2017 MacBook Pro is GOOD news for 2016 Owners

[Miltz]

What's the good news? Well for all of the 2016 owners, all we are missing out on is the Radeon 560 Pro graphics. That's really it. Everything else is unchanged. H.265 will be supported on a HARDWARE Level which is GREAT news for all 2016 owners. Sure the new models have a higher clocked CPU, but since the performance clock for clock is identical between Kaby and skylake, 100MHz means nothing. Same battery 76watts, Screen, SSD, RAM, etc. So I hope we don't see 35,285 threads on "I should have waited". For those who did wait, enjoy the new video card.

UPDATE: The "new" Radeon 560 Pro is the same as the Radeon Pro 460. No graphics upgrade. Apple/AMD just changed the name, that's all. So now the only difference is CPU MHz. This is why they spent only a few seconds talking about the MacBook Pro. Not much to talk about.

 

[raqball]

And the bad news is resale of the 2016's has tanked! Well for the base at least.. BNIB are barely getting 1K right now on swappa so used one might be lucky to get $900'ish....

 

[Miltz]

And the bad news is resale of the 2016's has tanked! Well for the base at least.. BNIB are barely getting 1K right now on swappa so used one might be lucky to get $900'ish....

I don't think many 2016 owners will be selling their laptops, unless gaming or video is high priority and that person is making a living from the better GPU. Besides it seems like High Sierra will be a nice upgrade performance wise for everyone.

 

[raqball]

Agree... I was just surprised to see the aftermarket tank that fast..

Anyone not wanting the 2017 would be wise to hit swappa.. I've seen 2 BNIB base models sell today for like $1030...

 

[Miltz]

Agree... I was just surprised to see the aftermarket tank that fast..

Anyone not wanting the 2017 would be wise to hit swappa.. I've seen 2 BNIB base models sell today for like $1030...

I've never even heard of that. I probably wouldn't buy something like a MacBook Pro from that site (I'm guessing it's a website). That being said I see $500 discounts on high end 2016 2TB models which makes more sense. New from authorized dealers. I think it's a steal for someone who's not gaming.

 

[justinf77]

I was ready to sell my nearly maxed out 2016 13" tbMBP for the newer one, but only if significant new features came out like the rumored terraced battery. This is such a minor update that I literally now have zero desire to get the newer model.

Also keeping an eye out for the H265 news considering I didn't think Skylake could support it at a hardware level, which now is under question because of the keynote specifying that 2016 MBPs will support it somehow.

 

[Miltz]

hmmmm... something odd just happened. Apple had benchmarks comparing the 460 to the 560. Saying it was up to 130% faster in gaming and 57% faster in rendering... Now they are gone from their website. Strange. Perhaps it was some sort of typo and the 560 is really a 460 with a different name... I will dig more and report back.
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I was ready to sell my nearly maxed out 2016 13" tbMBP for the newer one, but only if significant new features came out like the rumored terraced battery. This is such a minor update that I literally now have zero desire to get the newer model.

Also keeping an eye out for the H265 news considering I didn't think Skylake could support it at a hardware level, which now is under question because of the keynote specifying that 2016 MBPs will support it somehow.

The only way the new models will have better battery life if is if they kept the old clock speeds with the new chips. The terraced out battery idea is just an idea. If they did that, the laptop would have terrible airflow and not function. The space is intentional. Apple isn't stupid. It works on the MacBook because it's fanless, so airflow doesn't matter. The casing is a giant heatsink.

 

[aevan]

I've never even heard of that. I probably wouldn't buy something like a MacBook Pro from that site (I'm guessing it's a website). That being said I see $500 discounts on high end 2016 2TB models which makes more sense. New from authorized dealers. I think it's a steal for someone who's not gaming.

He's been leading a campaign against the 2016 MBP so I am not surprised he came up with information like that.

 

[vipergts2207]

hmmmm... something odd just happened. Apple had benchmarks comparing the 460 to the 560. Saying it was up to 130% faster in gaming and 57% faster in rendering... Now they are gone from their website. Strange. Perhaps it was some sort of typo and the 560 is really a 460 with a different name... I will dig more and report back.

Probably just ad-copy leftover from the 2016 models. As you can see here, the 500 series GPU's are just a rebadge.

http://creators.radeon.com/radeon-pro/

 

[CaptRB]

I'm a little bummed. I can upgrade anytime, but there's no point.

Jumping from the 2015 to the 2016 was a great leap forward, but this is a pretty minimal update.

Oh well...the next cycle is coming fast!


R.

