Don't buy intel mbp now ?

[Patcell]

My issue is i need virtualization which isn’t happening so fast with arm and x86 clients. I think Apple may continue to offer intel machines for longer than we think. I’m going to pickup a refreshed intel MBP (hopefully with 10th gen i9) whenever they release them - then i’ll wait out the transition and figure things out from there.

I tend to agree that Intel (x86) based Macs will be current for some time to come... for instance, the Mac Pro runs on professional grade Intel Xeon processors, and I doubt that will be switched to ARM for some time. I don't think Apple will have an A-series chip that can compete in that space for some time (i.e. longer than 24 months). And as long as there is at least one current Mac being sold with with an Intel CPU, there will be x86 versions of macOS released with all the new goodies.

Also, I am not really a tech person, but would it be an easy process for an ARM chip to be mated to a dedicated GPU via traditional PCIE connection? All the talk is about Apple SOC's, but even the famed A-series integrated GPU's are not going to replace the likes of the RP 5600M. To say nothing of the Radeon Pro Vega II GPU's available in the Mac Pro (with 32 GIGABYTES of VRAM per card).

 

[nikhsub1]

I tend to agree that Intel (x86) based Macs will be current for some time to come... for instance, the Mac Pro runs on professional grade Intel Xeon processors, and I doubt that will be switched to ARM for some time. I don't think Apple will have an A-series chip that can compete in that space for some time (i.e. longer than 24 months). And as long as there is at least one current Mac being sold with with an Intel CPU, there will be x86 versions of macOS released with all the new goodies.

Also, I am not really a tech person, but would it be an easy process for an ARM chip to be mated to a dedicated GPU via traditional PCIE connection? All the talk is about Apple SOC's, but even the famed A-series integrated GPU's are not going to replace the likes of the RP 5600M. To say nothing of the Radeon Pro Vega II GPU's available in the Mac Pro (with 32 GIGABYTES of VRAM per card).

Honestly I don't even know how Apple's SOC compares to mobile versions of dedicated GPUs - never really been my focus as I don't game much on my mac, but it seems to me the graphics in an ipad pro is pretty amazing.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Lots of people need to buy a MacBook now

So buy a pre-owned Intel one and keep money off the table as much as possible
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Like when Apple transitioned from PowerPC to Intel, Apple says they plan to complete this transition to macs with Apple Silicon in two years. However, in the PowerPC to Intel transition, it only took a little over a year to completely phase out PowerPC macs. I do not think they are going to waste any time. Apple does not want a prolonged period where consumers are confused about what to buy when.

Spot on

They are whispering sweet little nothings of "reassurance" to keep current sales going...but I firmly believe this transition will be swift and much faster than advertised.

I think it'll be great for consumers ultimately though. I think they are going to kill it with their own chips in use and they will flat out be way more desirable to have vs the older Intel options anyhow.
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I remember the doom and gloom of the PowerPC to Intel transition. The same is happening now. I for one am really impressed by the ARM chips. The FCP/LR/PS demo yesterday was impressive. Plus Apple has been using these chips for awhile on the iDevices. Yes, I am a tiny bit skeptical, but overall I am excited to see how powerful the upcoming MBPs will be. Also, my main working software is Adobe CC and they seem to be on track optimizing their apps. I am holding on my MBP 15" 2015 until the next generation arrives.

I'm right there with you..

Also...Apple would not be doing this transition if there weren't performance and quality of experience gains to be had - substantial ones.

 

[JPack]

I tend to agree that Intel (x86) based Macs will be current for some time to come... for instance, the Mac Pro runs on professional grade Intel Xeon processors, and I doubt that will be switched to ARM for some time. I don't think Apple will have an A-series chip that can compete in that space for some time (i.e. longer than 24 months). And as long as there is at least one current Mac being sold with with an Intel CPU, there will be x86 versions of macOS released with all the new goodies.

Also, I am not really a tech person, but would it be an easy process for an ARM chip to be mated to a dedicated GPU via traditional PCIE connection? All the talk is about Apple SOC's, but even the famed A-series integrated GPU's are not going to replace the likes of the RP 5600M. To say nothing of the Radeon Pro Vega II GPU's available in the Mac Pro (with 32 GIGABYTES of VRAM per card).

Other than gut feeling, why do you believe the complete transition to ARM will take longer than 2 years? Has Apple failed in silicon execution in the past decade?

