Anyone have any 2018 MacBook Pro questions they'd like answered by Apple?

[Joe Rossignol]

Apple recently confirmed to MacRumors that the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has four full-speed Thunderbolt 3 ports, and provided some details about DisplayPort 1.4.

Anyone have any other 2018 MacBook Pro questions about unconfirmed topics they'd like answered by Apple?

I'll relay and see if I can get more answers.

 

[keysofanxiety]

I guess the whole throttling thing would be nice to get an official explanation on and whether this can be fixed with a future OS/firmware update.

 

[Ma2k5]

For me I guess the only one would be is, what is the chances of us getting battery capacities on the 13"/15" back to those (or nearer to) of pre-2016 models? For CPU intensive work (e.g dev work), the display saving measures (30% less energy used) introduced in the 2016 models a long with kabylake efficiencies does not compensate for the battery capacity drop. For reference, the battery capacities were ~99wh/74wh for the 15" and 13" respectively. It was probably one of the biggest advantages MacBook's had vs Window's laptops, pure endurance when used for work. Now it seems you can only get good battery life if you don't actually do work, which seems to contradict the "Pro" moniker.

The battery tests which state 10 hour battery capacities aren't very relevant for those who do dev or design work in my opinon - and err to very casual users (and even then, you have to use software which is very highly optimised to macOS).

 

[Marketh]

I'd like to hear the reasoning for the removal of the data recovery port. Has it been replaced by another that simply hasn't been found yet? (Somewhere on here there's a post from someone who found a port that wasn't mentioned in the iFixit teardown).

 

[Joe Rossignol]

I guess the whole throttling thing would be nice to get an official explanation on and whether this can be fixed with a future OS/firmware update.

I've ran that question by Apple, even using the words "performance management," but no reply.

I often get silence on controversial topics.

For me I guess the only one would be is, what is the chances of us getting battery capacities on the 13"/15" back to those (or nearer to) of pre-2016 models? For CPU intensive work (e.g dev work), the display saving measures (30% less energy used) introduced in the 2016 models a long with kabylake efficiencies does not compensate for the battery capacity drop. For reference, the battery capacities were ~99wh/74wh for the 15" and 13" respectively. It was probably one of the biggest advantages MacBook's had vs Window's laptops, pure endurance when used for work. Now it seems you can only get good battery life if you don't actually do work, which seems to contradict the "Pro" moniker.

The battery tests which state 10 hour battery capacities aren't very relevant for those who do dev or design work in my opinon - and err to very casual users (and even then, you have to use software which is very highly optimised to macOS).

Apple isn't going to talk about future products of course.

I'd like to hear the reasoning for the removal of the data recovery port. Has it been replaced by another that simply hasn't been found yet? (Somewhere on here there's a post from someone who found a port that wasn't mentioned in the iFixit teardown).

Apple said it's looking into this, but I never received a reply yet.

 

[johnalan]

I've ran that question by Apple, even using the words "performance management," but no reply.

I often get silence on controversial topics.

Interesting, do you think this is a big of enough a deal that they kinda have to respond?

 

[Joe Rossignol]

Interesting, do you think this is a big of enough a deal that they kinda have to respond?

Your guess is as good as mine. I'd say yes, they'll respond in some way eventually. Likely with background information distributed to select reporters.

 

[Orien]

Has the popping noise issue been fixed in the 2018 models?

 

[nikhsub1]

I guess the whole throttling thing would be nice to get an official explanation on and whether this can be fixed with a future OS/firmware update.

Not sure how since the CPU is thermal throttling. I mean, they (intel) could raise the temp at which it throttles (maybe) but likely not. Heat is always the enemy and not much can be changed physically...

 

[estabya]

Not sure how since the CPU is thermal throttling. I mean, they (intel) could raise the temp at which it throttles (maybe) but likely not. Heat is always the enemy and not much can be changed physically...

A more aggressive fan curve would help, at least for short tasks. More intense tasks like long video renders won’t really be helped by that.

