Intel Announces Full Lineup of Kaby Lake Processors for iMac, MacBook Pro, and More

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

This is an idiotic argument. They get engineering samples precisely so that they can design for chips that "don't exist yet". They get design documents precisely so that they can design for chips that "don't exist yet".

Sorry. I wasn't clear.

While you are correct to an extent, there is still a lengthy "Qualification" process by Apple, where they make sure the PRODUCTION versions of the chip(s) ALL pass both Engineering QA, plus it takes a bit for the chip mfg. (Intel, in this case) to start providing large-quantities of a just-released chip.

Now, that we can (finally) get Engineering-Approved PRODUCTION Components, we have to get "Production" involved. Production Quantities have to be Ordered, Received, Qualified (yes, again! At least the first Order Received will be), Production-Samples of EVERY VARIANT of the Product have to be Built, Gone-Over with a Fine-Toothed-Comb both by Hardware and Software Engineering, Packaging and Production people. And then, any ISSUES that crop-up along the way have to be addressed, one-by-one, signoff-by-signoff, until the big Green "Go" Palm-button is pressed, and the Production actually starts to flow...

Oh wait. Somewhere along the line, "Agency Approval" Testing has to be done for EACH VARIANT of the Product(s) Involved. That ALONE can take MONTHS.

All these things add weeks and weeks and WEEKS to the process; and all this AFTER Intel's "Press Release" goes out.

To companies the size of Apple and Intel, Engineering Samples of a component and Production Units of a PRODUCT that USES that component are quite a ways apart.

Now multiply that "fun" by EACH VARIANT of the component that is used, and EACH VARIANT of the Product(s) they are used in.

I have several DECADES of experience Designing and Developing the hardware and software for over a dozen Industrial Control and Measurement Products. I have been "in" on this process (albeit on a smaller scale than an "Apple" would be) several times.

 

[Menel]

No.

v2 was Ivy Bridge (still sold in Mac Pro)
v3 was Haswell
v4 was Broadwell
v5 is Skylake, eta Q3-ish 2017.

? no...?

2xxx sandy bridge
3xxx ivy bridge
4xxx haswell
5xxx broadwell
6xxx skylake
7xxx per article is kaby lake

 

[macduke]

Nope

Yep.

The CPU in the MacBook Air is a 65nm Merom based Core 2 Duo, with a 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB and runs at either 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz. The packaging technology used for this CPU is what makes it unique; the CPU comes in a package that was originally reserved for mobile Penryn due out in the second half of 2008 with the Montevina SFF Centrino platform. Intel accelerated the introduction of the packaging technology specifically for Apple it seems.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2422

 

[Miguel Cunha]

Of the chips announced today, the 28-watt U-Series chips are appropriate for a future 13-inch MacBook Pro update

in the fall, we expect to see Kaby Lake refreshes for the MacBook Pro lineup.

Does this mean we have to wait another year for Apple to actually implement them?!

Late 2017 rMBP here I come!

Judging by Apple's lag, by the time they launch new computers, they'll already be outdated.

"Apple: Yesterday Technology, Today's Prices!"

 

[macduke]

You're wrong. It literally said "when compared to 2013 haswell chips."

I'm confused, I think the article was updated because I looked for a concrete comparison and the wording seemed to suggest what I wrote? Pretty crappy.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

Does this mean that MacBook Pros will finally get more than 16GB RAM?

The real question is: How much RAM will the default configurations have?

 

[Menel]

Judging by Apple's lag, by the time they launch new computers, they'll already be outdated.

"Apple: Yesterday Technology, Today's Prices!"

Yea seriously. Dell, Lenovo, etc etc all seem to keep up. Why cant Apple with 90,000+ employees keep up.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

Yea seriously. Dell, Lenovo, etc etc all seem to keep up. Why cant Apple with 90,000+ employees keep up.

In the end - when you're in the market to buy a computer - the reason is irrelevant.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Not for me. I bought a refurbed (not reimagined) 12 core "old" Mac Pro. It's like a Rolls Royce (not the embarrassing german one) and it flies. And I wasn't daft enough to waste cash on a 4 or 5K monitor either. No one can tell the difference except spotty nerds working in an Apple shop trying to make a sale. I am very happy working on a real Apple Mac.