There's nothing difficult about adding a PCIe controller to the processor. Other ARM licensees like Marvell and NXP already have processors with PCIe lanes. If Apple doesn't put a PCIe controller in A14, there are plenty of third-party controllers on the market.

 

[triangletechie]

Didn't Tim Cook say they will support Intel Macs for "years to come"? That sounds like....years.

 

[Patcell]

Other than gut feeling, why do you believe the complete transition to ARM will take longer than 2 years? Has Apple failed in silicon execution in the past decade?

There's nothing difficult about adding a PCIe controller to the processor. Other ARM licensees like Marvell and NXP already have processors with PCIe lanes. If Apple doesn't put a PCIe controller in A14, there are plenty of third-party controllers on the market.

You are absolutely correct; nothing but a gut feeling. I am not a tech person in any real sense. Thanks for the clarification! I didn't know if there was any limitation in adding dedicated graphics (of the caliber used in 16" MacBook Pro or Mac Pro), so I thought maybe that would slow things.

I am very excited to see what Apple does with their own custom chips.

 

[Tankmaze]

Didn't Tim Cook say they will support Intel Macs for "years to come"? That sounds like....years.

Yup, support as in hardware support i'm thinking. OS updates probably 2 more years until Apple goes full ARM OS and drop rosetta 2 support on the newer OS.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Didn't Tim Cook say they will support Intel Macs for "years to come"? That sounds like....years.

"Years" only means anything more than one single "year"

 

[ipos]

am still using a late 2014 mini, also undecided whether to buy a mbp now or wait till new mac with ARM

 

[Yebubbleman]

I still see ads for 2008 Mac Pros claiming to run Mojave and Catalina. So some models do have longevity. I still have a PowerMac G5 running Leopard? Maybe Snow Leopard. It's currently a stand for my mobile devices.

A 2008 Mac Pro doesn't have official support for anything past OS X El Capitan (10.11.6). You might be able to trick the installer to gain support for something like macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) (which will lose security patch support this fall when Big Sur is released), though I'd imagine that you will also need a graphics card that supports Metal to use Mojave or higher and not have the experience suck horribly.

 

[magbarn]

I think there are people who will want an intel based Mac so they can run windows and mac together. When I was working I had an iMac with parallels running windows and mac os together because some of the software I needed to use only ran on windows. I was copy and paste between the two vers having windows laptop beside my iMac. Also some network engineers used the mac run window, linux, SunOS,etc so they could network stuff with different OS's on the same machine. It is a niche need but it is out there
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Me too I have mid 2012 rMBP 15in. I was already to pull the trigger on a 16". Now I am just treading water. I do not think I can wait two more years but do not want a 1st gen computer

Keep that 2012 running as long as possible. I disagree with the notion that it will be easily to offload intel MacBooks once Apple stops selling them. I had a bear of a time getting rid of my 2005 G4 PowerBook 15 and Mac mini in 2007 when I saw the writing on the wall. I got $700 for a 2 year old $2500+ PowerBook 15 in 2007.

 

[Ethosik]

I think this is pointless. Even considering the best case scenario: all major commercial programs are made compatible right away on launch, then you should expect performance issues or whatever at least at the beginning. Not mentioning thousands of software that would never be...
So if you work with creative suites then the answer is obvious. If you don't(just basic stuff) then yeah, you could probably wait even if all the advantages would be less obvious.

I agree. I think to wait for all the bugs and everything to get ironed out, you are looking at a year AFTER the transition is done. I would not buy the first ARM Mac.

 

[fendushi]

I would not buy the first ARM Mac.

I, 100% agree with that statement!

 

[applesed]

I, 100% agree with that statement!

Due to software compat or likely 1st gen hardware issues, or both? : )

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Due to software compat or likely 1st gen hardware issues, or both? : )

I say both.

 

[jiholl]

Perhaps an ipad pro 12.9 with magic keyboard looks more attractive as one's "next computer" right now? lol or maybe not lol. Could be a good interim step ... certainly doesnt risk being unsupported during the transition.?

 

[magbarn]

Perhaps an ipad pro 12.9 with magic keyboard looks more attractive as one's "next computer" right now? lol or maybe not lol. Could be a good interim step ... certainly doesnt risk being unsupported during the transition.?

