Apple Releases New 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Force Touch and $1,999 27-Inch iMac With Retina Display

[koyoot]

Not to mention you couldn't game at 5K or do very much at all at 5K, need to scale it down so what's the point of having that many pixels anyway?

I wouldn't bother arguing with this guy. He's clearly been taking it from behind from ATI for a while now...

And with Nvidia GPU you could game on 5K display?

EVERY benchmark that is in the internet shows that with getting resolution up, the better GPUs for handling it are the ones from AMD. Performance gap between Nvidia and AMD is big when we compare 1600x900. With every step up: 1080p, 1440p, and lastly: 4K, it erodes. In some games, at 4K AMD GPUs are simply faster, because they have more horsepower underneath their architecture tu push pixels through display. And there are coming 3XX series which will be even more difficult for Nvidia to keep at that resolution.

P.S. Every computer I have had in my life have had Nvidia GPU, and I have right now 6th computer.

 

[Nik]

And M370 and M370X are two different GPUs.

So, what is the M370X exactly?

 

[pizzabun]

2015 and the newest machine from Apple comes with a spinning hard drive...

Except the new macbook 2015. But oh wait, then you have no usb ports and just a mobile processor

 

[MacHiavelli]

All of us that don't solely use Apple's "family of apps" might disagree with that.

Other vendors can catch up.

 

[koyoot]

So, what is the M370X exactly?

Counting by "theoretical" performance it should be 896 to 1024 GCN core chip. Possibly cut down Tonga.

 

[joe-h2o]

Hmmm let me see...

3D Work
Video
Compositing
2D animation
Illustration
Photographic Work
Spreadsheets
Documents
CAD
Work in General

Probably another dozen or so reasons too.

The poster is pointing out that if the primary purpose for the machine was gaming (and since this is the only place to get the powerful GPU now, it's your only choice), the 5k screen is wasted since you simply can't drive it at that resolution while gaming.

Previously if you wanted a high performance iMac for gaming (if you didn't want an extra machine just for that), you could get the non-retina with the 780M.

 

[magbarn]

They're not, and I don't understand the hate. By now Apple has had recalls for both nVidia and AMD graphics chips. And there are some applications where AMD's architecture is superior to nVidia's, bitcoin mining being one.

I seriously doubt people are going to do cryptocurrency on an already heat compromised rMBP 15. Besides, the serious ones who are still in the game have moved on to custom discrete chips over gpu's.

The biggest advantage of the 2015 rMBP 15 is the subsequent fire sales of the 2014 rMBP 15.

 

[dumastudetto]

It's not helpful if you hate trackpads as I do. Give me a nice 5-button mouse over that garbage any day of the week. Try gaming with a trackpad...UGH. How long until your wrists hurt from glass hard trackpads? UGH. It doesn't mean a thing to me. It's just more likely to do something I don't want it to do when it thinks I'm pressing harder than I'm trying to.

I used to really hate trackpads until I switched to Mac. I can remember attaching various different kinds of travel mice to my laptops. They all had such lousy trackpads that were totally unusable.

I can honestly say I have never attached a mouse to any of my Apple laptops. The trackpads have always been amazing, and the new one is even better. When you couple that with the awesome potential of Force Touch and what it can potentially do for developers it's really exciting times ahead.

 

[Jamalien]

Wtf

Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention this yet. Why does the 13 inch get faster clocked RAM than the 15 inch. Doesn't make much of a difference but still, WTF

 

[Quu]

Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention this yet. Why does the 13 inch get faster clocked RAM than the 15 inch. Doesn't make much of a difference but still, WTF

If you think that's nuts look at the display output.

The 13" can do dual 4K out, while the 15" is listed as being able to do dual 2560x1600 max. That's not 4K that's 2.5K.

The 13" actually has better multi-display external support than the 15".

EDIT:// This information ^ is incorrect. The new 15" can drive dual 4K displays. The UK and USA specification pages showed different information, the UK one being incorrect.

 

[b_scott]

AMD GPUs = Radeongate in 3 years for these.

what?

 

[capuzino]

They could have atleast put a 4K panel in it or HDMI 2.0 or even enable dual 4K output on the thunderbolt ports.

What's wrong with the dual Ultra HD output that they did enable?

 

[lavvo]

I have an early 2011 2.3 Itel Core i7 (Sandy Bridge). It works.

This is such a lowkey release I am guessing I wanna avoid until SKYLAKE appears? Maybe late this year if I am lucky?

Same, I have a late 2011 MBP that still stands up to all this. Quad Core i7, self upgraded to 16GB Ram, 256GB SSD and replaced SuperDrive with 500GB HDD. It runs like a beast and I got it for $1300.

