It will use less power because of Optimus and the fact it does not have to push a Retina screen. The weight is signifigantly less than the 15" rMBP as well.
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13" MBP refresh with dGPU. - It's time Apple
- Thread starter Maven1975
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It will use less power because of Optimus and the fact it does not have to push a Retina screen. The weight is signifigantly less than the 15" rMBP as well.
Forget the GPU, I just want quad core in the 13.
I think from an engineering perspective it would be easier as well, not to mention more palatable from a battery life standpoint.
I belong to the camp that (probably echoing apple's sentiments) feels that if a guy wants a dGPU in his laptop, he would also probably want a larger screen and be willing to make some tradeoffs in size and weight to have them (in most cases)
Likewise, I think a 13 inch form factor has to prioritise general productivity and battery life since it's like to be used as a portable more frequently. dGPUs will get in the way of these objectives at increased cost and heat
I think from an engineering perspective it would be easier as well, not to mention more palatable from a battery life standpoint.
I belong to the camp that (probably echoing apple's sentiments) feels that if a guy wants a dGPU in his laptop, he would also probably want a larger screen and be willing to make some tradeoffs in size and weight to have them (in most cases)
Likewise, I think a 13 inch form factor has to prioritise general productivity and battery life since it's like to be used as a portable more frequently. dGPUs will get in the way of these objectives at increased cost and heat
For you, the dGPU would be the main difference between the Pro and the Air. For others, they could be:
- 16GB memory instead of 8GB max
- 768GB storage instead of 512GB max
- MUCH faster CPU (50% clock speed and, in some configs, a quad core)
- Just a nice screen, for me, is a decisive argument because it offers me resolution independence: I can scale it up for working at ease or down for getting into the nitty gritty, without any jaggies.
- Many more ways to expand: 2 TB ports and an HDMI
You can slam each and every one of these differences between Air and ProRetina, but that would just confirm that you have your preferences. And those don't necessarily correspond to the preferences of others. For me, I have as much use for a dGPU as I have for a floppy drive. It's cool for a while but it doesn't add anything (or even gets in the way) for what I need the machine for.
Peter.
Optimus is just automatic graphics switching, right? The MBPs have that, they just don't call it Optimus.
its from clevo/sager not msi
its going to receive a HD4600, and I think its a 4702MQ
yes its on the same level as the 670mx a bit faster than it actually
the difference in weight is 4.46lbs to 4.135lbs, its a difference, and I will take it
The CPUs wil be the same for both companies I dont know what you are talking about, they will be both quads
and I agree, there are 2 important things missing here, thunderbolt (for docking purposes) and IGZO display, that would make it a killer, if you can 16gb of ram to that equation go ahead and do it.
I wonder how this little beast is going to look on broadwell, DDR4, possible 16gb now, with a maxwell or amd 9000m series, new arch on gpus with an intended high performance bump
This always cracks me up. The devout will claim it can't be done due to thermal constraints, when clearly other manufacturers have been able to figure it out.
The mini is the perfect example. It had a crippled(purposely low VRAM) discrete GPU up to the second Apple felt comfortable that an integrated solution would be just OK. Again, the devout will point you at thermal constraints, but Apple is also the one to shrink stuff, that doesn't need shrinking, just so they can say something is smaller. It does not make sense to cripple a desktop to save an inch of thickness.
The devout will ignore the obvious, that Apple simply wants it this way to FORCE folks to spend more to move up the product ladder get the options that used to be available in the past.
The mini is the perfect example. It had a crippled(purposely low VRAM) discrete GPU up to the second Apple felt comfortable that an integrated solution would be just OK. Again, the devout will point you at thermal constraints, but Apple is also the one to shrink stuff, that doesn't need shrinking, just so they can say something is smaller. It does not make sense to cripple a desktop to save an inch of thickness.
The devout will ignore the obvious, that Apple simply wants it this way to FORCE folks to spend more to move up the product ladder get the options that used to be available in the past.
The Blade will sound like a leaf blower after an hour. 
I'll never understand the uber "portable" gamers.
I'll never understand the uber "portable" gamers.
How would you know if they are similar? Apple doesn't disclose their margins by product. Unless, you're looking at some iFixit component value numbers, which should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Blade will sound like a leaf blower after an hour.
I'll never understand the uber "portable" gamers.
you dont have to, just accept that some people value a lot portability and dont have desktops anymore
and from the initial runs of videos and comments its actually quite different from a leaf blower
That's irrelevant to the feasibility of a smaller rMBP with dGPU from an engineering perspective.