Definitely a 2020 iPad Pro is definitely going to get more iOS updates into the future vs. a 2020 Intel MBP which would be lucky to get more than 2 MacOS(OSX back then ha!) revisions that the poor G4 Owners like me got.
6 year old iPad Air2 is still going to get iOS 14

 

[jiholl]

yes, it now makes for an even more "interesting" choice...if one needs a laptop for mostly basic uses....is it better to go ipad route? I mean, I know I personally prefer the laptop form factor, but, has the playing field changed now that the intel machines will be "old school" ?...usable of course...but will one feel left behind?

 

[magbarn]

yes, it now makes for an even more "interesting" choice...if one needs a laptop for mostly basic uses....is it better to go ipad route? I mean, I know I personally prefer the laptop form factor, but, has the playing field changed now that the intel machines will be "old school" ?...usable of course...but will one feel left behind?

It depends on what kind of user you are. I like to always have the latest MacOS version. I have friends that are still on High Sierra. If you're like me, it's going to seriously bug that I probably won't be able to go further than 11.2 or 11.3 with my Intel Macs.

There's also workarounds that are available. I'm pretty sure we'll be able to hack Big Sur to work on my 2012 iMac. Once the Intel support is removed from MacOS, any amount of hacking won't fix that.

 

[pshufd]

yes, it now makes for an even more "interesting" choice...if one needs a laptop for mostly basic uses....is it better to go ipad route? I mean, I know I personally prefer the laptop form factor, but, has the playing field changed now that the intel machines will be "old school" ?...usable of course...but will one feel left behind?

I prefer a laptop for typing and virtual desktop and being able to log into work in a pinch.

 

[maflynn]

is it better to go ipad route?

Depends on your preferences, my wife would agree, an iPad for light work, such as surfing, me on the other hand would opt for a laptop ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[triangletechie]

"Years" only means anything more than one single "year"

So you actually think there's a chance that they stop supporting the $6,000+ Mac Pro in 2 years. I doubt that.

And when the CEO said years at WWDC, you actually think he meant 2?

I believe this was Cook's quote: "continue to support and release new versions of MacOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come." That does not sound like "yeah, 2 years and then you're screwed".

 

[magbarn]

So you actually think there's a chance that they stop supporting the $6,000+ Mac Pro in 2 years. I doubt that.

And when the CEO said years at WWDC, you actually think he meant 2?

I believe this was Cook's quote: "continue to support and release new versions of MacOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come." That does not sound like "yeah, 2 years and then you're screwed".

People paid that much for G5 Mac Pro's before the curtain came down in 2 years on them too.

You may be right or we may be right, who knows?

What we do know is Apple is never afraid to leave people behind.

It sure would be nice if Cook said "We have at least 5 years of MacOS updates coming for Intel Macs!"

That would allay many fears and would likely improve sales

The fact they were being opaque about it is why I'm worried for my $7000+ collection of 2 MBP's bought in the last 6 months.

 

[triangletechie]

People paid that much for G5 Mac Pro's before the curtain came down in 2 years on them too.

You may be right or we may be right, who knows?

What we do know is Apple is never afraid to leave people behind.

It sure would be nice if Cook said "We have at least 5 years of MacOS updates coming for Intel Macs!"

That would allay many fears and would likely improve sales

The fact they were being opaque about it is why I'm worried for my $7000+ collection of 2 MBP's bought in the last 6 months.

I don't think something that happened 15+ years ago has any relevance on today. Their Newsroom page has the same quote "Apple will continue to support and release new versions of macOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come, and has exciting new Intel-based Macs in development." I would be surprised if anyone read that and said it means 2 years.

 

[JPack]

So you actually think there's a chance that they stop supporting the $6,000+ Mac Pro in 2 years. I doubt that.

And when the CEO said years at WWDC, you actually think he meant 2?

I believe this was Cook's quote: "continue to support and release new versions of MacOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come." That does not sound like "yeah, 2 years and then you're screwed".

What does "support" mean?

New versions of macOS with new features? Or point release updates with security updates and bug fixes only?

New MPX modules? Or warranty replacement service only?
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I don't think something that happened 15+ years ago has any relevance on today. Their Newsroom page has the same quote "Apple will continue to support and release new versions of macOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come, and has exciting new Intel-based Macs in development." I would be surprised if anyone read that and said it means 2 years.

I'm surprised anyone thinks that means more than 2 years.

If Apple meant "more than 2 years" they would have said we will support "for at least 2 years."

"Years to come" is simply marketing speak.