 

[Macshroomer]

For reasons of user maintenance on all machines using OSX in doing things like resetting P-RAM, etc I would like to see the start up chime come back.

If they are not going to bring it back then they need to update some of these protocols for accurate timing within a given sequence.

 

[KensaiMage]

I would like to know if apple is in talks with Nvidia regarding cooperation (future Macs) and if apple plans to support Nvidia eGPUs in near future.

Secondly, if apple plans to do something to make their pro laptops not throttle at all. Apple advertises gaming on MacBooks Pro - yet, when you buy one you see that the game they advertise is unplayable.

 

[maflynn]

if apple is in talks with Nvidia regarding cooperation and future Macs

If they are, they'll not be publicly acknowledging that.

 

[SoApple]

Losing that data recovery port is crucial. I’m not going to buy a 2018 laptop if im not sure I can recover my data in case the laptop goes to the garbo. My air just died and having an ssd with that port saved my butt and my thesis.

 

[Jethro!]

*raises hand*
Will you stop being obsessed with thinness in your "pro" products?

 

[johnalan]

So, brand new MacBook Pro i7 with 560x (2.6ghz), take it home.

Download the game they use in promo material. Let game use suggested settings.

This is how it plays 30 seconds in:
https://twitter.com/johnalanwoods/status/1021458349672599552?s=21

That’s broken.

 

[Ma2k5]

So, brand new MacBook Pro i7 with 560x (2.6ghz), take it home.

Download the game they use in promo material. Let game use suggested settings.

This is how it plays 30 seconds in:
https://twitter.com/johnalanwoods/status/1021458349672599552?s=21

That’s broken.

Ouch.

The problem is, even if there was some update in the future which fixed this - Are Apple now going to get a reputation of releasing products with issues or missing features which then get fixed or added after an undetermined period of time? Because that is what it feels like. Far from the “It just works” moniker.

 

[JTToft]

Losing that data recovery port is crucial. I’m not going to buy a 2018 laptop if im not sure I can recover my data in case the laptop goes to the garbo. My air just died and having an ssd with that port saved my butt and my thesis.

- And you can't take backups to ensure you can recover your data?

 

[GerritB]

Ouch.

The problem is, even if there was some update in the future which fixed this - Are Apple now going to get a reputation of releasing products with issues or missing features which then get fixed or added after an undetermined period of time? Because that is what it feels like. Far from the “It just works” moniker.

Tbh this is what already has come to for me. I was really looking forward to my new MBP i9, but looking at Apple's recent history of postponing support/fixes and denying issues that clearly exist till they get to the point of class action lawsuits, I have made the decision to bring mine back.

If I was 100% this issue would be fixed I probably would've kept it, but I'm just not sure anymore.

 

[MBHockey]

- And you can't take backups to ensure you can recover your data?

you’d think this would have taught him the importance of daily backups...

 

[SoApple]

- And you can't take backups to ensure you can recover your data?

I did have backups. Gladly I didn’t lose much. I don’t backup my stuff daily nor do I believe I should.

 

[JTToft]

I did have backups. Gladly I didn’t lose much. I don’t backup my stuff daily nor do I believe I should.

- You should. At the very least.

 

[nikhsub1]

A more aggressive fan curve would help, at least for short tasks. More intense tasks like long video renders won’t really be helped by that.

Well, it seems it is NOT thermal throttling but some sensor thinking the CPU is using too much power. A firmware update should fix this.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

I'll relay and see if I can get more answers.

Hah, yes, why did Apple remove the SSD data recovery port from the 2018 model, and is there an alternative way to recover data from a dead laptop - and if yes, then how? (Edit: Asked and answered! I'm too slow... )

 

[estabya]

Well, it seems it is NOT thermal throttling but some sensor thinking the CPU is using too much power. A firmware update should fix this.

Yeah, I saw the VRM rumors swirling last night. If it is indeed a power delivery issue that can be fixed with software Apple will probably fix it relatively quickly.

I wonder how they didn't catch it before shipping the machines...