Apple Event to Include 13-Inch MacBook Pro, 16-Inch MacBook Pro, and 13-Inch MacBook Air With Apple Silicon Chips [Updated]

[ClockMeister]

I have a late 2015 15" MBP Retina with 16GB main, 512GB SSD and i7 processor. In perfect working order with battery that lasts eight or so hours at-a-time. I need a new MacBook like I need a hole in the head!

 

[UltimateSyn]

I have a late 2015 15" MBP Retina with 16GB main, 512GB SSD and i7 processor. In perfect working order with battery that lasts eight or so hours at-a-time. I need a new MacBook like I need a hole in the head!

Had that exact config and regretted selling it for the late-2016 MBP that would go on to have such a plethora of keyboard issues. Great machine.

 

[Maconplasma]

Honestly, a Dell XPS is a better value right now. I wouldn’t bother with these machines this year and would wait to see what comes of the rumored miniLED version next year.

Guess you temporarily forgot you're on a Mac forum? How do you think people would react recommending Macs on the Dell forum? 🙄

 

[richinaus]

Guess you temporarily forgot you're on a Mac forum? How do you think people would react recommending Macs on the Dell forum? 🙄

Not really and is a totally valid thought.
I have been running Macs only in my business and home since 2001, and have spent a small fortune with Apple over the years.
Recently however I bought a PC and a HP laptop for the business simply due to uncertainty of critical app support moving forward. And to be honest, I have no regrets at all on these business purchases, as they are performing exactly as I need them to.

However there is never going to be a PC replacing my macs for my personal and creative endeavours, and I am all on board for the AI transition. Just won’t take my business along for the ride with it for the first few years.....

 

[dawindmg08]

A little surprised they aren't releasing an ARM Mini, since they already shoe-horned the chip into the DevKit units. Unless they're planning on a case refresh or perhaps holding back all desktops until 2021.

 

[gnasher729]

Yep. Apple’s silicon may be able to sprint for short bursts, how how fast can it run a marathon?

At about 10% less speed in an iPhone XR (measured), at about full speed in a case with active cooling.

 

[gnasher729]

Do existing models usually drop in price when new ones are announced?

Normally they disappear, and three months later arrive on the refurbished store. So when you buy refurbished there’s a chance it’s brand new.

 

[gnasher729]

I believe you 100% that the AS chips will be much better.

However does your confidence extend to these developers jumping on board with lots of resources to nail native code optimised for AS for apps that they barely support for intel Macs.

I am looking forward to comparing a MBP16 with a HPZbook studio G7 and a AS MBP all running the same app. I will have access to all of these as soon as Apple ships.

You don’t optimise for Silicon. You just recompile. Developers don’t care about the chip inside the computer. Only about the speed.

 

[Coolkiwi]

Quite a feat by Apple! But I wonder how many folks are going to buy those first versions of the new machines with Apple Silicon?

I know for myself that I will wait until at least the 2nd generation of Apple Silicon machines is announced. For now I'm going to hang on to my Intel iMac....

Logic that I have followed in the past, but I’m so overdue for a new machine it’s genuinely not funny any more... so I’ll be forking out for something soon, although planning on going for a desktop...

 

[gnasher729]

Wolfram says Mathematica (v. 12.1.0 and later; current verson is 12.1.1) will be ready to run on the first AS Macs, so I'll be looking forward to seeing some benchmarks with that. I don't know if it will be running natively or through Rosetta, but I expect it will be the former, since they have a committment to the Mac platform, and an interest in having MMA continue to perform on it as well as possible. Plus they've had an ARM-based version for the Raspberry Pi since 2013.

Would be interesting to have benchmarks Mathematica native on x86 vs. Rosetta2 vs. native on Silicon.

 

[Coolkiwi]

Will come with the iMacs I would think. Maybe a year from now?

☹️ I can’t wait that long! 😆

 

[Coolkiwi]

I do agree to an extent, it would be nice to see them refresh what is essentially the same design they've been using for years now. However, with Apple Silicon I'm willing to overlook the design aspect as it's aged really quite well to my eyes at least. Small additions like the touchbar etc. do help to bring the design up to date imo.

Works for Porsche! 😆 They’ve had basically the same design for over 50 years... if it ain’t broke...

 

[Fomalhaut]

I use the 16" MBP for video editing, audio and photo editing. And probably some others, too, because the device offers a lot of power with a large screen. Apple Silicon is for sure fast and good, but what do I want to do with a device, if the software is simply not yet available? Emulate (translate or whatever) it and lose performance?

