Doesn't the current MacBook Pro 13″ use a separate controller chip? The iFixit teardown seems to confirm this, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding the CPU support required.
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Doesn't the current MacBook Pro 13″ use a separate controller chip? The iFixit teardown seems to confirm this, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding the CPU support required.
The current chips are already dual core. Also we have no idea how well they can make x86 apps run on ARM. If for example FCPX takes a performance hit then they can’t use ARM chips. FYI the snapdragon 835 running Windows took a 50% performance hit.
Yes my wife has 2017 m3 and it sometimes feels even snappier than my 2016 13” Pro with Touch Bar (i5).
Typo, sorry about that. It's been fixed. Too many Apple notebooks with similar names.
Who needs actual power when the most important thing in a DESKTOP COMPUTER that’s plugged in 24/7 is thinness?
Yeah I don't understand why the 12" MacBook is so bloody expensive? It's got inferior specs compared to the base MacBook Pro yet costs the same...
Like what? The base MacBook Pro IS the better machine, and the only real advantage the 12" MacBook has its weight. But then again, it's not like the 13" MacBook Pro is heavy, not at all.
Apple's pricing is very weird and confusing. They should've had the 12" MacBook replace the Air and priced it accordingly.
Well, in the store I compared a 2017 m3 MB vs a 2017 i5 MBP, and the m3 never felt faster. But it felt fast enough.
Well, it's 50% heavier than a MacBook, and it's also more awkward to use in economy class on a plane, because of the footprint and height. Even Premium Economy.Imagine a 3lb laptop is “too heavy” for you
I dunno. I see coeds lugging around 5-7 lbs dell and windows laptops around to cafes and the library.
Shouldn't an adult male be able to carry a 3 lbs MacBook Pro with relative ease?
Shouldn't an adult male be able to carry a 3 lbs MacBook Pro with relative ease?
Imagine a 3lb laptop is “too heavy” for you
Remember back in the day when we had green screens?
Now for many people even the MB Air and earlier generation iPads are "unusable" and cause "eye strain".
What would these people have done back then? Stuck to pen and paper?
I remember being asked the same question a while back by my colleague and told her to buy a 3.5 lb business laptop when those were considered light. So she went shopping and her son convinced her to buy a 5+ lb gaming laptop. Within a year she had gotten rid of it and bought a new much lighter laptop.
3 lb isn't exactly heavy, but it's remarkable just how much lighter 2 lb feels. (I have a 3 lb 11.6" Windows laptop, but the 2 lb 12" MacBook just feels so much more pleasant to carry around.)
I have owned a 5 lb, 4.5 lb, 4 lb, 3 lb, and now a 2 lb laptop, and yes, it really makes a big difference.
But then again, I use my laptop for business applications. I don't do video encoding or whatever on it.
Plus, as mentioned, the footprint of the 12" is noticeably smaller. It's much easier to use on small tables, like on a plane.
Can't imagine working on such an underpowered machine but I suppose they'll be just fine for 99% of users who do web browsing, email, messaging, word processing, and other general stuff.
99% of MacBook Pro users could get by with that too.
99% of MacBook Pro users could get by with that too.
This is the funniest thing. Never have I heard of a 1lb difference being so exaggerated as "too heavy", "have to lug around", "weighs more than a blue whale that ate an elephant that chewed through a California redwood..." Wait a minute, this exaggeration thing, it's pretty fun. I think I'm going to join team Too Heavy.Imagine a 3lb laptop is “too heavy” for you
/clears throat
The MB is just perfect for on-the-go activity. It's just soooo light. The closest analog I can think of is aerogel.
On the other hand, I need a wagon to pull an MBP when I'm out.
I have too much self respect to pay $1300 for a Y series CPU. I just can’t do that. And I prefer to 2 holes to use a mouse while plugged in thank you very much.
I use an XPS 15 on planes in economy class just fine. Don’t understand the complain everyone here seems to have.
I never use a mouse with a laptop.
I use a mouse with my iMac though. And no, that mouse is not wired either. I no longer like to use wired mice.