 

[Miltz]

Probably just ad-copy leftover from the 2016 models. As you can see here, the 500 series GPU's are just a rebadge.

http://creators.radeon.com/radeon-pro/

OMG... Holy Green Tea Batman! You're right. Same specs for both video cards.... I guess now my entire thread is pointless.... wait, maybe not. I guess everyone who wait, waited for nothing. I'm glad I got mine in December. I hate when companies take the same hardware and just rename it for marketing reasons.... smh.

 

[RandyB13]

Do the 2016 MacBook Pro models get an official in store price drop now? Or do they cost exactly the same as the new Kaby lake model? Because otherwise I can't imagine how they'd get rid of the extra stock

 

[CaptRB]

He's been leading a campaign against the 2016 MBP so I am not surprised he came up with information like that.

Yup.

It's a shame. The guy who took my 2nd 13" touchbar is selling it right now on Craigslist for 1375.00 firm so he can buy the 15". He's got plenty of buyers and it's a base.

My 15" from 2015 was also easy to sell.

I paid 1400.00 for my base 15" touchbar in the end, but it was a friend. Can't lose when I trade up, but no point in doing it until the next cycle.



R.

 

[vipergts2207]

Do the 2016 MacBook Pro models get an official in store price drop now? Or do they cost exactly the same as the new Kaby lake model? Because otherwise I can't imagine how they'd get rid of the extra stock

My guess would be that any leftover stock goes into the refurbished/replacement unit pipeline, but honestly I am just guessing.

 

[The Mercurian]

I'm a little bummed. I can upgrade anytime, but there's no point.

Jumping from the 2015 to the 2016 was a great leap forward, but this is a pretty minimal update.

Oh well...the next cycle is coming fast!


R.

Early reports on coffee lake look pretty good. Potentially quad-core 13"s

 

[Mr. Dee]

2016 MacBook Pro owners will be vindicated next year if they decide to upgrade. Reason?

- Coffeelake
- DDR4
- Even faster graphics
- Price drop for the first time
- and you probably be getting it as soon as February 2018.

 

[therealseebs]

Probably just ad-copy leftover from the 2016 models. As you can see here, the 500 series GPU's are just a rebadge.

http://creators.radeon.com/radeon-pro/

Uh, no. A "rebadge" is exactly the same piece of hardware. It wouldn't have any difference in specs, but for the 460->560, they show going from 1.86->1.9 tflops and 80 to 81 gb/s.

It's not a big change, but something somewhere has to have changed for those numbers to differ.

 

[vipergts2207]

Uh, no. A "rebadge" is exactly the same piece of hardware. It wouldn't have any difference in specs, but for the 460->560, they show going from 1.86->1.9 tflops and 80 to 81 gb/s.

It's not a big change, but something somewhere has to have changed for those numbers to differ.

I'm aware. That's what is known as a rebadge in the GPU business. Same exact hardware, just clocked a hair faster in order to claim it's new.

 

[CaptRB]

I'm sure the tweaked MBP is even better, just not terribly newsworthy for a 2016 owner.

Very happy with my 13 and 15" touchbar Macs thus far.


R.

 

[Ries]

Uh, no. A "rebadge" is exactly the same piece of hardware. It wouldn't have any difference in specs, but for the 460->560, they show going from 1.86->1.9 tflops and 80 to 81 gb/s.

It's not a big change, but something somewhere has to have changed for those numbers to differ.

460->560: It's using a new third-generation 14nm process, which means lower power consumption and higher clocks. Also it has 2 extra compute units (14->16).

 

[Miltz]

Uh, no. A "rebadge" is exactly the same piece of hardware. It wouldn't have any difference in specs, but for the 460->560, they show going from 1.86->1.9 tflops and 80 to 81 gb/s.

It's not a big change, but something somewhere has to have changed for those numbers to differ.

.02 tflops and 1 gb/s is something everyone can live with... They probably increased the clock speed by like 10MHz...

 

[Ries]

I'm aware. That's what is known as a rebadge in the GPU business. Same exact hardware, just clocked a hair faster in order to claim it's new.

460->560: It's using a new third-generation 14nm process, which means lower power consumption and higher clocks. Also it has 2 extra compute units (14->16).

 

[Miltz]

460->560: It's using a new third-generation 14nm process, which means lower power consumption and higher clocks. Also it has 2 extra compute units (14->16).

Check again... BOTH have 16.

 

[Mr Retina]

Do the 2016 MacBook Pro models get an official in store price drop now? Or do they cost exactly the same as the new Kaby lake model? Because otherwise I can't imagine how they'd get rid of the extra stock

Im sure they offer end of life pricing on the 2016 models starting today. I would call your local Apple Store real quick and ask. Usually your saving about $100 off the original base price.

 

[Miltz]

I guess this explains why Apple barely took any time to mention the MacBook Pro... It was just a few seconds. If they updated the graphics card, they would have taken time to mention it. So basically everyone gets a 460 Pro now....