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2018 MacBook Pro - 2 core bump per model?
- Thread starter iBrooker
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Will it really matter? What will a few more cores do that the current model won't do? Even my old 2-core 2010 MBP runs all the current software just fine.
What do you mean ‘according to this YouTuber”?
There’s no ‘anyone else think this is likely’ about it, Intel’s new lineup will bring a 2 core bump to MacBook Pro and desktop processors.
This was leaked since before the 2016 redesign (in August 2016), and was confirmed last year, followed by the release of numerous quad-core ultra books. The original leaks suggested 15W and 18W processors, I made a post soon after it was reported that the 18W had been cancelled: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-pro-18w-quad-core-processors-cancelled.2024410/.
They may be 8 core with Intel’s 9th generation lineup, but that’s based on the rumor of the desktop i7 becoming 8 core. That would only affect the 15” models, although it could mean the 13” i7s become 6 core.
Daniel, the YouTuber in that video, often does thorough research unlike others (who will no doubt be shocked by the keynote), but in this case it is 18 month old news and I don’t believe it’s the first time he’s reported on it either.
TLDR: It will happen.
There’s no ‘anyone else think this is likely’ about it, Intel’s new lineup will bring a 2 core bump to MacBook Pro and desktop processors.
This was leaked since before the 2016 redesign (in August 2016), and was confirmed last year, followed by the release of numerous quad-core ultra books. The original leaks suggested 15W and 18W processors, I made a post soon after it was reported that the 18W had been cancelled: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-pro-18w-quad-core-processors-cancelled.2024410/.
They may be 8 core with Intel’s 9th generation lineup, but that’s based on the rumor of the desktop i7 becoming 8 core. That would only affect the 15” models, although it could mean the 13” i7s become 6 core.
Daniel, the YouTuber in that video, often does thorough research unlike others (who will no doubt be shocked by the keynote), but in this case it is 18 month old news and I don’t believe it’s the first time he’s reported on it either.
TLDR: It will happen.
The i5-8250U has 4 cores/8 threads but no Iris Graphics which will make that a pass for Apple even if the likes of Dell and HP introduce it into their laptops. I think Intel would launch a dual core version with Iris Graphics later in the first half of this year which Apple will be more interested in based on the currently available non touchbar MacBook Pro - why would Apple introduce successor model that had slower graphics and slower per core speed? 4 cores is nice but it's not really going to change things greatly for buyers of non touch bar Macs.
Keeping to Iris Graphics and perhaps using the i5-8305G Intel+Radeon Graphics will keep prices steady for the MacBook Pros this year while AMD order books for desktop GPUs fill up because of demand from bitcoin miners. I fear for the pricing of iMacs later this year.
Keeping to Iris Graphics and perhaps using the i5-8305G Intel+Radeon Graphics will keep prices steady for the MacBook Pros this year while AMD order books for desktop GPUs fill up because of demand from bitcoin miners. I fear for the pricing of iMacs later this year.
The majority of this YouTuber's videos are pure click bait. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what he says...
Are you joking?
I suggest you read my previous post in this thread to realise how ridiculous your statement is.
Not only does it show lack of knowledge regarding this YouTuber (which really doesn’t matter), but it also shows ignorance towards 18 month old news.
There will be a core bump with the next generation MacBook Pro, iMac, and almost certainly, Mac mini. That’s a fact, but if you don’t believe it then you can wait until the keynote and be surprised then.
Didn't watch the video, but Intel's intentions to release 6-core mobile CPUs have been known for some time. In this sense: good morning, hope you slept well 
On a more serious note, no actual CPUs have been released or even announced yet and we have no idea what Apple will do. The only thing I am sure about is a Cannonlake dual-core MacBook around early spring.
On a more serious note, no actual CPUs have been released or even announced yet and we have no idea what Apple will do. The only thing I am sure about is a Cannonlake dual-core MacBook around early spring.
I don’t know why you have come to that conclusion based on the fact that 1 processor in the 15W lineup doesn’t have Iris graphics. There have only been 4 announced, and every year there are models of 15W, 28W, and 45W processors without Iris graphics. There have been no announcements regarding the rest of the 15W lineup, or the 28/45W lineup. But we know there will be a core bump. It is possible that there are 8th generation dual-cores suitable for the MacBook Pro, but they have not been announced so what you’re suggesting is to remain with the 7th gen processors. As for the G series, it’s possible that they do go with those processors which would mean the 15” remains quad-core for now. But overall, it’s hard to see none of the models receive a bump in cores which comes with 8th gen chips.
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I don’t think I’m taking it personally, but I may have been overreacting. I am just surprised that this news remains so unknown for many people at this stage, and is disregarded as clickbait despite the processors even being announced by a Intel several months ago and being implemented in existing notebooks. I understand you’re not alone in this, and for a lot of things, you’re right about the click bait stuff. This YouTuber in particular is producing so many rumor videos because of the views they get. He’s even doing them when there is no basis for anything he is saying. It kinds of ruins his reputation as a YouTuber that does thorough research into these things and reflects that in the video.
