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2012 Macbook Pro Redesign

Stetrain said:
Not really, Apple would just have to buy a GPU chip from NVidia or AMD, put in on a board with a Thunderbolt controller (Which they should be more than capable of doing, see the Thunderbolt Display), put it in an enclosure and help create the appropriate drivers.

NVidia and AMD wouldn't have to do the Thunderbolt integration at all since Thunderbolt is basically just external PCI Express.
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Somehow I don't see this happening. Apple has no interest in getting into dealing with graphic cards and making external thunderbolt ones. Also, I'm sure NVIDIA and AMD would be more involved then just handing Apple a desktop or mobile gfx and letting them build it into an external model...I am sure there would be more involved. I think we are quite aways away from reasonably priced external gfx cards that can match the performance and power of current cards.
 
Xcallibur said:
Have you completely forgot the purpose of a portable computer? If I am buying a laptop, I don't want to carry around peripherals to enhance its lack in performance, especially when the computer costs as much as it does! Your idea certainly doesn't please me.
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Trust me dude, I have been this this exact spot for probably 3 years in a row, maybe even 4, waiting on a decent GPU offering in the new Pros, and what has happened?

Each time the upgrade has been getting smaller and smaller, now we may even be looking at integrated GPUs across the board with the exception of 17".

I have completely given up on expecting the Pro in MacBook Pro to apply to the graphics chip, so I would rather cut my losses, take the slimmer form factor of an iGPU only, and plug in a box for when I do my gaming. If the iGPU isn't half bad then some modest gaming can be done on the go, but I want the ability to step it up and enjoy modern games for once and it seems like the tech is here with Thunderbolt.

How much is this GUS II thing likely to cost? Are we talking $500+ here? Or just $100 and bring your own GPU?
 
Xcallibur said:
Have you completely forgot the purpose of a portable computer? If I am buying a laptop, I don't want to carry around peripherals to enhance its lack in performance, especially when the computer costs as much as it does! Your idea certainly doesn't please me.
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For me, an external GPU would make perfect sense. The only reason for a GPU is to be able to drive multiple large screens, which I won't be carrying around anyway. As a matter of fact, why don't they build a screen with the GPU built in ? That would be just perfect: shedding even more unnecessary stuff to a fixed peripheral somewhere. I like it so much I think I should patent that idea right now, actually.

Of course, some people prefer using their computers as game consoles. There are portable game consoles and there are AlienWare laptops for that. And huge, huge power bricks that come with them. I can also "want" a 17" retina display, a built-in photo quality ink jet printer and a touch screen with charge-once-a-year battery in a 1 kg package that fits in my pocket. That doesn't make it happen. Most of that wanting has only one effect: making the wanter unhappy.


Peter.
 
Which comes first....

This thread hits 150 pages, or we get a new MBP? I am anxiously awaiting, and I'm not getting one until August no matter when it comes out.
 
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5352/msis-gus-ii-external-gpu-via-thunderbolt

In addition to 7-series motherboards, MSI had its GUS II external GPU solution on display. The external chassis features a Thunderbolt interface and an internal PCIe slot. Despite running on a MacBook Pro there is currently no OS X support for the solution, but it does work under Windows. Presumably if there's OS X support for the GPU inside the enclosure it would work under OS X as well.

The only limitation to the GUS II is the internal GPU has to be powered by PCIe alone (there are no aux PCIe power connectors inside the chassis).

MSI gave us no timeframe for release or estimate on price, but the idea alone is super exciting. I expect to see more of this type of thing as Thunderbolt equipped Ivy Bridge notebooks show up this year.
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DSC_0045_575px.JPG
 
jmgaul said:
This thread hits 150 pages, or we get a new MBP? I am anxiously awaiting, and I'm not getting one until August no matter when it comes out.
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Not sure about the 150 pages, but definitely one million views before the new MBP.
 
PeterJP said:
The only reason for a GPU is to be able to drive multiple large screens, which I won't be carrying around anyway.
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For games?
Of course, some people prefer using their computers as game consoles. There are portable game consoles and there are AlienWare laptops for that.
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My bad, your post marginalizes that motivation as well.

How about applications that require a GPU for decent operation? What about the fact that Apple has been steadily adding features to OS X to allow offloading processing to one's GPU? What about things like OpenCL or CUDA?

Don't marginalize users that need discrete graphics.
 
PeterJP said:
For me, an external GPU would make perfect sense. The only reason for a GPU is to be able to drive multiple large screens, which I won't be carrying around anyway. As a matter of fact, why don't they build a screen with the GPU built in ? That would be just perfect: shedding even more unnecessary stuff to a fixed peripheral somewhere. I like it so much I think I should patent that idea right now, actually.

Of course, some people prefer using their computers as game consoles. There are portable game consoles and there are AlienWare laptops for that. And huge, huge power bricks that come with them. I can also "want" a 17" retina display, a built-in photo quality ink jet printer and a touch screen with charge-once-a-year battery in a 1 kg package that fits in my pocket. That doesn't make it happen. Most of that wanting has only one effect: making the wanter unhappy.


Peter.
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You seem to be grossly misinformed that GPU = games.
 
Grizzly..

Hey, did you guys here about Grizzly? Yeah it should be in Beta by next February or so...
 