Unless your point was that the 15" rMBP should lose its Retina display and large battery in order to be 1" smaller, which I would disagree with.
Because it's a mature/optimized product line. Many of the chips on the logic board are the same. If anything, Apple makes more on the 15" non-Retina than 13" non-Retina.
Huh? Now you're contradicting yourself. Before you said that the profit margins between the 15" and the 13" are similar, and now you're saying that Apple makes more on the 15" than the 13".
That's what Mackan was originally saying ... Apple differentiates its products and would rather you buy the 15" than the 13" because it makes more money on the 15"
That was not his whole point. There was second half that is very important for context.
Yeah it HAS a dedicated graphics chip BUT, as far as I know it's a GT735M. In terms of performance that thing is probably on par with the lower integrated solutions, but can't match Iris or Iris Pro
it should be on the same lvl as the 640m, which in turn is around what the iris pro provides
The bit that I quoted said that without a dGPU, an rMBP would just be a heavier MBA. I corrected that by listing all the other differences between an Air and an rMBP.
Peter.
Apple need to do something about the CPU difference. Last revision showed little gain per dollar over the Air.
Again, I want to continue to purchase Apple products. It's just that the 13" line has been their bastard child for far too long. For a company pushing thin and light while bragging about their technical feats, they have completely dropped the ball.
13" laptops are most popular platform.
Again, I want to continue to purchase Apple products. It's just that the 13" line has been their bastard child for far too long. For a company pushing thin and light while bragging about their technical feats, they have completely dropped the ball.
13" laptops are most popular platform.
The rMBP has very few ports as well. Face it the Razer doesn't look bad stat wise. It just pushes more unto to apple to step up the game, Apple have always cared more about profits then building us what we want. It has a very special gift giving everyone just enough to keep them buying. I commend Apple for being able to do that. But they really need some competition in the high end PC area. The rMBP was the first step in the right direction. Wether they keep moving that way we will have to wait and see.
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Well the competition is there (Asus Zenbook, Samsung Series 7 newest gen and 9) but they simply cannot compete on brand value. Every idiot with no clue knows about Macs. Macs are featured everywhere they get practically free adds in mainstream TV that usually even outside of any tech centric programs. The only people that even know that Zenbooks or the Samsung exist are tech freaks who frequent review sites or a couple of people who stumble on them.
OSX is something fanboys love but the mainstream normal people don't really care. Yet they know Apple and Macs but they don't know anything about the competition which is just drowned out by the sheer number of stuff out there with a lot of it rather cheap. If a local store doesn't feature those next to each other there isn't any serious competition in practice.
Sony Vaio used to have a brand that should have competed but Sony got too much problems apparently to manage. They have been reiterating the same stuff for years without any real change.
Dell is too budget oriented and tries to skimp on features to often.
Lenovo Thinkpad is just a completely different clientele.
To fix the port issues Apple should have many use of their "oh so great" Thunderbolt and offer a decent not too overpriced hub in a small compact format. The only thing they have is a expensive display and third parties cannot produce enough volume to really offer any sort of reasonable prices. Apple could offer that so much cheaper because they can reach more customers and actually lend some value to Thunderbolt but well they want you to lay out as much as a second notebook for that huge glossy display.
OSX is something fanboys love but the mainstream normal people don't really care. Yet they know Apple and Macs but they don't know anything about the competition which is just drowned out by the sheer number of stuff out there with a lot of it rather cheap. If a local store doesn't feature those next to each other there isn't any serious competition in practice.
Sony Vaio used to have a brand that should have competed but Sony got too much problems apparently to manage. They have been reiterating the same stuff for years without any real change.
Dell is too budget oriented and tries to skimp on features to often.
Lenovo Thinkpad is just a completely different clientele.
To fix the port issues Apple should have many use of their "oh so great" Thunderbolt and offer a decent not too overpriced hub in a small compact format. The only thing they have is a expensive display and third parties cannot produce enough volume to really offer any sort of reasonable prices. Apple could offer that so much cheaper because they can reach more customers and actually lend some value to Thunderbolt but well they want you to lay out as much as a second notebook for that huge glossy display.
I never claimed in any way that it doesn't have good specs. I just think their design, internal and external were very derivative of Apple. And there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, the rMBP has more variety of ports than the Razer Blade. It has 2 Thunderbolt ports and an SD card slot. The SD card slot is kind of negligible but a single Thunderbolt (much less 2) is not negligible. But for gamers, Thunderbolt is not of much use.