The 15W quad-core gen 8 CPUs are literally the quad-core Kaby Lakes (the ones used in the 15" 2017 MBP) that have been (possibly) slightly optimised for efficiency and configured for a lower TDP. There is no 8-gen CPU with Iris graphics simply because there is no high-end Kaby Lake with Iris graphics. For the 8-th gen to be a quad core AND have better graphics, Intel would need to create a completely new chip. Maybe they will release such chips in near future, maybe they won't. The situation is currently very complicated and messy, not least because all current 8-th gen mobile CPUs are actually variants of the 7th gen CPUs.
Intel right now are launching Coffee Lake CPUs with extra cores alongside Kaby Lake Refresh which appear to be another iteration of Kaby Lake prior to the full Coffee Lake and confusingly containing extra cores in the case of the 15w i5-8250U, i5-8350U and i7-8550U and i7-8650U.
You make a correct observation that dual core 8th Generation with for a 13" MacBook Pro (either with or without Iris Graphics) haven't been announced but it's incorrect to say that Apple are immediately going to stick with 7th Generation CPUs which are already in the 2017 MacBook Pros just because there's currently no announced successor by Intel. Apple simply haven't used the non-Iris versions of 15w CPUs since the 2015 MacBook Air - that includes 2016 and 2017 Pro models.
And repeating a year with the exact same CPUs is silly - and Apple already did that with Haswell (albeit using the slightly speed bumped versions for no next cost) because of the Broadwell fiasco.
Yes, Intel do offer CPUs without Iris Graphics - Apple avoided the last generation Skylake with Iris Pro 580 graphics for the 2016 MacBook Pro (previewed in the Skull Canyon NUC) - presumably knowing that Intel had no intention of making further Iris Pro GPUs - and went with discrete AMD GPUs for both SKUs of the 15" MacBook Pros of that year.
My implication is that Apple have up till October of this year to release a 2018 set of MacBook Pros (it'll be a year since the 2017 models in June). They'll be relying on Intel to produce a suitable CPU that they want and of course Intel will already have confidentially told them of the roadmap and let them place orders in advance.
Old leaked slides mention a plan for Iris Graphics Kaby Lake Refresh later this year so Apple are perfectly on target to release dual core Iris Graphics 15w and 28w CPUs any time in the next 9 months. One potentially unrelated clue to the speed of availability will be the fact that Intel have announced the i5-8705G which is perfect for a quad core refresh of the 15" MacBook Pro. If Apple choose to refresh early this year it could be because there will be a supplementary October update with the 6 cores in October - or Apple choose to make all new models launch with 6 cores as a double whammy along with new designs (possibly including bigger case). Unless Apple choose to stagger the launch of the 13" and 15" but it's not something they do very often.
Obviously with 6 core Windows laptops expected for later this year (yes, I'm expecting it based on unreleased Intel CPUs) it makes marketing sense for Apple to have their MacBook Pro with only 4 cores and a RADEON Vega GPU to launch sooner than that so it can't get rolled over by obvious HP, Dell, and Samsung marketing.
Desktop CPUs are on Coffee Lake already by the looks of it making the iMacs an easy update this year as all CPUs in that range are added to discrete AMD GPUs. All I would say that all Apple are waiting on is for AMD to make a mobile VEGA GPU suitable for the iMac and we just look at an artificial deadline of June to launch that (being a year after last year's 2017 models).
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I wasn’t saying they would stick with the 7th gen, I said that’s what you were implying because suitable quad-cores haven’t been announced. My point was that neither have suitable dual-cores and I expect them to be quad-cores. That roadmap is over a year old, but disregarding that, it doesn’t mention a scheduled release for the dual-core variants of 15/28W processors. In fact it says they will have GT3e graphics AND have 4 cores. I agree that it’s possible that Apple may want to refresh the 15” with the G-series processors however that would require quite a significant motherboard redesign, although allow more space for other components. It could possibly be another variant in the future. But anyway, at this point we’ll just wait and see. I think we’ll see a refresh in October along with the iMacs, I’m hoping for mobile Vega and not rebranded Polaris cards.
I'm saying Apple won't release quad core with Iris because it's not on the slide. Intel will either offer more cores with GT2 regular graphics or keep the core count steady and use the extra silicon budget to make decent Iris Graphics for 13" laptops. A 4 core 15w CPU with Iris Graphics is improbable because the silicon budget will have been spent on the extra cores whereas Iris Graphics fills that gap. You wouldn't get that many cores into a 15w CPU with Iris Graphics. I daresay the 28w CPUs would be the same. There's no obvious release date for dual core variants of the 15w and 28w CPUs but given that Intel already had versions out which were used within the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros it stands to reason that they would continue to do so for a later generation, especially if Apple put a firm order in.
October would mean a 15 month refresh cycle, potentially littered with 6 core Windows PCs, right at the start of the Christmas season. I'm more interested in Apple doing shorter than 12 month cycles but I did say that October would be the latest Apple could delay an update this year.