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We’re not going to launch phones together , we’re not going to release MacBook Pros together , we’re making it harder for consumers to buy the right product ……. Steve wanted simplicity, we want confusion and complexity…… ❤️ Tim
 
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Actually, that's often not been their strategy.

For instance, had they wished, they obviously could have released the M4 Max Studio at the same time as the M4 Max MacBook Pro, particularly since it used the same case as the M2 Studio. Yet they delayed it so they could release it at the same time as the M4 Ultra Studio.

I.e., you could just as well say "There's no reason to hold back the M4 Max Studio just because the M4 Ultra chip isn't yet ready". Yet they did hold it back. So there must have been some reason.

I'm not saying they will or won't hold back the base M5 MacBook Pro, just that Apple does sometimes does hold back product releases for non-engineering reasons.
Similarly the M5 Mini will probably be held until the M5 Pro Mini is ready.

I think the point is that Apple may have learned something when they launched M4 in the iPad Pro without also launching it in the base M4 MacBook Pro. They want Snapdragon X2 Elite laptop comparisons to be made to the MacBook Pro with its active cooling system, not the passive iPad Pro.
 
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Bummer if true my company was waiting till the end of the month to pull the trigger on new machines. Won’t be able to wait any longer on at least some as we are short.
 
I don't entirely understand who might buy a base (any generation) MBP. For the vast majority of folks, the Macbook Air is all the laptop they would need. But for "power" users - design, animation, engineering; the Max chips are the only way to go.
 
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If the basics pass you by then I can't help you. Remedial English comprehension might help you.
Hey, you're the one who said you would refuse to buy a thing that Apple doesn't release, not me.

Enjoy what you buy or enjoy not buying things you don't buy. Either way.
 
I don't entirely understand who might buy a base (any generation) MBP. For the vast majority of folks, the Macbook Air is all the laptop they would need. But for "power" users - design, animation, engineering; the Max chips are the only way to go.
The base MBP is essentially a nicer MBA: better speakers, better screen, better sustained performance because of the fan, more standard ports included. There is definitely a buyer for this.
 
If only a single model is going to launch now, don't think there will be any event. iPad Pro with M5 is also a very minor update. Will be nice if Apple releases a 16" MacBook Pro with base M series chip. Don't think that will ever happen though.
Why do you think they havent or wont release a base 16 macbook pro?
 
The base MBP is essentially a nicer MBA: better speakers, better screen, better sustained performance because of the fan, more standard ports included. There is definitely a buyer for this.
wish they would release a base 16 macbook pro
 
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I don't entirely understand who might buy a base (any generation) MBP. For the vast majority of folks, the Macbook Air is all the laptop they would need. But for "power" users - design, animation, engineering; the Max chips are the only way to go.

The base MBP, like the base MBA, is a great deal. It is a beefier MBA with a nicer screen. The vast majority of Apple laptop buyers don’t need Pro or Max chips.
 
I don't entirely understand who might buy a base (any generation) MBP. For the vast majority of folks, the Macbook Air is all the laptop they would need. But for "power" users - design, animation, engineering; the Max chips are the only way to go.
I have one. Price is a reason. It has HDMI and an SD card reader. HDMI is necessary for giving lectures. SD card reader is handy for camera data. Practicality over the MacBook Air.
EDIT: the base model doesn't have the extra 2nd USB-C (Thunderbolt) port. A 2nd port is very handy for connecting an external SSD.
 
I don't entirely understand who might buy a base (any generation) MBP. For the vast majority of folks, the Macbook Air is all the laptop they would need. But for "power" users - design, animation, engineering; the Max chips are the only way to go.
Well, what if their need can be satisfied by a base MacBook Pro? Considering MacBook Pro always have active cooling, while MBA doesn’t, sustained performance would be great? Also apple silicon has entered M5 stage, much better than M1.
 
What the crap are you doing, Apple?

Studio got M4 Max and…. M3 Ultra chips? Now M5 is going to come out without even Pro or Max? In a "Pro" laptop?

FFS… Just delay the chip until *ALL* versions are ready!