BTW, the MacBook actually has two ports. However, it's one USB-C and one headphone jack. If they must keep it to just two ports, I'd rather they remove the headphone jack and add a USB-C port. That would make it easy to charge the machine and use an external USB-C device at the same time, without having to carry around a dongle.
I absolutely DESPISE 15" laptops on planes in economy class. Very, very cramped. 13" is OK, but not great. 12" is much more pleasant.
IMHO.
Functionality is so severely compromised the weight is irrelevant. The butterfly keyboard is not a real keyboard IMO. The lack of ports is a significant problem. The lack of screen real estate and the tiny fonts and icons are a problem. The lack of MagSafe is a safety hazard (hazardous for my wallet that is). Or cost hazard then.
None of the MacBooks or Pros have MagSafe.
Screen real estate is an issue for some people. Not so much for others. However, your comment about font sizing suggests to me you haven't really tried a 12" MacBook, because the font sizing is exactly the same on the 15" MacBook Pro as it is on the 12" MacBook. The pixel density on these two models is identical, at 226 ppi.
The keyboard on the 2015 and 2016 MacBook sucks. On the 2017 it's OK. It's still not awesome, but it's a major improvement over the 2015/2016.
Meh, again, the other 99% of users won't care. For the general user (which make up the vast majority of the market) this will meet their needs just fine.
People complain about these Apple machines and then wonder why they sell so well despite the complaints. The truth is very few need the power offered by a MacBook Pro or have the need to plug things into their machine. They'll be very well served by these offerings.
This is the funniest thing. Never have I heard of a 1lb difference being so exaggerated as "too heavy", "have to lug around", "weighs more than a blue whale that ate an elephant that chewed through a California redwood..." Wait a minute, this exaggeration thing, it's pretty fun. I think I'm going to join team Too Heavy.
/clears throat
The MB is just perfect for on-the-go activity. It's just soooo light. The closest analog I can think of is aerogel.
On the other hand, I need a wagon to pull an MBP when I'm out.
Life is hard. I have to use a wind fairing when I go for a walk. Too much noise and wind resistance otherwise. But the fairing was too heavy. Now I walk in my imagination.
Yes, to the extent your workload is bursty and makes maximum use of the turbo in a “race to sleep” fashion, the MacBook (esp 2017) can feel very responsive. Nice increases in max clock rate on the 2018 parts, too. It performs pretty well, unless you need a better GPU.
But under sustained CPU demands, you will bring it to its knees and will have to deal with the relatively slow base clock. But that’s to be expected from a 5W CPU.
The MacBook Pro line uses Intel's Alpine Ridge (JSL-6540) or Titan Ridge (JSL-7540) line of Thunderbolt 3 controllers (a separated chip) to allow the ports on the computer to support 40Gbps (TB3) or 10Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen 2).
The 12" MacBook simply uses the onboard USB 3.1 Gen 1 over Type-C (5Gbps) support in the CPU which does not require any additional support chips. There was no room on its motherboard for an Alpine Ridge controller when Apple released these computers.
Unfortunately, I believe native, meaning in the CPU itself, support for USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 over Type-C (10Gbps) will not be available until Cannon Lake 5w U-Series CPUs are released. Someone will correct me if I am mistaken. Intel's rather cavalier naming scheme for what qualifies as 8th Gen took what was reasonably well known and threw it out the window.
I am hopeful that Apple will release a 13" MacBook with a Titan Ridge controller and give us at least 1 (40GBps) Thunderbolt 3 port, but who knows.
Ohh, the MacBook lacks power. Ohh, it has only one port.. oh, who's it for.
I don't understand why people care. Just buy another laptop, its not for you.
I don't understand why people care. Just buy another laptop, its not for you.
Yeah, don't expect to do video encoding on it, unless it's hardware encoding on the GPU.
However, for most students and most business users, the performance is fine. I say this as someone who owned an Core i7-7700K iMac with Radeon Pro 580. For business use, that faster CPU really is completely unnecessary. I downgraded to a Core i5-7600 to reduce noise actually and that's what I use now but for surfing, 98% of the time the MacBook Core m3 feels about the same as the Core i5-7600.
I believe the built-in controller for Thunderbolt 3 likely won't arrive until Ice Lake. That would mean 2020 at this rate.