Think about it.....
a desktop chip with more room to be breath with the best eGPU you can get
vs.
a thin and light laptop with laptop chips and a bad thermal problem
HMMM I wonder which one will be better???
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15-Inch MacBook Pro AMD Radeon Pro Vega Graphics Options Now Available to Order
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Think about it.....
a desktop chip with more room to be breath with the best eGPU you can get
vs.
a thin and light laptop with laptop chips and a bad thermal problem
HMMM I wonder which one will be better???
Even 6 core mini, with Radeon Pro 580 eGPU will be faster than the Vega Pro GPU from MBP.
And NO PORTS. They will say you don't need them and the laptop now charges wireless and how courageous they are. I'm so glad that they have the new powerful graphics chips to drive my giant..... hey wait a minute. My giant TV doesn't use USB-C. Well now what do I do? Oh, I just have to spend how much more now that I just bought a $7k laptop if I want to actually use it comfortably. Yeah.... ok.
Wow! Apple just screwed people who shelled out as much as $7000 just a few months ago. These Vegas most likely have 3x the bandwidth. Probably around 240 GB/s vs. 81 GB/s. This is a HUGE difference. The decent thing to do would be to offer a logic board swap upgrade for anyone who bought a 4-7000 BTO. It’s really a huge slap in the face after promoting eGPUs. A better GPU was obviously expected but not until next year.
They also said nothing during the MBA event just over two weeks ago.
Now I will definitely be upgrading next year or as soon as a new design is launched before my notebook becomes worthless.
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Mini is using desktop CPUs. Even the best mobile HQ and H chips can’t compare to the desktop ones.
Still Vega is much stronger than the 555/560X.
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I would go to the store in person and ask to speak with the manager. Be polite and tell him/her that You just spent nearly 4000 quid a month ago and that Apple never announced nor hinted this was coming. Most likely they will say tough luck but it doesn’t hurt trying.
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There is a year between iPhones. Not the same story. Most never expected Apple to release any MBP changes until next year. It’s only been 4 months. It’s unacceptable that they didn’t mention anything about Vega coming. 3-7 grand is not chump change.
If this were HP or Dell it’s different because they refresh all the time. Apple does not. This was a silent upgrade added to BTOs. It’s just not right.
They also said nothing during the MBA event just over two weeks ago.
Now I will definitely be upgrading next year or as soon as a new design is launched before my notebook becomes worthless.
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Mini is using desktop CPUs. Even the best mobile HQ and H chips can’t compare to the desktop ones.
Still Vega is much stronger than the 555/560X.
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I would go to the store in person and ask to speak with the manager. Be polite and tell him/her that You just spent nearly 4000 quid a month ago and that Apple never announced nor hinted this was coming. Most likely they will say tough luck but it doesn’t hurt trying.
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Why should it be?
You payed and bought for the product at that time for the current price at that time. It is with everything like that. At one point you decide to buy or to wait. If you have to wait until the next revision or model you never have to buy anything
I also don’t understand why some Apple consumers say a 2600 dollar product is deprecated or obsolete when the next one comes out with only a few minor changes. It is not like the iPhoneX is total crap and stops working now the the XS is out...
There is a year between iPhones. Not the same story. Most never expected Apple to release any MBP changes until next year. It’s only been 4 months. It’s unacceptable that they didn’t mention anything about Vega coming. 3-7 grand is not chump change.
If this were HP or Dell it’s different because they refresh all the time. Apple does not. This was a silent upgrade added to BTOs. It’s just not right.
Wait, how were those customers screwed? They bought the best SKU that was available at the time.
See, this is what does not make sense to me. Some responders are angry about long gaps between hardware upgrades, and now there are those complaining about new hardware offerings?
Why?
MacBook Pros are NEVER worthless.
See, this is what does not make sense to me. Some responders are angry about long gaps between hardware upgrades, and now there are those complaining about new hardware offerings?
Why?
MacBook Pros are NEVER worthless.
