Future Apple Silicon Macs Rumored to Include Redesigned 14-Inch and 16-Inch MacBook Pro, 24-Inch iMac, and Smaller Mac Pro

[CWallace]

You need more then 8 cores. I would think a compelling mac pro product would have 24-32 cores.

Depends on what you're doing with it. If Geekbench is to be believed, the M1 with 8 cores is faster than an Intel i9-9880H, which also has 8 cores. And Apple sells Mac Pros that start at 8 cores and plenty of folks are doing serious work on iMacs and iMac Pros with 8 cores.

 

[ValueArb]

I doubt they manufacture separate chips, rather have a single m1 line, and chips with faulty gpu become 7 core gpu models, and chips with faulty memory become 8 gig models. But some of it will be manufactured perfectly, and later disabled in the silicon or via the firmware to meet demand. I had AMD chips sold as single core, but with some luck you could unlock the second core in BIOS. And the same delivery time of 16 gig models suggests that maybe it's done in the firmware.

AMD isn't spending all that money to manufacture expensive multicore CPUS to sell cheap as downgraded single cores. There was something wrong with those chips that meant AMD couldn't sell them as multicore, just because people are able to unlock the second core via BIOS doesn't mean it doesn't have errors in it that average users might not notice in most daily usage.

Maybe their spreadsheet adds 7 to 7 and gets 13, but the users just assume it's an Excel bug.

 

[bklement]

AMD isn't spending all that money to manufacture expensive multicore CPUS to sell cheap as downgraded single cores. There was something wrong with those chips that meant AMD couldn't sell them as multicore, just because people are able to unlock the second core via BIOS doesn't mean it doesn't have errors in it that average users might not notice in most daily usage.

Maybe their spreadsheet adds 7 to 7 and gets 13, but the users just assume it's an Excel bug.

Yes, they did/do. It's cheaper than creating a separate production line. They do the same with Zen 3, only manufacture 8 core ccd's, and sell them as either 6 core or 8 core. Some of the 6 core ones have faulty cores, but not all. The only difference now is that they disable the good cores physically.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Mac Pro

Half the size = Half the price?
Half the size = Double the price?

Your guesses?

Assuming you actually are soliciting guesses, it’s a hard question to answer without knowing how they’re going to position/spec it. Could be anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. The closer it is to the Mac Pro in that regard, the closer it’ll be to $5,000.

In this case, size really doesn’t matter much (puns intended).

 

[MallardDuck]

If the ARM transition is consistent with the PowerPC to Intel transition (and so far it's been dead on, including new CPUs in existing form factors), the last major update to MacOS that will support Intel will be next years. After that Intel Macs will receive at least three years of OS updates for their last OS release.

But it's my impression that Apple has been extending their security updates for older hardware the last few years, which is why I say "at least three years". Wouldn't be surprised if Intel hardware gets closer to 10 years than 4 years of security updates.

That's a bit misleading - back then, they only had major releases every two years, not every year. So I'd expect at least four years of new OS's (basically until the last intel models are obsolete).

 

[MallardDuck]

Not with these cores, they are the fastest cores on any CPU and likely twice as fast as the cores on an Intel 24 core CPU.

To that end, they are also enormous, so while Apple will certainly release a version with more than 8 Firestorm cores, the question is how long it will take for them to build a SOC with enough transistors to support 8+ Firestorm and 64 or 128 Gb of RAM.

Number of cores isn't just about raw per-core speed, it's about the number of threads you can truly run at once.

 

[dopeytree]

The main thing about the pro configurations is the graphics cards upgrade options... I wonder how this will play out. as of yet we don't know much about the m1. Can it's GPUcores handle ray tracing etc? How does it stack up against the latest Nvidia & AMD cards?

 

[davidgtz]

I need a new iMac (21") but don't know when they will ever update, should I just pull the trigger on the ones available now?

 

[Emilbothe]

Really? I’ve just ordered the new MacBook Pro with M1 and I already feel buyer’s remorse before I even got it in my hands. Should I consider cancelling my order?

 

[aliensporebomb]

Compared to what? I3 machine?

God I hope not. I3 = garbage basically - in my opinion.

They kept iterating the phrase during the keynote as "faster than 90% of PC laptops sold today".

 

[Jimmy James]

The Mac Pro will be smaller because it will lose all of its expansion capabilities and won’t have a need for as much cooling and can use a smaller power supply.

Or it will be wildly more powerful. One of those.

 

[startergo]

God I hope not. I3 = garbage basically - in my opinion.

They kept iterating the phrase during the keynote as "faster than 90% of PC laptops sold today".

It looks they compared the MBP with the I7-8557U Intel Macs. So to conclude some tasks outperform 2.8 times that CPU.

MacBook Pro "Core i7" 1.7 13" Touch/2019 2 TB 3 Specs (2019 13" (Touch Bar, 2 TB 3)*, BTO/CTO, MacBookPro15,4, A2159, 3301): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "Core i7" 1.7 13" Touch/2019 2 TB 3. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

 

[LeadingHeat]

Compared to what? I3 machine?

