Apple's Replacing My 2016 MacBook Pro After 3 Keyboards: What Can I Expect In Performance Gain?

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Hey All,

Apple's replacing my 2016 MBP after 3 keyboards / top case replacements. It's been a long time coming with multiple stops to the store and weeks without my Mac since getting it back in Nov 2016, right when the new models were let out of the gates. What was the recurring issue? The keys stuck and repeated inconsistently. First the 6 key, then the period, then spacebar and J key. The geniuses actually broke the J key's underlying mechanism trying to replace the keycap (they were able to fix the spacebar). Crazy right?

It just couldn't handle me working on it for 10-12 hours a day every day. I didn't really eat around it that often, although I can't say never. But damn it, I shouldn't have to quarantine my Mac to use it. I am a medical student and used this thing extensively and as my main resource to learn. I bought this Mac because I knew I would be using it hard and I needed something to handle what I was going to throw at it. It's been a tough experience with the downtime and essentially me losing all confidence that the machine was going to last.

They're replacing it with a 2018 MacBook Pro. I am so hoping the new generation keyboard is the fix I need for this issue. Thankfully, I'm not going to be spending 10-12 hours a day on it as that phase of my education is over and I'm switching to the clinic. Hoping it lasts.

OLD: MacBook Pro 15" Late 2016 / 2.7 GHz i7 4 core "Skylake" 6th generation / 16 GB DDR 3 / 1 TB SSD / Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

NEW: MacBook Pro 15" 2018 / 2.2 GHz i7 6 core "Coffee Lake" 8th generation / 16 GB DDR 4 / Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB GDDR5 RAM / 1 TB SSD / TrueTone Display

My question: what kind of performance gains do you think I can expect for the processor and RAM? Is this a significant jump? What about the drop in clock speed? I can't find info on it, but it doesn't appear the SSD speed has changed - am I wrong on this? What's the difference in video cards?

Usage: Photoshop CC 2018, Mail, iTunes, Photos, Office (viewing multiple files greater than 100 pages at a time), and sometimes upwards of a hundred tabs in Chrome. Also PDF Expert with several thousand page PDFs simultaneously. All of these are happening at once. So, not a huge power user, but can definitely put some pressure on my current 2016 MBP.

 

[Schranke]

This is a good update, especially for free. You can expect a good performance increase in work where you use more cores, and your RAM will be faster. The SSD speed is higher and the graphic is faster, meaning more calculations pr second.
Telling us what programs you use will give us a better idea of what you will see in performance difference

 

[ondert]

Lucky you! As I see they don't increase the gpu and cpu to the top and mid level. Also, which ssd capacity do they offer you?
Yes, 2018 models don't provide the optimal performance according to the cpus they got. However, they are still faster than 2016, 2017 models. Recently, people are talking about the " VoltA" thing to limit cpu wattage which seems to do great job, both increasing performance and removing throttle issues.

 

[ESA]

Det är exakt samma för mig! Ska få en ny 2018 modell också då min 2016 haft problem med tangentbordet flera gånger.

Har dock inte bestämt mig ännu för vilken jag ska välja.

Dock hade jag 2,9 GHZ på min, och begärde samma, så det var ok med en i9 för min del. Men vet inte ännu om jag ska ta en i7 ändå.

Jag beställde en bara för att testa som kommer på onsdag, känns den bra väljer jag den, annars blir det en i7.

 

[Schranke]

Det är exakt samma för mig! Ska få en ny 2018 modell också då min 2016 haft problem med tangentbordet flera gånger.

Har dock inte bestämt mig ännu för vilken jag ska välja.

Dock hade jag 2,9 GHZ på min, och begärde samma, så det var ok med en i9 för min del. Men vet inte ännu om jag ska ta en i7 ändå.

Jag beställde en bara för att testa som kommer på onsdag, känns den bra väljer jag den, annars blir det en i7.

As I mentioned earlier, giving us the programs you use will help us give a more realistic view of how the different machines perform for you. But from reading the forums the top i7 seems to do better then the i9 on the 2018 models.
Going from 2.9Ghz in your 2016 to the 2.6Ghz in the 2018 i7 will still give a way better performance even with the lover single core base frequency due to the extra 2 cores. But lets us know how the i9 work out for you.

 

[ESA]

I´m so sorry! I forgot to write in english.

Yes, because when you choose a new one to get, there is no return.
Therefore i wanted to test first. I asked if i can choose the i7 and get 32 GB in RAM for free, but no, I Couldn't.

I will test everything with Volta and so on. Meanwhile i test this I will send in my 2016 model to Apple. I need to have a laptop now in the summer, when I travel a lot.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Usage: Photoshop CC 2018, Mail, iTunes, Photos, Office (viewing multiple files greater than 100 pages at a time), and sometimes upwards of a hundred tabs in Chrome. Also PDF Expert with several thousand page PDFs simultaneously. All of these are happening at once. So, not a huge power user, but can definitely put some heat on my current 2016 MBP.