Wait and unpack it after six months? What I mean is, why should you buy the 16" in an AS version at this time?

Pretty sure that native versions of Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Lightroom, Photoshop & Davinci Resolve will available on day 1 of release.

 

[Fomalhaut]

You don’t optimise for Silicon. You just recompile. Developers don’t care about the chip inside the computer. Only about the speed.

Some optimization to allow for heterogeneous cores and other features is to be expected. See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/porting_your_macos_apps_to_apple_silicon

 

[Maconplasma]

Not really and is a totally valid thought.
I have been running Macs only in my business and home since 2001, and have spent a small fortune with Apple over the years.
Recently however I bought a PC and a HP laptop for the business simply due to uncertainty of critical app support moving forward. And to be honest, I have no regrets at all on these business purchases, as they are performing exactly as I need them to.

However there is never going to be a PC replacing my macs for my personal and creative endeavours, and I am all on board for the AI transition. Just won’t take my business along for the ride with it for the first few years.....

It actually wasn't valid because the member you were referring to wasn't asking for recommendations outside of the Apple bubble. They just weren't sure they were ready to be the first investing into Apple Silicon. There are plenty of Macs available with an Intel processor still. Most people looking for new computers on Macrumors are asking for Macs. Why else would they be here asking? Why recommend a completely different platform? Also if you noticed that member replied saying a different platform (Windows) is not a solution. Please notice that before jumping at me.

 

[cmaier]

Yep. Apple’s silicon may be able to sprint for short bursts, how how fast can it run a marathon?

CPUs don’t get tired. Nothing in a CPU says “I’ve been running fast. Time to take a little nap.”

As long as the cooling solution can keep the junction temperature where it is supposed to be, no problem.

 

[Dydegu]

Very nice. Sign me up for a 2021 redesigned 16” MBP!

 

[insomniac86]

I wonder if this will be just a Mac only event with no Headphones/AirTags...

I wonder if they won't be announced until March.

 

[eulslix]

It actually wasn't valid because the member you were referring to wasn't asking for recommendations outside of the Apple bubble. They just weren't sure they were ready to be the first investing into Apple Silicon. There are plenty of Macs available with an Intel processor still. Most people looking for new computers on Macrumors are asking for Macs. Why else would they be here asking? Why recommend a completely different platform? Also if you noticed that member replied saying a different platform (Windows) is not a solution. Please notice that before jumping at me.

I'm in the market right now for a new laptop, but I'm not sure I want to buy an AS version, when I'm sure so much third party stuff will be slow to catch up. I've already done this runaround once.

He literally asked for a laptop, nothing about OSX was mentioned at that time. The XPS was a great suggestion, given how close it is to the MacBook Pro. I was considering it myself, as I wasn’t sure whether AS is going to suit my needs.

Then you basically went ahead and made fun of the commenter for bringing in the competition on a Mac forum. Also, you decided to accuse the user of jumping at you, even though he just explained his intent without even addressing you personally.

This is not a PR forum for Apple. This is a place for people with a Mac affinity discussing things. And as such is good to look sometimes outside of the bubble...

 

[theorist9]

Honestly, a Dell XPS is a better value right now. I wouldn’t bother with these machines this year and would wait to see what comes of the rumored miniLED version next year.

Typically, for equivalent performance, non-Apple laptops will cost less. That's nearly always been the case. But doing an analysis solely based on hardware value ignores the following key point, which Windows users often seem to miss:

Value also includes how productive you can be on a computer, and how much you enjoy using it. And nearly everyone who buys a Mac does so because they overwhelmingly prefer MacOS to Windows, and find themselves much more productive with the former than the latter. For any user in that category (which probably includes most on this forum), the Dell becomes a poor value.

Indeed, while of course there are exceptions*, this guidance generally holds true: It doesn't make sense to buy a Mac if you prefer Windows or Linux (while you can run both on an Intel Mac, why pay the extra money?), and it doesn't make sense to buy a PC if you prefer MacOS (why burden yourself with an OS you dislike?).

*E.g., if you're not price-sensitive, and really like the Mac hardware or form factor, e.g, the 16:10 laptop screen.

 

[theorist9]

CPUs don’t get tired.

Mine does. That's why I always keep it well-hydrated. The occasional energy bar helps as well.

 

[JosepPont]

Typically, for equivalent performance, non-Apple laptops will cost less. That's nearly always been the case. But doing an analysis based solely on hardware value ignores this key point, which Windows users often seem to miss:

Value also includes how productive you can be on a computer, and how much you enjoy using it. And nearly everyone who buys a Mac does so because they overwhelmingly prefer MacOS to Windows, and find themselves much more productive with the former than the latter. For any user in that category (which probably includes most on this forum), the Dell becomes a poor value.

