The rMBP only has one TB bus, that is what keeps it from supporting 5K monitors.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Releases New 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Force Touch and $1,999 27-Inch iMac With Retina Display
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The rMBP only has one TB bus, that is what keeps it from supporting 5K monitors.
OK, I just pulled the trigger--bought the new 15 inch fully loaded, and a SuperDrive as well. Not because I needed that much power or capacity and not because of great design--but rather because:
(1) Apple is building all sorts of new solar plants in China.
(2) Tim Cook says his hero is Jimmy Carter
and (3) I want to watch the movie about Steve Jobs and feel like I belong to something so much bigger than myself.
(1) Apple is building all sorts of new solar plants in China.
(2) Tim Cook says his hero is Jimmy Carter
and (3) I want to watch the movie about Steve Jobs and feel like I belong to something so much bigger than myself.
If (and that's a big if with Apple) they do wireless charging at all, they won't do it with the MacBook Pro. Skylake uses Rezence, which is limited to 50W at 5cm. Even the 13-inch requires 60W.
Apple Releases New 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Force Touch and $1,999 27-Inch iM...
Yep I wanted Force Touch. I'm happy I'm getting it in the pro model so soon. I really think Force Touch alone should make this a no-brainer upgrade for a lot of people. It's the future of the trackpad and everyone will need it sooner than later.
You skipped the new Macbook for the Pro!? Based on which criteria did you actually compare these two laptops, that are obviously designed for completely different consumer groups?
Don't tell me it was the Force Touch though...
Yep I wanted Force Touch. I'm happy I'm getting it in the pro model so soon. I really think Force Touch alone should make this a no-brainer upgrade for a lot of people. It's the future of the trackpad and everyone will need it sooner than later.
Slower refresh cycles - anyone slightly relieved?
No doubt some people will be disappointed by the recent rMBP update, that didn't include a new CPU. This is not Apple's fault, clearly, as the Broadwell-H chips simply aren't available, and may never be.
However, it did give me pause for thought about whether the slowing pace of computer technology advancement might actually be a good thing....
Back in the late 80's & 90's we saw doubling or tripling of CPU speeds every couple of years, which meant large incremental performance improvements between CPU releases, and a bit of an "arms race" to keep up with the latest tech.
In the last 2-3 years with Intel's Core chips, incremental performance gains have been minimal, so there's been little incentive to upgrade between generations. Yesterday's rMBP release is a case in point - not much better (SSD and GPU performance excepted) than 2013 models.
I think we're naturally settling into a 3-4 year upgrade cycle, where you need to wait 2-3 CPU generations in order to get any worthwhile improvement.
This probably suits most people better than having the "stress" of wondering whether their shiny new computer will struggle to run software in the next one or two years. It also aligns with Apple Care (3 years) and many corporate laptop refresh cycles (my company allows new machines every 3 years).
I love tech advancement as much as the next nerd, but there's no doubt that for many of us the impulse to have the "latest and best" machine is an expensive addiction.
Maybe in a few years computers will just become another commodity household item (especially with more processing being done on cloud services) - much like your fridge or washing machine. I don't see many people getting exited by this years Electrolux or Westinghouse appliance....you just buy a new one when the old one becomes unreliable and can't be fixed.
No doubt some people will be disappointed by the recent rMBP update, that didn't include a new CPU. This is not Apple's fault, clearly, as the Broadwell-H chips simply aren't available, and may never be.
However, it did give me pause for thought about whether the slowing pace of computer technology advancement might actually be a good thing....
Back in the late 80's & 90's we saw doubling or tripling of CPU speeds every couple of years, which meant large incremental performance improvements between CPU releases, and a bit of an "arms race" to keep up with the latest tech.
In the last 2-3 years with Intel's Core chips, incremental performance gains have been minimal, so there's been little incentive to upgrade between generations. Yesterday's rMBP release is a case in point - not much better (SSD and GPU performance excepted) than 2013 models.
I think we're naturally settling into a 3-4 year upgrade cycle, where you need to wait 2-3 CPU generations in order to get any worthwhile improvement.
This probably suits most people better than having the "stress" of wondering whether their shiny new computer will struggle to run software in the next one or two years. It also aligns with Apple Care (3 years) and many corporate laptop refresh cycles (my company allows new machines every 3 years).
I love tech advancement as much as the next nerd, but there's no doubt that for many of us the impulse to have the "latest and best" machine is an expensive addiction.
Maybe in a few years computers will just become another commodity household item (especially with more processing being done on cloud services) - much like your fridge or washing machine. I don't see many people getting exited by this years Electrolux or Westinghouse appliance....you just buy a new one when the old one becomes unreliable and can't be fixed.
If tim were about helping people and not the commies, he'd be making his products in his own nation, The United States that invented all of this as well as industrializing communist china.
----------
Shipping trillions of industry to peasant nations has done this. Apple and others could invest in the USA if the elite would let them, there is a unseen hand.
Sometimes, however, Apple goes out and rethinks what we accept as norm. Case in point: the MacBook with its trackpad, 'impossibly thin' keyboard, and tapered battery design.
The CPUs are stagnant, I'll say for sure. There's improvement to be had with dGPU, and the upcoming AMD Zen CPU is looking quite interesting indeed. In fact, seeing that this refresh sports AMD graphics, I won't be surprised if they went for AMD CPUs in 2016 if it performs massively against Skylake.
Some update was better that none at all, the big one will come early next year, an all new design.
looks like iMacs have just gotten *******.