Hey, the COOL thing is that you can actually put a VERY MODERN Video Card in that Mac Pro, and point a large middle finger at the world! Afterall, you are in possession of a rarity: An UPGRADEABLE Mac!!! Might as well take advantage of your good fortune!!!

I know this, because, a couple of weeks ago, I was helping out a friend diagnose an ailing 2008 Mac Pro with a bad video card (and a bad RAID drive), and before we decided to try sticking the video card (NVidia GTX8800) in the oven to fix it (which worked!!!), I found a site that specialized in recommending and selling "Mac-Flashed" Video Cards of VERY recent (like Present-Day!) vintage, for use in 2008-2012 Mac Pros. Both NVidia and ATi/AMD Cards (and maybe even others) were offered, and the site I found would even "Re-Flash" a "PC" Version of other video cards so they would work properly (show video) during the initial stages of OS X/MacOS boot-up.

Just do a little Googling for your "vintage" of Mac Pro, and you will be ASTOUNDED at the number of Options!

Even if you DON'T need 4k, it sure is nice to have a video card that can handle a "Pro" video-load.

 

[PortableLover]

17' mbp with xeon mobile

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Yea seriously. Dell, Lenovo, etc etc all seem to keep up. Why cant Apple with 90,000+ employees keep up.

Because some companies don't take Quality as seriously as Apple.

And that is really the long and short of it.

 

[44267547]

Maybe worth holding on a bit till things 'settle down'?

I'm not sure what you mean? Are you referring to the wait until the March Keynote?

 

[dragje]

And no word about new MacPro's.... ? Pfff well, if Apple stops with producing MacPro's then I'm done with Apple. Simply put, I've no choice then since I need powerpc's. I prefer OSX but like I said, if Apple doesn't come with a new MacPro then I'll figure out a PC workstation instead and conclude that Apple is truly not a manufactury building really powerfull PC's...

Let's hope that Apple will suprize me in march....

 

[sigma7]

Tip: Ryzen.

 

[DevNull0]

So now we know what CPUs will be in the late 2018 MBP models (starting at $3999 for the 13" with no ports of any sort -- inductive charger sold separately for $2999 but most users will only want to stare at the unpowered marvel of modern design and brag about it using their iPhones)

 

[Immiddx]

Maybe Apple could underclock any performance gains out of them and that way they can shave another 0.2mm off everything. Happy days!

Why are you such a miserable person?

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

New CPUs aren't going to convince Apple to make new Macs, unfortunately. Apple's way too full of false pride. There have been PLENTY of new CPUs being released over the years, yet Apple still hasn't updated the Mac Pro OR delivered an iMac with powerful specs.

So, show me the Xeon that would provide more power than the one currently in the Mac Pro.

And what do you consider "Powerful Specs"? The iMac is a MIDRANGE All-In-One. As such, it has some heat-dissipation constraints that dictate the CPU "power".

Do I think there ought to be a product between the iMac and the Mac Pro? Yes; but I don't think there is as large a market for that product as you think, and at this point, Apple is content to let the Hackintosh Community fill-in that (much smaller than you think) gap.

Apple's not stupid. If they saw that the Hackintoshes were becoming more of "a thing", they might consider filling that market niche with either an "iMac Pro", or a slightly less-powerful Mac Pro model.
[doublepost=1483485583][/doublepost]

Okays now that's what I'm waiting for: the new Dell XPS 15

Yeah. Have fun with THAT POS.

Oh, yeah. And Windows 10...

Mwuahahahahahaha!!!

 

[coolfactor]

Everybody here is really negative, but I'm a huge Apple fan and regardless if Apple is slow to updating their Macs, Macs are still everyone's preferred desktop machine.

Macs still are preferred, but Apple continues down a path that people are concerned about. It seems that Apple is trying _too_ hard to lead the industry, at the expense of usable, affordable computers. Remember that a change in ports can be a costly expense for users that need to buy adapters, new cables, etc. Buying the computer is quite often a big enough expense to absorb for many. I still have a perfectly good Firewire 400 drive (working for 8+ years), but I can't connect it to my newest Macs, so I need to buy new equipment. Should Apple have kept Firewire 400 around all this time? No, but that's an example of how Apple's push to reduce (both in size and ports) has a cost and usability impact. There's a certain arrogance with Apple these days that's hard to ignore.