We do not agree on much...well, anything, but I do agree that Apple ditching eGPU support on Thunderbolt 2 after having it in the High Sierra beta was as sour grapes as it can get. Given that you can find Certified Refurbished Six-Core 2013 Mac Pros on eBay for as low as $1799 (OBO), I gave serious thought to buying one. What I think would have pushed it over the edge for me would be official support for eGPUs under Thunderbolt 2. What better way to show support for your existing 2013 Mac Pro owners than to give them a way to extend the life of their systems a bit longer while waiting for the NEW Mac Pro. I imagine any number of users would take advantage of adding a Radeon Vega 56 or 64 to their setup to a bit of extra Final Cut Pro X oomph....those D300, D500 and D700s are a bit long in the tooth, to be charitable.
Restricting it to Thunderbolt 2 might have raised the ire of the Thunderbolt 1 crowd, I think...but from what I have read Thunderbolt 1 should not be impossible, just slower. But would it have mattered? The MacBook is using USB 3.1 to run a monitor, so what’s the harm, other than the extra work dealing with Thunderbolt 1/2, which seems to be work that was already done, but I digress.
This is the part of Apple that has slowly diminished over time, IMHO...a bit of investment in its users that has given way to a more impersonal Apple.
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It was in a press release during the Apple Event - https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/10/all-new-macbook-air-takes-flight/ - and was displayed on the detail page for the MacBook Pro the same day. It was was also widely reported on many of the Mac oriented site as well as some technology focused sites.
I tend to defend businesses. I’m not the sort of person who complains because things are expensive but not this time.
The problem here is that this is not a typical Apple refresh. When have they ever sneaked an upgrade like this between two releases? This is still the mid-2018 MBP, not the late-2018 MBP and definitely not the 2019 MBP.
It is hard to believe that Apple had no idea they would be getting their hands on these Vega 16 and Vega 20 GPUs. Considering that the people ordering a configuration with these higher-end chips are paying over 3 grand to 7 grand for a computer, either Apple should’ve held off releasing the 2018 15” until November or they should have announced that a stronger GPU option would be released later in the year.
Those who just bought one within the last 2 weeks can exchange it, but what about those who bought it 15 days ago? Just a month ago?
We all knew a new iPad Pro, pencil and MacBook Air were coming. If someone bought an older model that’s on them. No one expected new GPU options on the MBP this year. In fact no one expected any change on the MBp until at least March or June of 2019.
Guys, please stop saying this - you sound crazy. The Vega Mobile ABSOLUTELY existed in August. It didn't come into existence in September and all of a sudden end up in a MacBook Pro mid-cycle a few months later. OF COURSE it existed - it just wasn't ready and Apple had a product cycle to maintain.
Apple did the same EXACT SAME THING with the iPad 3.
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The one that will fit in my carry on luggage and be usable during my flight
That may as well have been fine print. I didn’t see anyone talking about this here on MR nor on any of the other tech sites. Everything was Mac mini, MBA and iPad Pro. I was looking a tech headlines just this afternoon when I was shocked.
Honestly I don’t have a horse in this race since I didn’t buy a 2018 and I wasn’t going to buy one. It pisses me off because if I had, not only would I not have this superior GPU which I would’ve chosen but my machine instantly takes a big hit if I were to sell it since now most people will only be willing to pay the max resale price for machine with Vega 20. Anything with a 560X will be worth much less, everything else being equal (32GB RAM and each storage tier 512/1/2/4).
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If Apple were to hold back it's products to make you feel better, that would really suck for everyone else. If the product was good enough for you 4 mi this ago that shouldn't change today, for those that wanted a better dGPU before jumping in, here's the chance. Hopefully this becomes a trend and they continue mid-cycle updates, including processor bumps.
Guys, please stop saying this - you sound crazy. The Vega Mobile ABSOLUTELY existed in August. It didn't come into existence in September and all of a sudden end up in a MacBook Pro mid-cycle a few months later. OF COURSE it existed - it just wasn't ready and Apple had a product cycle to maintain.