Crap! looks like iMacs have just gotten worse than even before. Seems they dropped the i7 processor. And no good video card options except for the most expensive new 5K Retina (who needs that?! Wasn’t 4K good enough?). And the video card options they do have are not good gaming ones. The i7, 4GB nVidia (non-Retina) iMac I wanted is no longer available. Bye bye Apple. Here I come Windows custom PC.
----------
Crap! looks like iMacs have just gotten worse than even before. Seems they dropped the i7 processor. And no good video card options except for the most expensive new 5K Retina (who needs that?! Wasn’t 4K good enough?). And the video card options they do have are not good gaming ones. The i7, 4GB nVidia (non-Retina) iMac I wanted is no longer available. Bye bye Apple. Here I come Windows custom PC.
----------
Last edited:
That makes 3 of us! My first MBP died unexpectedly. I was forced to upgrade, knowing a retina redesign was imminent.
I want a retina screen desperately for photo work, but the performance just isn't there. A brand new MBP is not all that much faster than my nearly 4 year old (Sandy Bridge) machine...which is insane!
Laughable in the face of this.
For $1499 you get
15.6-inch 10-point touchscreen IPS 4K UHD display
Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GTX 960M
ZENBOOK aluminum uni-body design
512GB PCIe x4 SSD and Thunderbolt connectivity
Premium sound design with Bang & Olufsen
And Windows 8.1 with free upgrade to Windows 10. Works out just great for anyone buying MBP to run Windows.
i don't quite understand what you're saying..
for reference, i hear you saying:
" they took away the option to upgrade.. you still have the option to upgrade.. but now it costs money"
(when it cost money in the past too)
..but i'm probably misinterpreting you.
Lots of complainers on here? Not sure what you guys expect Apple to do because Intel haven't released the new processors yet?
Personally I think its great that they have launched a new cheaper 5K iMac, because it could be a bargain once its updated to Skylake. Chuck in a 1 tb fusion drive and job done I think.
Personally I think its great that they have launched a new cheaper 5K iMac, because it could be a bargain once its updated to Skylake. Chuck in a 1 tb fusion drive and job done I think.
So, I'm becoming more convinced that we'll see Skylake refresh sooner rather than later. Skylake is comming 2H 2015.
Source
Source
My prediction is that Apple is doing the best they can to prepare their products for a massive upgrade and redesign cycle. I think between this fall and next spring every Apple product will get a major refresh of some kind. It's all dependend upon Skylake.
I can afford it though. Thats the thing, I could buy a three or even five 12 core Mac Pros tomorrow in cash and it honestly wouldn't change my lifestyle one bit. It has nothing to do with having the money to buy it. I'm not rich but im also not stupid with my money. If I can save close to 50% of the computers price by not going all SSD then I'm going to take that option especially when their isn't much of a difference in my usage. My iMac cost me $2300 including shipping and tax. It would have cost me well over $3,000 to go all SSD.
Obviously if i was making money off of my computer as a video editor I'd go for a SSD setup but thats not the case. I've had my Retina iMac for 6 months and haven't had the need for all SSD at all and this is coming from someone who uses SSD in their Mac laptop everyday.
The main thing keeping me from moving to Windows is, honestly, the trackpads on every laptop I've tried so far. The best ones don't come slightly close to Apple's, mostly in terms of two finger scrolling accuracy. And it's almost the most impactful component of a laptop for mobile users like myself. There are some other things too (like perfect compatibility with a phone), but that trackpad. Damn.
Plus I'm rich so I can afford to buy exactly what I want. But I agree, some Windows machines are starting to give Apple a run for their money because their build quality is finally approaching that of MacBooks, and they run hundreds to nearly a thousand less. The only reason ThinkPads fell behind IMO was because of the trackpad...
Good point, I missed that. I know the fusion drive is good but I prefer a pure SSD so it's not something that makes it any more desirable to me.
I will get a brand new replacement unit from Apple. Two weeks ago they decided that I will get the 2.5GHz MacBook Pro 15" with dedicated graphics (NVIDIA), but I haven't received the new computer yet.
I called them 2 days ago (before the upgrade) and was told that I most likely will receive it in the end of this week.
Do you think I will get the new one (AMD) or do you think they still have old ones in stock for replacement?
I called them 2 days ago (before the upgrade) and was told that I most likely will receive it in the end of this week.
Do you think I will get the new one (AMD) or do you think they still have old ones in stock for replacement?
Last edited:
Skylake CPUs for mobile will begin shipping late this year, but they won't be available in products you can buy before February of March of next near.
Intel's roadmaps and charts always refer to oem shipping, not public availability.
When they say you'd get a "brand new replacement" why would they do that? Was your unit DOA? Unless it was very, very new I can't see them giving you a 2015 model just announced today. Apple likely has a supply of repaired units, tested and certified as new, which they would be more likely to send.
Heck, in a couple days they'll have the 2014 refurb that I just bought and am expecting tomorrow -- its going back right away since I sprung for a 2015 model this morning.
My old MBP has been repaired 3 times (graphic problems) and they decided to do a "CRU" (Customer Replacement Unit) = I will get a new one in a box.
They decided this 2 weeks ago, they received my old MBP last week and when I talked to them 2 days ago they said that I most likely will receive the new one in the end of this week. That's why I wonder if they still have old ones left in stock or if I will get the new one with AMD-graphics.
The thing is, Intel has been very dodgy about saying exactly when Broadwell and Skylake will be released.
The latest reports is that Skylake will be released at IDF in August. Broadwell will be trickling out between now and then. In essence, Broadwell and Skylake are being released together, which makes it an interesting release cycle for companies.
NDA requires companies not to talk or advertise Skylake products until after IDF. So, the earliest we could see a Skylake refresh is after IDF, which would coincide with Apple's typical iPad event in the Fall
Whether we will is another question.