Indeed, while of course there are exceptions*, this guidance generally holds true: It doesn't make sense to buy a Mac if you prefer Windows or Linux (while you can run both on an Intel Mac, why pay the extra money?), and it doesn't make sense to buy a PC if you prefer MacOS (why burden yourself with an OS you dislike?).

*E.g., if you're not price-sensitive, and really like the Mac hardware or form factor, e.g, the 16:10 laptop screen.

I Agree. I compared some laptops with the workstation category, similar specs to a 16" MBP and in the range price. We will find that a laptop like Acer ConceptD 7 Pro (~3800 €) has the following specs compared to i9 2.3 32GiB RAM and 5500 8GB model MBP 16" (same price):

• Core i7 9750H vs Core i9 9880H
• DDR 4 2666 vs DDR4 2666
• 1TB NVME vs 1TB NVME
• 15.6" 4K vs 16" Retina
• Nvidia Quadro RTX5000 16GB vs Radeon Pro 5500 8GB
• More IO ports vs 4xTB3
• Polymer plastic vs aluminium

Well, the Acer beats for far the MBP on the graphics option and some on the other specs are similar less in the CPU that is a little bit better on Apple so, we will get more powerfull graphic processor with no Apple for the same price and (more or less ) specs.

On the other hand with Apple we will get (very much) better materials and the possibility of run macOS, Windows and Linux. On Acer, not at all. Alse we will get better sound and IMO better design and experience and there are people that want it and pay for it.


Any laptop is better than other, one has better GPU, the other better CPU, materials and design (I think the Acer will run very very hot too). If someone definitvely do not run macOS and do not develop for iOS, the Acer (or well, PC) is the way to go, if the Apple enviroment is near, I think the way is Apple.

Finally and with that exposed, I do not think the Apple products are overpriced. This kind of comparison is that I use on my hardware classroom

 

[HandITOVER]

SMH.

 

[bbrks]

I really hope that the new machines are redesigned and that the report is wrong.

Otherwise, I'm waiting.

I wanted to pull the trigger on an iPad Pro or an MBA, both of which are not worth it with rumored changes so close to come...

Just curious, why would you like to redesign the best design ever

 

[ysl3000]

I Agree. I compared some laptops with the workstation category, similar specs to a 16" MBP and in the range price. We will find that a laptop like Acer ConceptD 7 Pro (~3800 €) has the following specs compared to i9 2.3 32GiB RAM and 5500 8GB model MBP 16" (same price):

• Core i7 9750H vs Core i9 9880H
• DDR 4 2666 vs DDR4 2666
• 1TB NVME vs 1TB NVME
• 15.6" 4K vs 16" Retina
• Nvidia Quadro RTX5000 16GB vs Radeon Pro 5500 8GB
• More IO ports vs 4xTB3
• Polymer plastic vs aluminium

Well, the Acer beats for far the MBP on the graphics option and some on the other specs are similar less in the CPU that is a little bit better on Apple so, we will get more powerfull graphic processor with no Apple for the same price and (more or less ) specs.

On the other hand with Apple we will get (very much) better materials and the possibility of run macOS, Windows and Linux. On Acer, not at all. Alse we will get better sound and IMO better design and experience and there are people that want it and pay for it.


Any laptop is better than other, one has better GPU, the other better CPU, materials and design (I think the Acer will run very very hot too). If someone definitvely do not run macOS and do not develop for iOS, the Acer (or well, PC) is the way to go, if the Apple enviroment is near, I think the way is Apple.

Finally and with that exposed, I do not think the Apple products are overpriced. This kind of comparison is that I use on my hardware classroom

When comparing the 16" MBP with a Razer Blade 15" you've similar results.


US$4,299.99
Specifications
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H 8 Core (2.3GHz/5.1GHz)
Windows 10 Pro
15.6" OLED 4K Touch 60Hz, 100% DCI-P3, factory calibrated
NVIDIA® Quadro RTX™ 5000 Studio Edition (16GB GDDR6 VRAM)
1TB SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4)
32GB Dual-Channel (16GB x 2) DDR4-2933MHz
Per-key RGB powered by Razer Chroma™

Vs.

$4,299.00
2.3GHz 8‑core 9th‑generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz
64GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory
1TB SSD storage
16-inch Retina display with True Tone
Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
Touch Bar and Touch ID


Apple: more ram and Mac OS
Razer: better GPU and updated specs (2020), multiple ports.

Both have an aluminium unibody.