Apple did the same EXACT SAME THING with the iPad 3.
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The one that will fit in my carry on luggage and be usable during my flight
That was the iOS device with the shortest lifespan. I still feel bad for those who bought the “new iPad.” It wasn’t just a question of better GPU, it was a better SoC and lightning.
I still think Apple should’ve held off releasing the 15” MBPs until these were ready. The GPU has been the MBPs main weakness and most who choose the 15” do so for the dGPU.
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Processor bumps are not as big a deal. The CPUs are all fine. The GPUs were not. The 560X was not much better than the 2 year old 460! These are the GPUs that should’ve come with the 2018s from the beginning. If they weren’t ready, then Apple should’ve delayed the 15”. They didn’t refresh the 13” Escape and still haven’t. They took 4 years to release a new Mini and MBA so 4 more months wouldn’t have killed them. It would’ve been the same time span between the mid-2015 and the late-2016 MBP.
Apple had to have engineering samples to design, test, rework and then certify for production, but the Vega 16 and 20 have been under the radar for awhile. The worst kept secret in GPUs right now is the RX590, yet AMD has still not announced it.
If the engineering cut off for the July 2018 MacBook Pros was before the Vega 16 or 20 had even started getting viable production yields, it would never be in Apple’s interest to say anything, especially if AMD ended up not being able to fill their orders. AMD may have only reached decent yields in the last 45 days.
Given the absolute howling that Apple was shipping MacBook Pros with “ancient” CPUs because they didn’t announce 8th Gen updates at WWDC, imagine them preannouncing that they would be shipping them “sometime” in November with the Vega GPU option? The wailing around here would be deafening and I dare say, many would be saying, “Ship them now, we need Hex-cores, we don’t care about Vega.” Or “Why isn’t Vega ready now, I need 6-cores today, not in November!”
I don't have any experience with these LG monitors, but I have had a couple of bad experiences with LG products and LG support in recent years. I've been eyeing both one of these LG monitors and an LG OLED TV, but I've decided to steer clear of the monitor based on many horrible reviews, and I'm leery of the TV based on its suspect longevity and LG support should I ever need it.
I'm sure an Apple monitor will be great when it arrives, but I'm also sure it's going to be overpriced and way too nice for my needs (general business stuff, not graphics).
I've heard whispers that people have been able to return/exchange their expensive MBPs 60+ days after purchase due to the Vega announcement. Definitely worth a try. Also worth remembering that old adage about flies, honey, and vinegar...
It did not get as much coverage, but there was one MR article on it:
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/30/radeon-pro-vega-graphics-for-macbook-pro/
That depends what you consider worthless. Look at this. 15” 2017 with 2.8/560/1TB with 49 cycles. Sold for $1200. Cost $3300 and as much as $3600 with tax. That is pretty worthless to me after a year or less of ownership. Will be even worse for 2016s and 2017s after these new Vega machines hit eBay. Much of this has to do with Coffee Lake and that’s not Apple’s fault that it was the most significant upgrade since Sandy and Ivy Bridge over original Core.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2017-MacBo...sid=p2349624.m43663.l10137#vi__app-cvip-panel
In fact a 13” 2017 base MBP or Touch Bar fetches just a couple hundred less than a machine that was twice as expensive. This guy had debts to pay but buying this 15” MBP was a terrible financial decision for him.
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I wasn’t part of that crowd. It’s true that you can never please anyone. Still the fact remains that anyone who bought a high end i9/32GB BTO got screwed. Most of these guys are editors who are exactly the people who benefit the most from extra GPU performance.
Those with lots of cash will simply sell their months old MBP and order a new one but that’s obviously not an option for most people.