This update is so uninteresting to me.

 

[cbrand493]

And with Nvidia GPU you could game on 5K display?

EVERY benchmark that is in the internet shows that with getting resolution up, the better GPUs for handling it are the ones from AMD. Performance gap between Nvidia and AMD is big when we compare 1600x900. With every step up: 1080p, 1440p, and lastly: 4K, it erodes. In some games, at 4K AMD GPUs are simply faster, because they have more horsepower underneath their architecture tu push pixels through display. And there are coming 3XX series which will be even more difficult for Nvidia to keep at that resolution.

P.S. Every computer I have had in my life have had Nvidia GPU, and I have right now 6th computer.

Don't recall ever saying it could? You're trying to claim that the base 5K iMac is better than the dropped model, but other than the display, CPU is worse, Gfx is worse (base 5K has M290 NOT M290X!!), ram and HDD are the same. So why bother? For what most people will use it for, the dropped non-retina is a better option. Also, have you seen all the issues M290X (the top 5K model) owners have had with lagging UI at 5K? Can't wait to see the slower M290 go to struggle down running OSX alone.

 

[joe-h2o]

And with Nvidia GPU you could game on 5K display?

EVERY benchmark that is in the internet shows that with getting resolution up, the better GPUs for handling it are the ones from AMD. Performance gap between Nvidia and AMD is big when we compare 1600x900. With every step up: 1080p, 1440p, and lastly: 4K, it erodes. In some games, at 4K AMD GPUs are simply faster, because they have more horsepower underneath their architecture tu push pixels through display. And there are coming 3XX series which will be even more difficult for Nvidia to keep at that resolution.

P.S. Every computer I have had in my life have had Nvidia GPU, and I have right now 6th computer.

No, but if you want to game at 4k+ you're not buying an all-in-one desktop - that's the point.

The Nvidia GPU combined with the 1440p panel was just fine. Certainly not the highest spec you could get (and certainly not the cheapest), but it was decent as a general gaming machine.

The retina iMac is not that - it just runs too hot, and the big selling point (the 5k screen) is wasted when you're not going to be driving it at anywhere close to that.

No one is saying that Nvidia can game at 5k, nor that we want to.

What we wanted was a cool and quiet iMac with a decent current gen GPU - that means the 980M. Performance while not being an oven (regardless of what the posted TDP figures are) is where Nvidia seems to have it nailed.

 

[Kendo]

Totally agree, I've been waiting patiently since I got my Haswell rMBP on day one... Now they release this utter ************!!!

To say I'm pissed off is an understatement, I was happily ready to buy a new rMBP today, I'm not throwing down £2k for another lame Haswell chip and AMD's inefficient dunk and terrible driver support.

Thanks Apple, off to see what the competition has to offer, extremely bitter.

Posts like this make me laugh. You're ready to buy a new computer when you already have an earlier Haswell? Do you even need one?

Also, what do you expect Apple to use in their new rMBP when quad-core Broadwell chips aren't out yet? Please go off to see what the competition has to offer, since they too cannot magically conjure up Broadwell chips out of thin air.

And judging by all the Apple products in your signature, you're not going anywhere. All talk and no walk.

 

[Jamalien]

If you think that's nuts look at the display output.

The 13" can do dual 4K out, while the 15" is listed as being able to do dual 2560x1600 max. That's not 4K that's 2.5K.

The 13" actually has better multi-display external support than the 15".

Just wow Apple. Looks like they just couldn't be bothered to do a proper redesign of the 15 inch motherboard. This sucks

 

[pizzabun]

I think this recent 15" rMBP upgrade will end the discussions (and expectations) that there may be a Broadwell based 15" rMBP launched/announced during 2015 WWDC. It looks like there will never ever be a 15" rMBP with Broadwells.

Just wondered where they squeezed out that one hour's extra battery life (9 hrs. for the recently announced models vs. 8 hrs. for the still Haswell based 2014 models which were on sale until today...)??? Have they somewhat increased the built-in battery capacity?

Now the big questions are that: when will they launch the Skylake based 13" & 15" rMBPs? Late in 2015 or during March 2016 (early 2016). Will these Skylake models still be housed in the current casing (which already is 4 years old, with the 2015 models) or in a completely new design? If there will be a re-design, will they improve the battery life even better or go for a "slimmer, lighter & sexier" casing (Apple's everlasting strategy) and keep the current (10 hrs. & 9 hrs. battery life for the 2015 13"/15" models) performance but decrease the built-in battery capacity after benefiting from the power saving features of the Skylake family?

