How much better will 2017 tMBP be?

[-BigMac-]

hey guys.
Looking at buying myself a new laptop after being in the desktop world for 5 years.

Would you buy a 15" tMBP now or wait til the 2017 version?

 

[doitdada]

Just replaced my desktop and not looking back. 2017 may give you 30 min of extra battery and 5-7% more CPU power. Not worth waiting for it. I prefer time over money. I appreciate "right now" in goods, as a MacBook or similar electronic products will never rise in price once you take it out of the box.

 

[caramelpolice]

No one really knows for sure. There are rumors, of course, but they are to be taken with a grain of salt.

Just in terms of raw CPU or GPU performance, Kaby Lake will be a very, very minor update (unless you reeeaaaally care about 4K Netflix, maybe, if Apple implements it in Safari), and there's no word on a new line of AMD GPUs anytime soon. From that perspective it's likely to be very underwhelming. There are some rumors that the 15" might switch to desktop DDR4 to support more than 16GB of RAM (a dubious rumor to me, personally) and Apple may possibly increase the battery capacity on all models a bit by using a terraced battery structure like the 12" MacBook uses.

Altogether I wouldn't expect a huge upgrade. If you need a new laptop now, the 2016 models are fine.

 

[-BigMac-]

No one really knows for sure. There are rumors, of course, but they are to be taken with a grain of salt.

Just in terms of raw CPU or GPU performance, Kaby Lake will be a very, very minor update (unless you reeeaaaally care about 4K Netflix, maybe, if Apple implements it in Safari), and there's no word on a new line of AMD GPUs anytime soon. From that perspective it's likely to be very underwhelming. There are some rumors that the 15" might switch to desktop DDR4 to support more than 16GB of RAM (a dubious rumor to me, personally) and Apple may possibly increase the battery capacity on all models a bit by using a terraced battery structure like the 12" MacBook uses.

Altogether I wouldn't expect a huge upgrade. If you need a new laptop now, the 2016 models are fine.

Just replaced my desktop and not looking back. 2017 may give you 30 min of extra battery and 5-7% more CPU power. Not worth waiting for it. I prefer time over money. I appreciate "right now" in goods, as a MacBook or similar electronic products will never rise in price once you take it out of the box.

Thanks so much guys! I'll go ahead and get it tomorrow. Is the 460 gpu upgrade worth it for light gaming or will the 455 be fine?

 

[leman]

Thanks so much guys! I'll go ahead and get it tomorrow. Is the 460 gpu upgrade worth it for light gaming or will the 455 be fine?

Worth it!

 

[Rapp]

Thanks so much guys! I'll go ahead and get it tomorrow. Is the 460 gpu upgrade worth it for light gaming or will the 455 be fine?

Id say yes as it will give slightly better fps and its the cheapest upgrade too. You wont be able to max graphic settings out though. I've had Warcraft running 80-90 fps on med-low settings on the 460. Once i cranked it up to max it was around 10 fps depending on the area.

 

[caramelpolice]

Thanks so much guys! I'll go ahead and get it tomorrow. Is the 460 gpu upgrade worth it for light gaming or will the 455 be fine?

Definitely worth it. Biggest upgrade you can get for it.

Id say yes as it will give slightly better fps and its the cheapest upgrade too. You wont be able to max graphic settings out though. I've had Warcraft running 80-90 fps on med-low settings on the 460. Once i cranked it up to max it was around 10 fps depending on the area.

That must be a Mac WoW port problem or something. I've been playing much more intensive games in Windows at higher settings and running them better than that.

 

[-BigMac-]

Id say yes as it will give slightly better fps and its the cheapest upgrade too. You wont be able to max graphic settings out though. I've had Warcraft running 80-90 fps on med-low settings on the 460. Once i cranked it up to max it was around 10 fps depending on the area.

was that mac or windows side? :O 10fps?

 

[Rapp]

Definitely worth it. Biggest upgrade you can get for it.



That must be a Mac WoW port problem or something. I've been playing much more intensive games in Windows at higher settings and running them better than that.

Yes the mac version.
[doublepost=1487153268][/doublepost]

was that mac or windows side? :O 10fps?

It was mac version on my 4k monitor with full everything, draw dist etc. Generally run on the laptop screen at 2880 x 1800 with no.5 settings.

 

[Wowereit]

Apple may possibly increase the battery capacity on all models a bit by using a terraced battery structure like the 12" MacBook uses.