Anandtech, October 30th - https://www.anandtech.com/show/13532/amds-vega-mobile-lives-vega-pro-20-16-in-november
CNET, October 30th - https://www.cnet.com/news/macbook-pro-15-inch-gets-amd-radeon-pro-vega-options/
Tech Radar, October 30th - https://www.techradar.com/news/a-ma...h-amd-radeon-pro-vega-graphics-is-coming-soon
Ars Technica, October 30th - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...-with-amd-vega-graphics-starting-in-november/
Engadget, October 30th - https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/30/apple-macbook-pro-radeon-pro-vega-option/
The Verge, October 30th - https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/30/18042572/apple-amd-vega-graphics-options-macbook-pro
MacRumors, October 30th - https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/30/radeon-pro-vega-graphics-for-macbook-pro/
Have a great evening!
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Full disclosure, I purchased an iPad 3 64Gb Verizon in March of 2012, right after it was introduced. Cannot say I was happy, $#!7 happens, life goes on, I used it for 4 solid years.
I don’t know how I missed so many articles. That was the day of the Brooklyn event. I don’t recall it being mentioned during the event and I did come here to post my thoughts. Everything was MBA, iPad Pro w/pencil and Mac Mini. There must’ve been one post that didn’t get much attention. My bad.
I just feel bad for people who bought one a month or less ago. These aren’t cheap things. It’s expected of most other companies but Apple usually sticks to one refresh per year. I will now be more vigilant in the future so as to avoid buying at the wrong time.
In fact I will probably hold off upgrading until the next generation is released. Hopefully Intel will have its act together by 2020 and maybe AMD will have a competitive mobile GPU rivaling nVidia by then. Back in the ATI days they were extremely competitive with one taking the lead with every new release like Apple and Samsung with iPhone and Galaxy.
AMD has been behind nVidia for the better part of the decade now and Turing is light years ahead.
Will thermal throttle of the supposed to be more power GPU causes even lower performance in reality?
How can anyone really know until they are in user’s hands and they begin putting it through it’s paces. Apple had issues with the release of the July 2018 update and, as such, at least letting some YouTubers with early access putting the Vega 16/20 through its prices is warranted unless you just gotta have it now and can accept the consequences, if there are any.
The iPad 3 one I can understand a lot better. Apple must've known when shipping it that it was underpowered, and that they intended to announce a better one just seven ones later.
This GPU option is significantly different. It's not as though its presence indicates a flaw in the existing MBP options; it merely adds some more. It doesn't make those any less valuable either; if anything, I would've liked if they had dropped pricing on the other GPU options slightly. They did not.
Thus, it's really more as if they added, seven months after the iPad 3, a high-end storage option. Sure, you might feel like you'd rather have picked that had you known one was going to become available. But with the iPad 4, they immediately dropped its predecessor. That's quite different, IMHO.
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Keep in mind the revision was already overdue (in the sense that there were an unusually high 402 days between the 2017 and 2018 releases).
This is speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the MBPs shipped in July (which is very unusual timing for Apple) is that they had been waiting for a commitment on AMD's part regarding Vega Mobile, but then grew tired and decided to more or less quietly ship with what they have.
Then, a few months later, they got confirmation that Vega Mobile was still coming in the year, so they put up that information on the page in October.
Maybe they simply didn't know. Maybe they didn't trust AMD on it — Vega Mobile, I understand, has been delayed several times this year.
I mean, sure, I don't feel sorry for Apple. I just think this complaint is a little out of touch — I want Apple to make speedier revisions, especially given what happened with products like the Mac mini.
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Are you perhaps confusing Louis Rossman and Linus Sebastian?
Some of these comments are just goofy, no offense. Obviously something better is going to come out months later after you buy a laptop and the old one is going to depreciate in value. We knew Vega Mobile was coming to MBPs. Vega 12 device IDs have been in macOS drivers for quite a while. I think it’s great Apple released these now instead of waiting until next year’s refresh.
To be fair, it's gotten very rare in Apple's case for that to happen within less than a year (much less only four months).
Is it better than RTX 2080?
From what I understand it brings us boldiy in 2017 and roughly matches the GTX1050.