 

[apolloa]

Been reading on all the new laptops announced at CES, it seems that Kaby Lake laptops are coming out of the wazoo their are so many, plus a lot with Nvidia's new GTX1050 and 1050Ti graphics cards (I bet they beat the AMD 'Pro' 450 and 460 in performance), Dell has already updated the entire Alienware laptop lineup with Kaby Lake...

And Apple? If we're lucky I guess they'll upgrade to Kaby Lake in October? That should allow them to fully maximise the profit margin as per usual.
What was the point in launching a laptop in October if Intel and other manufactures were going to launch Kaby Lake now? Seriously what was the point....??? What they didn't think people could wait two or three more months on top the two years?

And as for those on here defending this claiming it's ok they aren't that much faster, that's fine, so you don't mind spending several THOUSAND of pounds or dollars for old technology when you could spend several HUNDRED for the latest technology?

Let's see what happens in a couple of months, but I won't be surprised in the slightest if Apple do not fit Kaby Lake into it's overpriced laptops till October.

Meh this is a good write up of Apples current Mac business:

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-mac-in-2017-the-last-gasp-for-apples-desktop

 

[marty11]

Yea seriously. Dell, Lenovo, etc etc all seem to keep up. Why cant Apple with 90,000+ employees keep up.

Watch bands and headphones.

 

[Stella]

*Cough* apple's - battery - graphics issues - *cough*

Some one has a short memory. Apple have had its fair share of issues with its MBP 2016s...

Because some companies don't take Quality as seriously as Apple.

And that is really the long and short of it.

 

[beaker7]

? no...?

2xxx sandy bridge
3xxx ivy bridge
4xxx haswell
5xxx broadwell
6xxx skylake
7xxx per article is kaby lake

I was answering a question about Xeons, which have a different naming/numbering scheme than the laptop parts.

 

[doctor-don]

iMacs haven't changed prices In years.

If the price increases in the newest MacBook Pros are any indication, the newer models will cost more. That was the point, in my opinion.

Does this mean we have to wait another year for Apple to actually implement them?!
Really wish Apple would keep up!

Cue the 'I'm waiting for......' comments....!

Maybe I'll actually.
At least, I want to actually.

Everybody here is really negative, but I'm a huge Apple fan and regardless if Apple is slow to updating their Macs, Macs are still everyone's preferred desktop machine.

No, not EVERYBODY's.

Anyone reading this headline is delirious if you think these chips mean any substantial upgrades to the iMac and Mac Pro. Any substantial updates are coming in fall 2017. Tim can preach all he wants about 'magic' products but Apple has put all of its eggs into the mobile space. Go ahead Tim, prove us all wrong.

Yours is the first reference to the Mac Pro, 3 years old now, although that last update wasn't much of an improvement.

–––––––––
Is that Kaby Lake processor named after the lake in Ontario north of Lake Superior?

 

[TigerWoodsIV]

The Apple 5K iMac image quality is astonishingly stunning. Puts a smile on my face every time I process photographs. The ACD isn't even close.

It's not just the higher resolution, but that in combination with a wide color gamut. It's Apple's two step long-term strategy across all devices. First, introducing retina displays. Second, expanding the color gamut (starting with the 5K iMac, and then the iPad Pro, iPhone 7, and 2016 MBP - and soon all devices). Together the result is incredible...

Definitely, the LG 5k I'm on right now also has the wide color gamut, and it's certainly noticeable. It's the best picture I've ever seen easily.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

I had it with intel. Where the hell is XEON PROCESSOR?!!!

I'm convinced that the Apple Mac Pro will soon be EOL'd due to lack of sales or more importantly the reason, lack of commitment. Mac Pro's on eBay will continue to rise in price. They are actually more valuable, flexible, productive, expandable without gimmicks than any of the new PRO that Apple has released.
Apple still doesn't have stable drivers for the Radeon 7950, the top of the line graphics card that they sold as an upgrade. Their solution was to just discontinue a portion of the affected machines, to just make it go away slowly.
Apple should start marketing its products at the CES, because they are turning into that kind of company.
Tim Cook has no vision for pro users, and possibly less respect for them than Steve Jobs did.