED TV on my 16" M2 and DUDE its awesome!

 

[Anappleaday29]

That is not true, I can tell you that they will be faster

I second this statement

 

[Appletoni]

MacBook 16-inch M3 MAX with ARMv9 or 9.2 or only old ARMv8?

 

[Appletoni]

M4 MAX
NEWS:

MacBook Pro 16- and 18-inch M4 MAX 😁😁😁
CPU: 24 cores (20 + 4) vs Intel (32) vs AMD (32) 👍
GPU: 50 cores
Neural Engine: 32 cores 👍
LPDDR6 - 17000 MT/s RAM👍: up to 256 GB RAM 👍
SSD: 16 TB 👍

ARMv9.5 👍
Multithreading (Hyperthreading Intel) (Simultaneous Multithreading AMD) 👍
Rosetta 3 👍

pext
vnni512
vnni256
avx512
avxvnni
avx2
sse41
ssse3
sse2
sse
mmx

CPU and GPU overclocking: Yes 👍
800GB/s memory bandwidth 👍
ECC RAM: Yes 👍
Memory channels 8 (Octa Channel) 👍
2.5x faster Raytracing
24 hours battery
supports up to 8 external displays
Two video decode engines
Four video encode engines
Four ProRes encode and decode engines
Better Video, HDR 10+, ...
Better Audio, MP4, ...
Better Speaker
18-inch 👍
2K Camera
Headphone jack
Gigabit LAN (up to 40 Gbit/s)
PCI Express 6.0 👍
1xHDMI 2.1
1xDisplayPort 2.1
1xSD Express 8.0
1x40Gb Ethernet port
3xThunderbolt 5
2xUSB-A
1xUSB-B
1xUSB mini
1xUSB micro
1xUSB micro B
Wifi 7
Bluetooth 6
5G+
Face ID
Touch ID
OLED 👍
3000 nits brightness 👍
refresh rates up to 480Hz @ 4K
8K @ 120Hz 👍
Keyboard with additional separate F1 to F12 keys and additional Touch Bar 👍
Better MacBook Pro case
Best high-end thermal compound
Best heatsinks
Improved fan noise
AirJets 👍👍👍
Improve airflow inside the case
240W USB-C to MagSafe Charge Cable (3 m)
Operating temperature: 32° to 113° F (0° to 45° C)
Operating altitude: 13,000 feet (4000 meters)
Tjunction max 248° F / 120° C 👍
Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
Codec AV1 Decode / Encode
Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Codec VC-1 Decode / Encode
L1 Cache: 8 MB 👍
L2 Cache: 72 MB 👍
L3 Cache: 256 MB 👍
DirectX Version 13 👍
...

 

[hovscorpion12]

I don’t know about the chip, but it’s almost certainly that the M4 Max ships with 192GB of RAM.

 

[danwells]

We're all guessing about the Late 2024 (or even potentially Early 2025) M4 Max MBP, but I'd be surprised by another RAM jump, for two reasons.. First, exactly a year ago, you couldn't get a Mac laptop with more than 64 GB of RAM - we've come very far, very fast in maximum RAM capacity. Second, this is the first time in my memory that a Mac laptop has been available with exactly the same RAM capacity as the most capacious PC-based mobile workstations (by the time you could get 64 GB on a Mac, some of the PC workstations used 4 memory slots and could reach 128 GB). The chances that Apple actually pulls ahead are pretty small, in my opinion.

Apple DOES have a huge architectural advantage if they wanted to add more RAM - even the 4 slot PCs are dual channel, while the full-throttle M3 Max has 8 memory channels. They could theoretically get 256 GB (easily) and probably even 512 GB without running into timing problems from having too many chips per channel. The problem would be physically fitting the memory chips close enough to the CPU for the very tightly coupled unified memory architecture to work - there are some restrictions on trace length...

 

[TheRealAlex]

2024 M4 Max and M4 Pro

#1. new 3nm+ die Same Cores as the M3 but a Speed Bump is my guess
#2. Face ID camera because the iPad Pro has had it for years and on MacBook Pro Apple Is like F-them
#3. Unified LPDDR6 RAM is the new default RAM making things even Faster it’s Shared with the GPU for Faster Ray Tracing
#4. Thunderbolt 5 120Gbps Vs. just 40Gbps now Thunderbolt 4 is slow and outdated
#5. WiFi 7 is a Must for VR transmission and beyond.
#6. New 2nd Gen Ray Tracing Cores

This is pretty conservative List of Features. Heck I may trade in because I don’t want a 1st Gen OLED Display and the Extra Cost it will have.

 

[Appletoni]

I don’t know about the chip, but it’s almost certainly that the M4 Max ships with 192GB of RAM.