Well, on the 12" it works well because it's wedge shaped.
The Pro is flat, maybe you could put a little bit of battery under/over the motherboard, but I doubt that Apple will do this. Probably too expensive for minimal benefit.

The 13" Pro will most likely get our typical 5 to 7% CPU and 0 to 30 minutes of battery life. Nothing to see here.
The 15" Pro will most likely get the same, but there is a possibility of a new GPU. If they'd switch back to Nvidia, 2017 might pay off. Better watt/performance ratio and CUDA, which would be great for many applications. So either uninteresting update or a great one.

4k 10 Bit HDR hardware decoding in Kaby isn't important to me and most people.
Before I would utilize it, we will talk about 2020 MacBook Pro vs. 2021 MacBook Pro.

 

[kbk75]

Thanks so much guys! I'll go ahead and get it tomorrow. Is the 460 gpu upgrade worth it for light gaming or will the 455 be fine?

Absolutely worth it, don't even think of the 455 if you plan on doing any gaming on it! Take a look at Adorama's site, that's where I got mine. I got a sweet deal with Apple Care and no tax since it was shipped outside NY.

 

[lambertjohn]

hey guys.
Looking at buying myself a new laptop after being in the desktop world for 5 years.

Would you buy a 15" tMBP now or wait til the 2017 version?

I'd wait. Why? Because with the second round of the newest Macbook Pro, hopefully Apple is going to work out all the little problems and issues. You think they're not reading these forums, taking note of all the little things people complain about with the new Macbook Pro? Absolutely they are. And they're going back to their engineers and product managers and saying, "hey, this issue is coming up constantly. Let's look into it and get it worked out for the next hardware update." So it's not about a faster CPU or better battery life, it's about reliability and build quality and a more positive user experience. That's what a good product manager/company does; they work out the problems and make every new version of a product better than the last. I'd wait, definitely. But it's your hard-earned money; do what you want with it.

 

[ZapNZs]

My vote is for buy now, and definitely opt for the 460 + AppleCare. If you don't absolutely love it (which you probably will), take advantage of the free return policy and then try with the 2017.

From what I have read, the 2017 seems more likely to be an incremental update rather than one that introduces 'must-have' new features.

 

[barkomatic]

Considering how expensive Macbook Pro's are I wouldn't buy halfway through the product cycle. I like to buy at or shortly after release. However, it's not like they're about to be updated -- probably. Apple has had a dodgy track record lately when it comes to timely updates.

 

[capelesshero]

I got a spec'd out 15" model; coming from a 2010 model was a complete "wow" factor. I am so happy with this MacBook I plan on running it until it fails which I hope will be a great while. The only reason I upgraded from my previous MacBook which is still running great is because it didn't support Windows 10 which is something I needed for the programs that I'm using. If you get the MacBook for what it is, a tool---you will be fairly satisfied. I think some people get it as a happiness machine and then get disappointed. The truth is, you probably can get any notebook and have it meet your needs. You just prefer something "better".

 

[Fishrrman]

I'm going to -guess- that there will be a "revision B" of the 2016 MacBook Pro's in late 2017 that will introduce some small improvements, along with the new CPU.

Perhaps it will include the "new" battery design that Apple had originally intended to use in the 2016 models -- but was shelved when it was determined it could not be ready in time.

The new CPU will bring the option of 32gb of RAM, if one needs it (I wouldn't).

Maybe they'll address some of the complaints about the keyboard.

Again, modest but useful improvements.

OP -- do you feel like waiting until October or November...?

 

[Sanpete]

The new CPU will bring the option of 32gb of RAM, if one needs it (I wouldn't).

Same option as with Skylake, DDR4.

 

[caramelpolice]

Well, on the 12" it works well because it's wedge shaped.
The Pro is flat, maybe you could put a little bit of battery under/over the motherboard, but I doubt that Apple will do this. Probably too expensive for minimal benefit.

The 13" Pro will most likely get our typical 5 to 7% CPU and 0 to 30 minutes of battery life. Nothing to see here.
The 15" Pro will most likely get the same, but there is a possibility of a new GPU. If they'd switch back to Nvidia, 2017 might pay off. Better watt/performance ratio and CUDA, which would be great for many applications. So either uninteresting update or a great one.

4k 10 Bit HDR hardware decoding in Kaby isn't important to me and most people.
Before I would utilize it, we will talk about 2020 MacBook Pro vs. 2021 MacBook Pro.