Compared to the i7, 16GB RAM. This M1 chip is a beast.

 

[richinaus]

I would be very happy with the following [based on the M1’s]

14” MBP - at current 16” I9 speed with little fans and heat, with good battery.
Mac Pro mini - approx same level as a 16 core Ryzen and 2080 super.

also all current intel apps running native [is a long shot for me].

I will keep my pc’s for my windows work [which I cannot not do] but Macs all the way for my creative work.

 

[jayducharme]

Mac Pro

Half the size = Half the price?
Half the size = Double the price?

Your guesses?

I certainly don't think the M1 (or M2 by that point) version will be nearly the same price. I suspect it will be a difficult sell to pro users who have lots of peripherals that may or may not work with the new chipset. I think many will take a wait-and-see attitude. So if that's true, I suspect Apple would price the new Mac Pro around $2000 to encourage people to switch. But I'd be happy if the price were even less.

 

[ginuz]

If I understood well by the performance data Apple shared, the Unified RAM within the silicon performs in a different way from the RAM we are used to, mounted on the logic board. That's why they claims that the MacBook Pro is capable of running 8k streams within DaVinci Resolve (which is not optimized as FCPX and it's really not that fluid with video material, I can assure this as I regularly use it and I came from FCPX which was superfluid even on old laptops). I have playback issues on a Mac Pro 2013 and on a more recent iMac. So they showed a really powerful computer. So "only" 16mb of Unified Memory could not be such a worry as it performs way better than 32gb of regular RAM (where regular has to be read as "memory mounted on a logic board, separated from the chip). I am more concerned with the incompatibility of the internal GPU with expansions like egpu, that was a relatively cheap way to empower and update the Mac without changing it. Don't know if it's worth waiting for more improving or not as more likely the new machines could be out between June and next November...

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Mac Pro

Half the size = Half the price?
Half the size = Double the price?

Your guesses?

2/3 the price?

 

[Shivetya]

Compared to the i7, 16GB RAM. This M1 chip is a beast.

we have to wait and see. cherry picking applications and data is a long time tradition of companies trying to sell you something

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

According to fine print on apple website “Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction MacBook Air systems with Apple M1 chip and 8-core GPU, as well as production 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based MacBook Air systems, all configured with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD.”

And with the Intel MBA with heat pipe REMOVED! Yep, the 2020 MBA was deliberately designed with its heat pipe REMOVED to make the AS MBA comparison seem even better than it really is. Sneaky dog mongrels Apple have become. Love 'em, and hate 'em.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

The lid is thinner than an iPhone, I don't think it just cost saving, there must be a technical reason why then haven't put a 1080p camera.
Still, is a shame we have 720p on the Macbook. Apple could at least implement something in macOS to use an iPhone or iPad camera as a webcam for video conferencing, so you could put your phone next to the Mac, use the laptop for conferencing an still have a great video quality.

Other brands of laptops manage just fine with better cameras. They also manage to reduce bezels more, and have 4K screens. Apple is really dragging the chain on this part.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Thanks. I don’t get the snark. iPad Pros have surpassed many MacBook models in benchmarks for years. This is common knowledge so the performance shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Mac mini will be my first M1 to compliment my 16-inch MBP. I normally don’t own more than one Mac but I really want see what Apple’s cooking.

Just curious why you would own both a Mac Mini and a MBP? What are the different use cases? Why not run a desktop setup where you dock your MBP into it?

 

[MidwestMacGuy]

I'm confused on how to pronounce the word, Silicon. All my life I've pronounced it as if the last syllable is similar to con-artist. But now I hear the Apple crew pronouncing it like bacon. Seems so wrong to me. What's up with that?

 

[alexandr]

late second quarter or 3rd quarter... that's so not soon enough...

 

[deevey]

AI won't upgrade the megapixel count. Yeah it will have less noise and nicer colors but as good as the M1 chip is, 720p will always be 720p.

So broadcasting at the native resolution of pretty much every popular streaming video chat app.

At the end of the day built in webcams are just a convenience, not designed for "serious" work like twitch streaming or youtube broadcasts. Webcam images, even decent ones like the $100 Logitech c920 still look like a mediocre webcam image unless there is a really good lighting setup - my SJCam is a far superior all-round webcam despite it being an action cam.

Anyone serious about how they appear on webcam will be getting a decent external webcam, using their phone, or a proper camera e.g. GoPro, DSLR etc ..

Until the optics and sensors can be shrunk without sacrificing even more low light performance built in laptop cams will continue to be crippled unless we go back to 6mm thick screens again at which stage we can get the optics of a decent phone camera in there.

 

[calzon65]

To be fair, Intel is carrying baggage from the 1980's with the 8086/8088 instruction set. Lot easier to make big leaps when you start from an architectures that's 30 years newer.

You make a valid point that I don't deny ... but it's up to Intel to clean up its past baggage not Apple.