-I see it simple: We have a guarantee that Apple will increase RAM by at least 32 GB (M1 MAX 64 GB RAM, M2 MAX 96 GB RAM, M3 MAX 128 GB RAM, M4 MAX at least 160 GB RAM.
-But the Intel i9 13980HX can already use 192 GB RAM, so if Apple don't want to run behind Intel and be on the same level, they need to come up with 192 GB RAM as you mentioned before.
-But then Apple will be still 1 year behind Intel at 192 GB RAM.
-So I expect that Apple will increase RAM even more to at least 224 GB RAM for the next year.
-Intels 14980HX will probably increase RAM usage from 192 to 224 GB RAM.
-Don't forget that also AMD will increase RAM usage a lot.
=Due to this reasons it could be much easier for Apple to just double the RAM from 128 to 256 GB RAM and have a tiny advantage.

 

[Appletoni]

We're all guessing about the Late 2024 (or even potentially Early 2025) M4 Max MBP, but I'd be surprised by another RAM jump, for two reasons.. First, exactly a year ago, you couldn't get a Mac laptop with more than 64 GB of RAM - we've come very far, very fast in maximum RAM capacity. Second, this is the first time in my memory that a Mac laptop has been available with exactly the same RAM capacity as the most capacious PC-based mobile workstations (by the time you could get 64 GB on a Mac, some of the PC workstations used 4 memory slots and could reach 128 GB). The chances that Apple actually pulls ahead are pretty small, in my opinion.

Apple DOES have a huge architectural advantage if they wanted to add more RAM - even the 4 slot PCs are dual channel, while the full-throttle M3 Max has 8 memory channels. They could theoretically get 256 GB (easily) and probably even 512 GB without running into timing problems from having too many chips per channel. The problem would be physically fitting the memory chips close enough to the CPU for the very tightly coupled unified memory architecture to work - there are some restrictions on trace length...

CAMMs are 57% thinner than SO-DIMMs.
So we can have for example 2x 96 GB RAM CAMM sticks instead of 2x 64 GB RAM SO-DIMM sticks.
How many RAM slots will we see inside the M4 MAX MacBook?

Or course we can still buy a special work notebook or gaming laptops with 3-4 RAM slots since a long time.
4x 64 GB = 256 GB RAM SO-DIMM
4x 96 GB = 384 GB RAM CAMM
They could also increase RAM slots from 4 to 8.

Can Apple increase memory channels from 8 to 16?
This could help: https://www.gizmochina.com/2022/04/10/512gb-a-single-ram-stick-samsung/

Now I expect to see: 1-2 TB RAM inside the MacBook M4 MAX

 

[Appletoni]

2024 M4 Max and M4 Pro

#1. new 3nm+ die Same Cores as the M3 but a Speed Bump is my guess
#2. Face ID camera because the iPad Pro has had it for years and on MacBook Pro Apple Is like F-them
#3. Unified LPDDR6 RAM is the new default RAM making things even Faster it’s Shared with the GPU for Faster Ray Tracing
#4. Thunderbolt 5 120Gbps Vs. just 40Gbps now Thunderbolt 4 is slow and outdated
#5. WiFi 7 is a Must for VR transmission and beyond.
#6. New 2nd Gen Ray Tracing Cores

This is pretty conservative List of Features. Heck I may trade in because I don’t want a 1st Gen OLED Display and the Extra Cost it will have.

1. CPU: M1 MAX 10 cores, M2 MAX 12 cores, M3 Max 16 cores = +2, +4, +2, +4, +2, +4...
= M4 MAX will have at least 18 cores and the M5 MAX at least 22 cores.
But Apple could also go +2 +4 +6 +8 +10, see also GPU cores.
But M1 to M3 was only for starters and of course Apple wasn't going all-in maxed out.
And I don't think that Apple wants to run behind Intel and AMD, because both already have a lot of cores and are going to increase it, so I expect this: Apple CPU: 24 cores (20 + 4) vs Intel (32) vs AMD (32)
Another possibility is that Apple will release: +2 or +X cores + Multithreading to compete with (Hyperthreading Intel) (Simultaneous Multithreading AMD).

2-6. We will have it for sure.

The new OLED display will be much better than only amazing, because it's a Apple MacBook OLED display

 

[hovscorpion12]

-I see it simple: We have a guarantee that Apple will increase RAM by at least 32 GB (M1 MAX 64 GB RAM, M2 MAX 96 GB RAM, M3 MAX 128 GB RAM, M4 MAX at least 160 GB RAM.
-But the Intel i9 13980HX can already use 192 GB RAM, so if Apple don't want to run behind Intel and be on the same level, they need to come up with 192 GB RAM as you mentioned before.
-But then Apple will be still 1 year behind Intel at 192 GB RAM.
-So I expect that Apple will increase RAM even more to at least 224 GB RAM for the next year.
-Intels 14980HX will probably increase RAM usage from 192 to 224 GB RAM.
-Don't forget that also AMD will increase RAM usage a lot.
=Due to this reasons it could be much easier for Apple to just double the RAM from 128 to 256 GB RAM and have a tiny advantage.

Here's the funny thing that most users don't realize. Apple has the M3 Max with 48GB of RAM. if i suspect that Apple uses a 4 slot RAM, 48x4=192.