Possibly another stealth update for the 15" MBP with Broadwell in march 2016.

 

[Quu]

What's wrong with the dual Ultra HD output that they did enable?

Well according to the specification page it only does dual 2560x1600 max.

It would appear it can do 4K or 5K output for only one display. But not two. The 13" Macbook Pro by comparison can run two 4K panels simultaneously.

Here is the relevant spec comparison from Apples website (13" on the left, 15" on the right).

EDIT:// I apologize, this information ^ is incorrect. It would appear that the /uk/ page and the /us/ pages are showing different specifications. The UK one has the incorrect display output support listed. The USA one shows this:

 

[b_scott]

Interesting route going to AMD graphics.
Why then, is integrated graphics still an option on the entry level 15' MBP - this is embarrassing in 2015.
At least they managed to get everything else right for this update - better battery, faster internal SSD, and force touch. Those on pre-retina will be very happy, unless you want to keep waiting until the potential skylake refresh.

because it's optional? more options > less options.

 

[827538]

You still not learning. 28 NM process from GlobalFoundries is not the same as it is from TSMC. GloFo 28 nm Process gives 20% more performance while having the same power envelope than TSMC's.

And M370 and M370X are two different GPUs.

GTX965 is not new silicon. Its the same 1024 Maxwell core die, from the same, old architecture, that has been for over a year now.


About the APIs. Mantle was created to limit the amount of work the companies like AMD, Nvidia, ARM or Imagination has to put in their drivers. All optimalization for games that will be built for Mantle, and every modern API will be in developers hands. Period to that.

Both my mistakes, I didn't realise they were using different foundries. Thought they were both on TSMC's now rather dated 28nm. Also didn't realise the M370 and M370X are two different chips, I'm always looking at the Nvidia desktop cards, I almost never look into AMD mobile chips, so I guess I'll just have to play the waiting game to see if it's worth the upgrade.

Stand by my comments that AMD is crap compared to Nvidia at keeping their drivers up to scratch.

 

[loekf]

Played more with the Apple store site:

- Interesting they removed the i7 upgrade for the baseline 27" (non 5k)
- i7 is still possible on the 5k
- Looks like they increased the price for fully SSD. Here in Europe, it used to be 500 euro for 512 GB SSD, now it's +600 euro !!
- 21.5" can still be upgraded to i7
- i7 seems to be back on stock. Shipment dates were 2-3 weeks.

I'm still puzzled why you would order a 5k with spinning 1 TB. If you can afford a 5k, then at least take a fusion drive. Also is there any performance impact if you have the 290 vs. 290X ?

 

[capuzino]

Well according to the specification page it only does dual 2560x1600 max.

It would appear it can do 4K or 5K output for only one display. But not two. The 13" Macbook Pro by comparison can run two 4K panels simultaneously.

Here is the relevant spec comparison from Apples website (13" on the left, 15" on the right).

Image

Well, according to these specs on Apples website, dual 4K is possible on both models.

 

[cbrand493]

Hmmm let me see...

3D Work - Such as?
Video
Compositing
2D animation
Illustration
Photographic Work
Spreadsheets - don't need 5K
Documents - don't need 5K
CAD - picked the wrong OS to buy into. You need windows and Quadro Gfx for that (so a Mac Pro with boot camp if you must have apple). Not to mention at 5K, it will lag like crazy, even with a M295X.
Work in General - don't need 5K.

Probably another dozen or so reasons too.

So as above you've listed 5 reasons why you would need 5K over the slightly above 2K that the non-retina 27" iMac has. Even then you would need to be at a professional level to truly need it. For example, an amateur photographer doesn't need 5k. A Nat Geo photographer does.

 

[koyoot]

Don't recall ever saying it could? You're trying to claim that the base 5K iMac is better than the dropped model, but other than the display, CPU is worse, Gfx is worse (base 5K has M290 NOT M290X!!), ram and HDD are the same. So why bother? For what most people will use it for, the dropped non-retina is a better option. Also, have you seen all the issues M290X (the top 5K model) owners have had with lagging UI at 5K? Can't wait to see the slower M290 go to struggle down running OSX alone.

Yes I did seen the problems with lagging UI. However - the problem is from software, and the way the system renders resolution, not exaclty the hardware.

Again. What exactly is the case of M290? Its the first time I see this GPU, anywhere. However just by the look of the lineup it must be between 896 and 1280 GCN cores. 1024 GCN cores possibly.

One thing that pops to my head. What, the ****, is going on with those GPUs? R9 M290 - never heard of it. None of databases show it. The same for M370X.