(Heck, Mac Pro still uses M2 Ultra! It hasn't even been upgraded to the Studio's M3 Ultra.)
Apple doesn't care for the pro market anymore. I am very disappointed. I returned to Apple with the Mac Studio and am very disappointed. I still prefer macOS over Windows but the hardware is irritating me.
 
Didn't they release the MBP with the base M4 before the Pro/Max versions? Why would this be a surprise?

Possibly confusing era where the M1/M2 MBP 13" used a different chassis than the 14" (comes with a Mn Pro/Max).

Merged MBP 14" for plain Mn and Mn Pro have typically gone at the same time.
 
I don't entirely understand who might buy a base (any generation) MBP. For the vast majority of folks, the Macbook Air is all the laptop they would need. But for "power" users - design, animation, engineering; the Max chips are the only way to go.

MBA and MBP differed on I/O historically also. For first several iterations the plain Mn chip didn't get you Thunderbolt and also somewhat neutered number of external displays.

Gap is smaller on M4 on I/O.

the MBP starts off with higher SSD capacity. Yes can add BTO changes to capacity on a MBA you order , but if just buying off the shelf in a retail store, BTO isn't really an option if want to walk out the door right away. The standard configuration that Apple tends to push for 'forward stocking' in stores have gaps in them on SSD and RAM . Pushes instant buy folks into upscaling choice if think they need storage. ( Apple BTO price mark up so high that that typically lower the gap between MBA and MBP also for even folks willing to wait to get delivery. )

Some folks hoard more data than others.


Three USB-C ports is better than two if have a number of USB-A devices need to use. Some adapters bleed into the space of an adjacent port. ( easier to put A-to-C adatper on side with just one USB C type port. Still have two USB-C ports left. Space blocking adapter on a MBA and you are down to zero. )

[NOTE: MBP 14 M3 edition still only had two ports. The classic MBA 13 was two ports.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/117735.

The display out grew enough on M4 to 'fix' that. ]
 
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M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are believed to to use TSMC's new SoIC-MH advanced packaging so that may be taking longer for TSMC to scale supply to support a formal launch of those SoCs.

The base M4 MacBook Pro is a pretty decent machine, so updating it to M5 in the holiday season could help secure sales from new Mac customers as well as upgrades from those running MacBook Pros with M1-M3 Pro SoCs who would find performance of the base SoC acceptable without needing to go to the M5 Pro.

There is a substantively longer line of folks ready to use N3P this Summer than there was for N3E last Summer and N3B the Summer before that. For example, Qualcomm X Elite 2 is on N3P. Just like Apple. Pretty good chance that Apple jsut doesn't have access to as many wafers now as in previous years. AMD is lined up early to buy N2. Nvidia is queing up to buy N3(?). It isn't going to get any better next year. Year after that ... again probably worse. (and even more probable if Intel 14A doesn't find a buddy to roll out with and gets canceled short term. And Samsung is still glitching a bit. If AI bubble hasn't burst even more so... even more players throwing money at TSMC for wafer slots. )

the larger Max gets less dies per wafer. Apple can make more with a finite supply of wafer by sticking to relatively smaller die variant.

The Pro variant using SoIC is a bit odd. ( it is in the reasonable size monolithic size range. ) . The last two iterations Apple has made the CPU core mix different in the Pro than the Max. Not sure why would want to shift back to exact same scheme for both if the Pro version was working economically when different.
 
I suspect you’re right that this is the real reason the M5 will be announced a few months before the M5 Pro/Max/Ultra chips. The new packaging allows them to separate the CPU and GPU cores, and I think RAM amounts, too, separately so that Apple can be more flexible on configurations for the higher end MBP’s. No longer would you have to get the maximum number of CPU cores just to get the GPU cores you want.

It’s just a far more sophisticated packaging, essentially ditching the vaunted System-on-a-Chip design. The new packaging allows separate CPU and GPU cores to co-exist in the same package, giving benefits for improved performance and energy efficiency. With the Pro/Max/Ultra, they will be separate chips but tightly bound together so you still get all the benefits of an SoC.