If they really do go Retina in the new Pros, they had better have a seriously decent GPU in there otherwise you can pretty much rule out all 3D work/modern gaming at native res.
 
Just my take on everything:

Tim Cook gave a teaser at the end of the iPad 3 event to expect great innovations like this throughout 2012.
Perhaps this means that at WWDC, they will be announcing a "retina transition" so developers can get started on prepping their apps for retina displays. The MacBook Pros and iMacs will likely be the first ones to be updated with them, and I believe around this time the dual-core Ivy Bridge processors will be ready for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, if they decide not to use the 35 TDP quad-core.

The Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors have been confirmed by Intel to be retina-capable, should OEMs ship such products. The Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Ivy Bridge were designed to handle retina resolutions. As the iPad 3 needed an even larger battery to power the retina display, maybe the death of the SuperDrive will allow Apple to produce a larger battery to handle retina resolutions whilst being able to keep the same battery life. The space where the HDD/SSD sits right now could be relocated to where the SuperDrive used to sit, allowing the battery to expand longer.

I also think that Mountain Lion won't be shipped until later the summer as Apple had said, which would explain the new Hi-DPI resolution icons that came in the 10.7.4 update, which could explain why the update size was so big.

The MacBook Airs would then likely be refreshed on the day Mountain Lion is released on the App Store, just like it was for Lion. It's the only Mac product besides the Mini left that has been updated significantly in less than a year.
 
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Acidsplat said:
Perhaps this means that at WWDC, they will be announcing a "retina transition" so developers can get started on prepping their apps for retina displays. The MacBook Pros and iMacs will likely be the first ones to be updated with them, and I believe around this time the dual-core Ivy Bridge processors will be ready for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, if they decide not to use the 35 TDP quad-core.
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Apple may announce a "retina transition" during the WWDC. Apple has announced many features for the OS X Mountain Lion - and some of which are not a big deal. However, Apple has not yet said a word about retina support on Mountain Lion, even though it has become clear to everybody that this feature is being implemented in OS X. Microsoft announced retina support in Windows 8, but no word from Apple. Nothing. What it seems to me is that retina displays are definitely coming to the Macs very soon, before PCs get it, and Apple will certainly make a big splash out of it.

The MacBook Pro may be the first to get the update. I don't believe the iMac will be updated this year to support retina displays because, as of 2012, no video card has support for resolutions of up to 5120x2880 (which would be retina 27"). Probably next year, though.
 
Tom2893 said:
Quick question - Can I stream the WWDC live from a website or do I have to watch it after on YouTube or something
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They did streaming for a few events, but for some reason stopped doing it a while ago.

EDIT: Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were talking about video streaming. Many tech sites do live blogs as the event happens.
 
Frankied22 said:
Somehow I don't see this happening. Apple has no interest in getting into dealing with graphic cards and making external thunderbolt ones. Also, I'm sure NVIDIA and AMD would be more involved then just handing Apple a desktop or mobile gfx and letting them build it into an external model...I am sure there would be more involved. I think we are quite aways away from reasonably priced external gfx cards that can match the performance and power of current cards.
Click to expand...

How would it be any different than what Apple does with their computers now? They take a GPU chip from NVidia or AMD and integrate and engineer it into their logic board design.

Putting a GPU chip on the PCI-E bus of the internal logic board and putting it on the PCI-E bus of a board with a Thunderbolt interface on it aren't really that different.

They already do almost the exact same thing with all of the various chips and controllers in the Thunderbolt display. It has controllers on the board for Ethernet, Firewire, USB, and driving the display:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4832/the-apple-thunderbolt-display-review/11
 
Stetrain said:
How would it be any different than what Apple does with their computers now? They take a GPU chip from NVidia or AMD and integrate and engineer it into their logic board design.

Putting a GPU chip on the PCI-E bus of the internal logic board and putting it on the PCI-E bus of a board with a Thunderbolt interface on it aren't really that different.

They already do almost the exact same thing with all of the various chips and controllers in the Thunderbolt display. It has controllers on the board for Ethernet, Firewire, USB, and driving the display:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4832/the-apple-thunderbolt-display-review/11
Click to expand...

All I'm saying is don't get your hopes up. I don't see Apple themselves building external thunderbolt GPUs and selling them as another product or accessory for your Mac. Apple doesn't really sell dongles or accessories unless it's somethig really simple like a connector. Or a SuperDrive but that's just to fulfill the niche of people that need to use a cd drive on their MBA. A GPU is a pretty important part of the computer, and Apple likes to package all the essential components together in one neat package of a sleek computer. This doesn't mean we will never see external thunderbold GPUs. I'm pretty sure we will see them eventually, but probably not for awhile.
 
Frankied22 said:
All I'm saying is don't get your hopes up. I don't see Apple themselves building external thunderbolt GPUs and selling them as another product or accessory for your Mac. Apple doesn't really sell dongles or accessories unless it's somethig really simple like a connector. Or a SuperDrive but that's just to fulfill the niche of people that need to use a cd drive on their MBA. A GPU is a pretty important part of the computer, and Apple likes to package all the essential components together in one neat package of a sleek computer. This doesn't mean we will never see external thunderbold GPUs. I'm pretty sure we will see them eventually, but probably not for awhile.
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I agree that it's unlikely, but they could if they wanted to. As others have suggested I could see it being integrated as part of a display to let you drive multiple displays when at your desk.
 
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