2018 15" MBP - mid-level

[Naimfan]

Bought a 2018 15" to see if Apple has fixed the keyboard from failing due to overheating.

Right out of the box, it did:

Cinebench: 90.21 FPS and a 921 CPU.

Unigine Heaven: 49.6 FPS, Score 1249.

Geekbench: 5187 single core; 22583 multi-core.

Keyboard is slightly quieter, annoyingly, it feels pretty much the same. And the trackpad is still too damn big - so I still despise the physical design.

For those wondering about fan noise, it IS noisier than the 2017.

 

[Falhófnir]

Bought a 2018 15" to see if Apple has fixed the keyboard from failing due to overheating.

Right out of the box, it did 90.21 FPS and a 921 CPU on Cinebench.

Keyboard is slightly quieter, annoyingly, it feels pretty much the same. And the trackpad is still too damn big - so I still despise the physical design.

For those wondering about fan noise, it IS noisier than the 2017.

Have you had it long enough to give an impression on battery life?

 

[Naimfan]

Have you had it long enough to give an impression on battery life?

No - had it about 2 hours.

One positive - the speakers seem improved even over the 2016/17, which were themselves a significant improvement (IMO, obviously) over the 2015 and earlier models.

 

[Agenesis]

For those wondering about fan noise, it IS noisier than the 2017.

Can anyone confirm this? What's the RPM on the new fans?

I have a 2017 and the thing is truly a throttlebook. I'm glad Apple made accommodations for new hexacores and just didn't recycle the old cooling system.

 

[tcador]

I'm on the fence right now between the entry-level and mid-level 15", since I plan to go with 512GB it's not too much extra to get the upgraded CPU and GPU. I'm mainly waiting to hear impressions from those that have the different CPUs and well they behave and deal with the heat under load.

 

[Falhófnir]

No - had it about 2 hours.

One positive - the speakers seem improved even over the 2016/17, which were themselves a significant improvement (IMO, obviously) over the 2015 and earlier models.

That’s cool, even the 2015 speakers are probably still better than anyone else offer in this class of laptop - and most reviewers mention the 2016/17s are better still. Can you put your finger on what you think has been improved?

 

[Painter2002]

Bought a 2018 15" to see if Apple has fixed the keyboard from failing due to overheating.

Right out of the box, it did:

Cinebench: 90.21 FPS and a 921 CPU.

Unigine Heaven: 49.6 FPS, Score 1249.

Geekbench: 5187 single core; 22583 multi-core.

Keyboard is slightly quieter, annoyingly, it feels pretty much the same. And the trackpad is still too damn big - so I still despise the physical design.

For those wondering about fan noise, it IS noisier than the 2017.

So while you were running those tests, did it feel hot at all to you, or do the fans seem to do a decent job keeping it cool?

 

[Glmnet1]

I'm glad Apple made accommodations for new hexacores and just didn't recycle the old cooling system.

Did they? I didn't hear about any change to the cooling system.

 

[Naimfan]

So while you were running those tests, did it feel hot at all to you, or do the fans seem to do a decent job keeping it cool?

It runs hot to the touch . . . at least with what I'm doing.

 

[Painter2002]

It runs hot to the touch . . . at least with what I'm doing.

Thanks for replying, this is good to know. I was concerned on how hot these laptops would run. Now I’m going to be curious how the 13 and 15 will compare side by side, of the 15” has a more extensive cooling system than the smaller 13”

 

[Naimfan]

Thanks for replying, this is good to know. I was concerned on how hot these laptops would run. Now I’m going to be curious how the 13 and 15 will compare side by side, of the 15” has a more extensive cooling system than the smaller 13”

It's easy to tell the 15" mid-level heats up - if you run Cinebench a few times in a row, the CPU score decreases from a high of 965 to a low (on mine, at least) of 627, a drop of about 33%.