I'm actually afraid I'm going to lose some performance because I'm not using apps that can take advantage of all cores? I'm not sure what apps use all 6 and which don't.

Lucky you! As I see they don't increase the gpu and cpu to the top and mid level. Also, which ssd capacity do they offer you?
Yes, 2018 models don't provide the optimal performance according to the cpus they got. However, they are still faster than 2016, 2017 models. Recently, people are talking about the " VoltA" thing to limit cpu wattage which seems to do great job, both increasing performance and removing throttle issues.

Like for like: 1TB SSD in both, I'll add that to the post. How much faster is the SSD? I've been trying to find that and can't find it.

 

[Schranke]

I´m so sorry! I forgot to write in english

no problem, are you Norwegian? I do not se other nordic languages other than danish often, so note entirely sure which one it is
[doublepost=1532270741][/doublepost]

Usage: Photoshop CC 2018, Mail, iTunes, Photos, Office (viewing multiple files greater than 100 pages at a time), and sometimes upwards of a hundred tabs in Chrome. Also PDF Expert with several thousand page PDFs simultaneously. All of these are happening at once. So, not a huge power user, but can definitely put some heat on my current 2016 MBP.

I'm actually afraid I'm going to lose some performance because I'm not using apps that can take advantage of all cores? I'm not sure what apps use all 6 and which don't.


Like for like: 1TB SSD in both, I'll add that to the post. How much faster is the SSD? I've been trying to find that and can't find it.

If you could get 32GB of RAM it would be nice, the programs you use is not the most heavy in the CPU, but I expect they are more demanding on RAM. you will still have some heat, but not anything problematic. and you will see a performance improvement.
Do you still have your 2016 machine at hand? if so, could you open a typical workload and see how it affect RAM in activity monitor?

 

[ladelfm]

Hey All,

Apple's replacing my 2016 MBP after 3 keyboards / top case replacements. It's been a long time coming with multiple stops to the store and weeks without my Mac since getting it back in Nov 2016, right when the new models were let out of the gates. What was the recurring issue? The keys stuck and repeated inconsistently. First the 6 key, then the period, then spacebar and J key. The geniuses actually broke the J key's underlying mechanism trying to replace the keycap (they were able to fix the spacebar). Crazy right?

It just couldn't handle me working on it for 10-12 hours a day every day. I didn't really eat around it that often, although I can't say never. But damn it, I shouldn't have to quarantine my Mac to use it. I am a medical student and used this thing extensively and as my main resource to learn. I bought this Mac because I knew I would be using it hard and I needed something to handle what I was going to throw at it. It's been a tough experience with the downtime and essentially me losing all confidence that the machine was going to last.

They're replacing it with a 2018 MacBook Pro. I am so hoping the new generation keyboard is the fix I need for this issue. Thankfully, I'm not going to be spending 10-12 hours a day on it as that phase of my education is over and I'm switching to the clinic. Hoping it lasts.

OLD: MacBook Pro 15" Late 2016 / 2.7 GHz i7 4 core "Skylake" 6th generation / 16 GB DDR 3 / 1 TB SSD / Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

NEW: MacBook Pro 15" 2018 / 2.2 GHz i7 6 core "Coffee Lake" 8th generation / 16 GB DDR 4 / Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB GDDR5 RAM / 1 TB SSD / TrueTone Display

My question: what kind of performance gains do you think I can expect for the processor and RAM? Is this a significant jump? What about the drop in clock speed? I can't find info on it, but it doesn't appear the SSD speed has changed - am I wrong on this? What's the difference in video cards?

Just curious, how did you end up getting the 2018 replacement? Did they automatically offer it or did you have to bring up the issue with a manager and ask for a new one? I've had my 2016 MBP in for repairs 4 times now and asked for a replacement since it's clearly a lemon and they beat around the issue and repaired it. Also in the medical field and this thing is absolutely pissing me off with all the repairs it's needed. Thank god I bought apple care.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Guys, question: am I going to lose speed on some apps that aren't optimized for taking advantage of 6 cores? I am not totally sure how it works. I am currently clocking in at 2.7 GHz on 4 cores (6th gen), but 2.2 GHz with 6 cores on the new one (8th gen). What are your thoughts?

Just curious, how did you end up getting the 2018 replacement? Did they automatically offer it or did you have to bring up the issue with a manager and ask for a new one? I've had my 2016 MBP in for repairs 4 times now and asked for a replacement since it's clearly a lemon and they beat around the issue and repaired it. Also in the medical field and this thing is absolutely pissing me off with all the repairs it's needed. Thank god I bought apple care.

I did request it and thankfully the manager was feeling good that day. There's some gray area here, but I do know that after 3 repairs for the same issue, it can be deemed a lemon. If you've done 4 repairs, you're definitely in line for a replacement if it fails again -- but not until it fails again, though. Or just start eating over your computer In all seriousness, consider going through Apple Support via phone and ask to speak to a Product Specialist immediately when you call so you can work with the same person.

