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Yeti89

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 27, 2011
83
5
Now that there is not a SuperDrive in the 13" MacBook pros does anyone ever think they will put discrete graphics in them? If not is it just a matter of room or some other reason?
 
They might have been really concerned about the battery life for the first go-round.

Also, frankly, it's a differentiation point that makes people spend $2000+ on a 15" instead.
 
Now that there is not a SuperDrive in the 13" MacBook pros does anyone ever think they will put discrete graphics in them? If not is it just a matter of room or some other reason?

Its for the purposes of upselling, if someone can buy the 13" with a discrete GPU, fewer will opt for the 15". There may be thermal limitations to some extent, but I've seen discrete GPUs in laptops with similar dimensions to the 13", so it could be done.
 
Like the poster said above me, its the way they sell.
Everyone would buy the 13in if it had similar benefit as the 15in.
They say buy the expensive one if you want better things.

Honestly, I support this and if you need the power just get the 15in.
 
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So how does this buying up idea work in relation to the MBA? Assuming that soon the retina displays make their way to the airs they become almost a better computer. Performance wise the maxed out air benchmarks not much under the maxed out 13" rMBP. But the kicker is the air is less expendsive, slimmer, and lighter weight. Don't get me wrong I know the components aren't equal but to the end user there isn't much of a difference.

Also, I have a 15" rMBP and my processor is almost never pushed to its limit. It seems like the programs just don't know how to use it. For example. In adobe illustrator I often vectoriz images. Some times it takes 20 seconds or so but the processor never jumps past a 15% use. It's like just one of the eight cores is being used. However, from a graphics stand point pushing all those pixels can be tough, a task that seems best suited to a discret card.

Am I missing something?
 
Maybe the next generation will have for the 13" rmbp 650M and for the 15" rmbp 675mx or 680mx and the problems will be solved for everyone needs
 
Prefer a 13" over the 15", but as long the rMBP has nog discretecard it is useless as the "high end 13"".
For the sake of humanity, Apple should put in a normal card. I dont mind if it is less powerful then the 650m. As long as it is better.

Then again...i would gladly pay 2000 for a 13" with a decent graphiccard.
 
Intel's iGPUs are majorly power efficient for the performance they get. Asus managed to fit a GT620 in a small MBA/rMBP chassis but it's hardly a performance upgrade to the iGPU. A more potent method is to attach an eGPU via the Thunderbolt port. See my sig of how to do that.

Still, I wouldn't recommend attaching an eGPU to the current gen of rMBPs. The upcoming Haswell iGPU will be faster. In addition, the next gen of Thunderbolt will also be 20Gbps rather than the 10Gbps we have currently. All good news for faster graphics.
 
Intel's iGPUs are majorly power efficient for the performance they get. Asus managed to fit a GT620 in a small MBA/rMBP chassis but it's hardly a performance upgrade to the iGPU. A more potent method is to attach an eGPU via the Thunderbolt port. See my sig of how to do that.

Still, I wouldn't recommend attaching an eGPU to the current gen of rMBPs. The upcoming Haswell iGPU will be faster. In addition, the next gen of Thunderbolt will also be 20Gbps rather than the 10Gbps we have currently. All good news for faster graphics.
And the current thunderbolt cables will still work for 20Gbps? Or a new cables will come out?
 
They used to do it with the 12" Powerbooks. They were almost the same spec at 15"

Tech wise if could be done, the question is will Apple do it. I would love to see at 13" with Discreet graphics and quad core, one can hope
 
And have that machine burn a hole in your pants/desk from all the heat? No thanks.

That happens when you use Aluminium as a heatsink ;)

Find me a cool running MBP with discreet graphics since they went aluminium.
 
That happens when you use Aluminium as a heatsink ;)

Find me a cool running MBP with discreet graphics since they went aluminium.

The rMBP 15". With its dual fan cooling system, it runs pretty cool even with a 650M and quad core.
 
The iMac now are cooler than ever.. so here is an aluminium machiene that does get any hot anymore
 
And the current thunderbolt cables will still work for 20Gbps? Or a new cables will come out?

Slightly OT..

We have no details at all about 20Gbps Thunderbolt. For sure it will have different Thunderbolt controllers. Will they need a new cable too? Not sure. Keeping in mind they are currently transmitting 10Gbps per channel (TX/RX) pair down copper. T20Gbps Thunderbolt will double that rate. I'd be guessing it will require either new active copper Thunderbolt cables with even tighter tolerances or they may even change to optic fibre transmission.
 
The sony SE series have 640M GPUs, so something of this level is perfectly possible within a 13" chassis
 
does anyone ever think they will put discrete graphics in them? If not is it just a matter of room or some other reason?

I'd say there's a number of reasons, space being the primary physical reason. I also think strategically, apple is not wanting this as it impact 15" MBP sales. One major factor between the two models is the discrete GPU.
 
You will see discrete graphics in the 13" as soon as you see a nongimped(tiny amount of VRAM in the last discrete GPU in the mini) discrete GPU in the Mac mini. Apple wants to make a cheaper machine a less viable option compared to a more expensive one. They traditionally do that with lower spec CPU and their bread&Butter move of vastly different GPU options.
 
So how does this buying up idea work in relation to the MBA? Assuming that soon the retina displays make their way to the airs they become almost a better computer. Performance wise the maxed out air benchmarks not much under the maxed out 13" rMBP. But the kicker is the air is less expendsive, slimmer, and lighter weight. Don't get me wrong I know the components aren't equal but to the end user there isn't much of a difference.

Also, I have a 15" rMBP and my processor is almost never pushed to its limit. It seems like the programs just don't know how to use it. For example. In adobe illustrator I often vectoriz images. Some times it takes 20 seconds or so but the processor never jumps past a 15% use. It's like just one of the eight cores is being used. However, from a graphics stand point pushing all those pixels can be tough, a task that seems best suited to a discret card.

Am I missing something?


As always depends on application :)

If you use it for audio recording and you fire 10 guitar plugins in Protools you can bet it will use CPU :)
 
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