I agree with all of this, except that honestly, even an Nvidia GPU wouldn't be that much of a step up unless you're a Premiere user (and Apple wants you using FCPX). The only viable GPU candidate for the 15" Pro would be the GTX 1050, which is only around 20-30% faster than the Radeon Pro 460 in most things. Not bad, but not gamechanging. It's less of a step up than the 460 was over the M370X.

Same option as with Skylake, DDR4.

Yeah, this is why the DDR4 rumor seems unlikely to me. Apple had the exact same choice to make with the Skylake MBP - do we want more RAM, or do we want lower power consumption? - and they went with LPDDR3. Why would they change their minds and go to DDR4 this time? As Wowereit said, the gains the MBP would see from a "terraced" battery are minimal since the MBP has a more even shape. Even if they hypothetically did it, it wouldn't negate the added power consumption of desktop RAM.

 

[Sanpete]

Why would they change their minds and go to DDR4 this time?

It may be that Kaby Lake can use the RAM a little more efficiently, and that with other improvements, they might feel able to offer a decent battery life, maybe comparable to the new XPS 9560. But it will likely still be worse than other MBPs, so people will have that tradeoff. If it happens. The analyst who predicted this has been predicting it for a long time, first in connection to Cannonlake, if I remember right. But now Cannonlake looks more like 2018, so he's switched to Kaby Lake.

 

[jerryk]

Unless you need a notebook now, I would wait.

The 2016 has a lot of great features, but it is a Gen 1 device for the new hardware suite. As such, it is undergoing some typical issues with quality and the software catching up with the hardware. Later models will have many of these issues smoothed out. Also, by fall the 3rd party space for USB-C/TB-3 capable accessories should have more interesting offerings.

 

[maflynn]

Would you buy a 15" tMBP now or wait til the 2017 version?

If I had the money, perhaps but its hard to justify the price - at least with my money it is

As for the question if the 2017 will be better, yes I'm sure it will be incrementally better. They may improve the keyboard to gen 3, they update the touchbar. I'm pretty sure they'll iron out the issues with the battery and provide a larger battery as well. I don't think we'll see much changes, just minor updates.

Whether that makes it worth the wait is anyone's call.

 

[Sanpete]

I'm pretty sure they'll iron out the issues with the battery and provide a larger battery as well.

I'm not aware of any battery issues with the 15" that was asked about, but I agree the next one will probably be bigger.

 

[Ethosik]

Id say yes as it will give slightly better fps and its the cheapest upgrade too. You wont be able to max graphic settings out though. I've had Warcraft running 80-90 fps on med-low settings on the 460. Once i cranked it up to max it was around 10 fps depending on the area.

Well WoW is not a good game to test graphics performance with. My GTX 1080 on my gaming machine struggles on HIGH in some areas

I can play Doom 2016 on Max and get a constant 144fps - even at 2560x1440 resolution.

[doublepost=1487187132][/doublepost]

Definitely worth it. Biggest upgrade you can get for it.



That must be a Mac WoW port problem or something. I've been playing much more intensive games in Windows at higher settings and running them better than that.

Nope. WoW on Windows struggles sometimes with my GTX 1080.

 

[doitdada]

Thanks so much guys! I'll go ahead and get it tomorrow. Is the 460 gpu upgrade worth it for light gaming or will the 455 be fine?

Buy a PS4 or Xbox One instead. Boot Camp ain't worth the hassle.

Geekbench difference between my 2.6GHz and the 2.9GHz is 3.7%. The AMD 460 is a OK upgrade in terms of price, but beware of the extra battery it will use. Most of the battery issues and GPU failures are mostly 460 configs.

I have a baseline 2.6 with 450. Stays around 30'C (86'F) in temperature.

 

[caramelpolice]

Buy a PS4 or Xbox One instead. Boot Camp ain't worth the hassle.

Geekbench difference between my 2.6GHz and the 2.9GHz is 3.7%. The AMD 460 is a OK upgrade in terms of price, but beware of the extra battery it will use. Most of the battery issues and GPU failures are mostly 460 configs.

I have a baseline 2.6 with 450. Stays around 30'C (86'F) in temperature.

Boot Camp is very simple, actually. With how stupid fast this thing boots it takes all of thirty seconds to switch between macOS and Windows. All the Radeon Pros have ~35W TDPs, too. Power consumption differences are very minor.

I have a 460 model myself and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.