 

[ilikewhey]

i remember apple contacting me with a special upper lvl office when they replaced my cd drive 15inch with a retina couple years ago. it usually takes couple repairs and then you have to escalated stating reasons why another repair wouldn't be the last. apple warranty support is really solid, and i feel this butterfly keyboard fiasco is going to test apple's limit in terms of replacements

 

[borgranta]

Hey All,

Apple's replacing my 2016 MBP after 3 keyboards / top case replacements. It's been a long time coming with multiple stops to the store and weeks without my Mac since getting it back in Nov 2016, right when the new models were let out of the gates. What was the recurring issue? The keys stuck and repeated inconsistently. First the 6 key, then the period, then spacebar and J key. The geniuses actually broke the J key's underlying mechanism trying to replace the keycap (they were able to fix the spacebar). Crazy right?

It just couldn't handle me working on it for 10-12 hours a day every day. I didn't really eat around it that often, although I can't say never. But damn it, I shouldn't have to quarantine my Mac to use it. I am a medical student and used this thing extensively and as my main resource to learn. I bought this Mac because I knew I would be using it hard and I needed something to handle what I was going to throw at it. It's been a tough experience with the downtime and essentially me losing all confidence that the machine was going to last.

They're replacing it with a 2018 MacBook Pro. I am so hoping the new generation keyboard is the fix I need for this issue. Thankfully, I'm not going to be spending 10-12 hours a day on it as that phase of my education is over and I'm switching to the clinic. Hoping it lasts.

OLD: MacBook Pro 15" Late 2016 / 2.7 GHz i7 4 core "Skylake" 6th generation / 16 GB DDR 3 / 1 TB SSD / Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

NEW: MacBook Pro 15" 2018 / 2.2 GHz i7 6 core "Coffee Lake" 8th generation / 16 GB DDR 4 / Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB GDDR5 RAM / 1 TB SSD / TrueTone Display

My question: what kind of performance gains do you think I can expect for the processor and RAM? Is this a significant jump? What about the drop in clock speed? I can't find info on it, but it doesn't appear the SSD speed has changed - am I wrong on this? What's the difference in video cards?

Usage: Photoshop CC 2018, Mail, iTunes, Photos, Office (viewing multiple files greater than 100 pages at a time), and sometimes upwards of a hundred tabs in Chrome. Also PDF Expert with several thousand page PDFs simultaneously. All of these are happening at once. So, not a huge power user, but can definitely put some pressure on my current 2016 MBP.

The i9 is the one that will tend to throttle more noticeably. If you intend to do gaming on it you may see better performance with an external GPU.
[doublepost=1532304266][/doublepost]

Hey All,

Apple's replacing my 2016 MBP after 3 keyboards / top case replacements. It's been a long time coming with multiple stops to the store and weeks without my Mac since getting it back in Nov 2016, right when the new models were let out of the gates. What was the recurring issue? The keys stuck and repeated inconsistently. First the 6 key, then the period, then spacebar and J key. The geniuses actually broke the J key's underlying mechanism trying to replace the keycap (they were able to fix the spacebar). Crazy right?

It just couldn't handle me working on it for 10-12 hours a day every day. I didn't really eat around it that often, although I can't say never. But damn it, I shouldn't have to quarantine my Mac to use it. I am a medical student and used this thing extensively and as my main resource to learn. I bought this Mac because I knew I would be using it hard and I needed something to handle what I was going to throw at it. It's been a tough experience with the downtime and essentially me losing all confidence that the machine was going to last.

They're replacing it with a 2018 MacBook Pro. I am so hoping the new generation keyboard is the fix I need for this issue. Thankfully, I'm not going to be spending 10-12 hours a day on it as that phase of my education is over and I'm switching to the clinic. Hoping it lasts.

OLD: MacBook Pro 15" Late 2016 / 2.7 GHz i7 4 core "Skylake" 6th generation / 16 GB DDR 3 / 1 TB SSD / Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

NEW: MacBook Pro 15" 2018 / 2.2 GHz i7 6 core "Coffee Lake" 8th generation / 16 GB DDR 4 / Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB GDDR5 RAM / 1 TB SSD / TrueTone Display

My question: what kind of performance gains do you think I can expect for the processor and RAM? Is this a significant jump? What about the drop in clock speed? I can't find info on it, but it doesn't appear the SSD speed has changed - am I wrong on this? What's the difference in video cards?

Usage: Photoshop CC 2018, Mail, iTunes, Photos, Office (viewing multiple files greater than 100 pages at a time), and sometimes upwards of a hundred tabs in Chrome. Also PDF Expert with several thousand page PDFs simultaneously. All of these are happening at once. So, not a huge power user, but can definitely put some pressure on my current 2016 MBP.

You could probably game without an external GPU but may need use mid to low settings to keep the game running flawlessly.