The Ultra already is two chips. Pretty unlikely that Apple is going to be able to stack CPU cores on GPU cores. So if coupled horizontally side-by-side this will be more like "UltraFusion 2" than something radically new if just fundamentally doing a function deposition on relatively hot CPU / GPU cores.

If Apple stacks I/O and/or cache vertically then really not decomposing. CPU and GPU cores.

There is a sizable "Apple has to copy what Intel and AMD are doing" meme out there. That isn't necessarily true this iteration. SoIC could be just confined to the variants of Max (and larger). Similar delay but not so much an impact on Pro.



Since it’s the first time they’re using this process, it is probably just taking longer. The M5, however, is designed the old fashioned SoC way.

For the size of the M5 chip ... it isn't 'old fashiuoned" at all. The An / An Pro dies sizes are even smaller and likelly even less outside the "old fashioned' label.

SoIC isn't going to be free. It is going to cost more in money , thermal contraints , and/or 2D package footprint area. Dribbling it all over everything isn't useful.
 
The Ultra already is two chips. Pretty unlikely that Apple is going to be able to stack CPU cores on GPU cores. So if coupled horizontally side-by-side this will be more like "UltraFusion 2" than something radically new if just fundamentally doing a function deposition on relatively hot CPU / GPU cores.
The new packaging method is not the same thing. The Ultra does not use the SoIC-MH packaging but uses an Apple interconnect layer to connect two packages. Whereas before, Apple had to use specific configurations when creating its silicon wafers, they no longer need to do so. The CPU, GPU, and memory are laid out onto completely separate wafers and are brought together within the same package in mix-and-match configurations. With the Ultra, you had two Max chips tied together with no flexibility whatsoever.

For instance, in A-series chips, you always had 4, 6, or 8GB RAM configurations for each phone chip, all of them burned onto a chip. Now you can create a 6-core CPU, mix with a 5 or 6 core GPU, and maybe put in 8, 16, or 32GB on it. Because the three are made separately, you can put whatever combinations you want into the mix. No longer must you have a 10-core CPU in order to get 64GB of RAM. You want to go cheap on the CPU but want max memory, you can now get an 8-core CPU and get 128GB of RAM if you wanted to. Or if CPU performance is more important to you, get the maximum 20-core CPU with just 16GB of RAM and only a 10-core GPU. Yes, I’m throwing out random numbers that most people may not think are realistic, but they are possible with the new packaging method. People would always complain that they had to get the maximum CPU just to get the memory they wanted. No longer would certain config items be grayed out nor would memory leap from 32 to 48GB happen just because you wanted to go from 8 to 10 CPU cores.

That TSMC process is new and hasn’t been used by Apple before. The likelihood of the delay till spring is because this process, SoIC-MH (System on Integrated Chips-Molding Horizontal) is so new. Benefits are pretty big since each portion of the chips are designed separately and will dramatically increase yields. Previously, if something went wrong with any component of the M- or A-series chip, they’d have to toss the entire chip. Now if something goes wrong with one portion, only that portion needs to be discarded.
 
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I'm a bit curious myself. Wondering how the M5 compares. My M1 pro 14" has held up well I don't use it for much more than just a daily driver and watch youtube and movies on. I have it on AppleCare One so wondering what happens if it keeps getting older and needs replacement.

I went m1 pro to m4 max.

Instantly, the single threaded performance improvement is massively noticeable. You'll notice it as soon as you log in and start opening/moving things around and clicking on stuff.

M5 generation will be an even bigger jump.

M1 generation is still a great performing daily machine, but the later M parts are faster again. And its certainly noticeable.
 
Fix the microscratches and dents Apple manufactures with their Apple Macbook Pros. Its outrageous that they keep selling it with these damages while HP making ten times cheaper screens are flawless.

Maybe some media outlet needs to call them out for this.

I've had plenty of defective and badly made HP and DELL machines.

Difference is, if its a PC you expect things like that and people don't complain about it. e.g., i have a work DELL on my desk (as a test machine) and from new its power button has been misaligned. Do i care? Not really, its a work machine.

And i think calling HP screens "flawless" is a bit of a stretch. They're generally pretty crap, unless you buy something that isn't actually "10x cheaper".
 
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