OP: It really depends on Maxwell(the next GPU architecture). It's been delayed just like Broadwell, so we might see a launch in Q3, where much like Ivy+Nvidia Kepler graphics where a match made it heaven.
There has been rumors that Intel will kill dedicated graphics by limiting the bus speeds for dedicated graphics effectively making dedicated graphics redundant. The rumor goes on that Intel will make "sacrifices" to cut off Nvidia.
They used a similar thought-pattern during the early Netbook days. Atom Netbooks came out and where affordable. Nvidia created the Ion graphics chip that gave these small form factor Netbooks the ability to game. Intel insisted that Netbooks was not intended for gaming, and more or less made it so Ion graphics and Ion 2 graphics never took off.
It was a stupid thing too, because early Netbooks where not equipped to handle HD videos smoothly, and even if they where it would be laggy.
Make no mistake. Intel intent to kill Nvidia. It's not about giving good performance. Iris Pro can't comfortable do 4K video rendering or anything like that, but Iris Pro is so good at everything else besides gaming, that there soon won't be justification for Apple to keep making dedicated graphics because they have never, and never will be a games focused company.
It's a weird situation. - Looking at this forum, the biggest controversities over the last years are related to the GPU, and specifically the requirements of gamers. Video editors and audio and image editors are not as picky and can work well on the new integrated Intel graphics. But not gamers. Hardcore gamers who want Apple are in a pinch.
And it's a strange transistion, as Steam has taken off on Mac and more and more games gets Wine wrapper clients making Mac games a much bigger thing. Adding to that, that the entire PC segment has seen a revolution in new business models like free to play(Planetside, Warframe, Path of Exile..) and not just PC gaming but PC gaming has a whole is taking over the living room, creating more income than hollywood now.
We still don't have any solid data on how many people actually purchase Macs with a major focus on gaming alongside the other activities.
It's also engulfed in frustration. Towards people who dislike Microsoft and their latest directions, or people who dislike the heavy bulky anti-mobile gaming notebooks that wheigh so much they might as well get a stationary PC, since battery and weight and dimensions are outright abysmal.
Then there is people like me who are power users and love the OSX ecosystem, but also the build quality. Gaming being a thing for me, I could perhaps have been persuaded to buy the Razer rip-off Razer Blade. A near carbon copy version of rMBP with a powerful graphics card.
Problem is lack of build quality - abysmal screen, mediocre audio, overheating and throttling, as well as questioning Razer as a service and reliance company based on their past peripherals like mice and keyboards and headsets that break. Not a good argument to invest over 2000 dollars for a product that is supposed to be a 3-5 year commitment.
In the end there is a lot of reasons why it's a good idea to keep dedicated graphics in rMBPs. But it might not be up to Apple. As long as Apple has Intel processors, Intel can dictate it.
Not only that, Apple is a major player in the advancement of Integrated graphics! Why? Because integrated graphics allows for slimmer designs, and more than any other thing - apple products from their phones, to tablets, to notebooks to even their desktop iMac, thinness is the biggest deal.
It's status, its design, it's about reducing the footprint making everything lighter.
Dedicated graphics goes against that.
But maybe Nvidia knows that? We don't know much about Maxwell. We don't know what we can expect. Maybe Nvidia have already given up on the laptop market. The 700 series is just a rebranded 600 series with slightly higher clocks. 750m is two year old tech. So it will be an interesting time.
i only hope to have ram unsoldered for that day
It won't happen. Even if they did make some new Ram Dim-slot standard it would take a long time before ram modules to appear on stores all over the world and be adapted by all manufacturers.
Secondly, and perhaps most crucially; all these companies have no reason to do this. They make so much money of it this way, and there is no competitor who want to do this.
It would require a tremendous amount of RnD. Both for ram and SSD. Just to make it user replaceable? That means people upgrade less often. That's not good business, if you are in the business of making money.
There is nothing to gain here outside more loyalty from aware customers(but I don't know how many laptop consumers actually care about upgrades) and just pure ethics. I am so cynical I don't believe any multi million dollar company cares about these things if it is not related to profit.
