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Intel's Mobile Processor Roadmap May Force Graphics Changes for Apple's 15-Inch MacBook Pro in 2017

The only problematic Mac in the roadmap is 15" rMBP, which appears to have no choice other than going dGPU or discontinuing the line altogether.

12" rMB, 11/13" MBA, 13" rMBP are all fine as far as Intel is concerned, but for some reason Apple is being really dumb and is not updating their laptops in a timely manner (minus rMB).
 
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Crazy thought.. Is the Apple A11 chip powerful as a graphics processor? If so, add it to the books as a graphics processor, but with both CPU chips in there, the Mac could perhaps run some iOS apps - iOS is OS X-based after all.. This could help the inevitable mid-term future transition to Apple A chips being the primary CPUs for Macs once they perfect putting the macOS on the A CPUs..
 
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MacRumors said:
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Intel's Mobile Processor Roadmap May Force Graphics Changes for Apple's 15-Inch MacBook Pro in 2017
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This entire article's premise is based on the assumption Apple will release another MacBook Pro.

Given Apple's recent track record, I'm calling this a very poor assumption.
 
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Lepton said:
Crazy thought.. Is the Apple A11 chip powerful as a graphics processor? If so, add it to the books as a graphics processor, but with both CPU chips in there, the Mac could perhaps run some iOS apps - iOS is OS X-based after all.. This could help the inevitable mid-term future transition to Apple A chips being the primary CPUs for Macs once they perfect putting the macOS on the A CPUs..
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Why not just use AMD dGPU instead, of this crazy thought?

Why do Apple always needs to get stick, from forum members, for things that are not responsible for?
 
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Definitely for anything with a "Pro" in the description and price, then a discreet GPU is justified and they could use Skylake.

I do wish they'd go back to Nvidia for GPU's though. The iMac could truly use this, give us a GTX-1080m option. Nvidia is using their desktop GPU's in their mobile products this year, huge change from prior years where their mobile GPU's were truly lower end parts (not just clocked slower).
 
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It's time for Apple to switch to their A10 Fusion processors for the Mac lineup. The situation is very similar to 11 years ago, when Steve Jobs decided to switch from PowerPC processors to intel. And guess what, FUSION stands for merging iPhone/iPad A10 processors with the Mac. :)
 
Down the road lies Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality that are very GPU-intensive, integrated (Intel) graphics are from the past and present but have no future (in my opinion that is). If Apple leaves the Intel-path for ARM then this "Fusion" needs a lot more "Fusening" than today ;)..
 
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maflynn said:
Apple needs to do something, doing nothing as not helped them. Just sitting there waiting for Intel is not a good business strategy.
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I wouldn't be surprised if they have something else worked up in a lab. I mean, they were running intel chips while most folks never in a million years guessed they would ditch PPC.
 
So all bets are off for seeing Kaby Lake in the next refresh. Expect Skylake to be the norm for the foreseeable future of the 15" MBP.
 
asiga said:
Apple is quite anti-GPU these days. If an Intel CPU doesn't have adequate integrated graphics, it will be skipped, because Apple won't reverse the path taken against discrete GPUs.

I'd really wish that some major Apple customer would request a multimillion dollar shipment of Macs equipped with cutting-edge NVIDIA GPUs, but that kind of customers already moved to Linux. The main Mac user wears a watchie and chats with a phonie... that's the sad reality.
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What company needs that? Software companies don't need graphical performance unless they're a game company, in which case they're probably using Mac Pros.
 
Geurt said:
Down the road lies Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality that are very GPU-intensive, integrated (Intel) graphics are from the past and present but have no future (in my opinion that is). If Apple leaves the Intel-path for ARM then this "Fusion" needs a lot more "Fusening" than today ;)..
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Apple wont sell you a Mac to consume VR/AR. They'll rip you off with new iToys.

Apple Magic Reality!
Better than your life. Buy it now. Life.
 
mayuka said:
It's time for Apple to switch to their A10 Fusion processors for the Mac lineup. The situation is very similar to when the switch occurred from PowerPC processors to intel 11 years ago. And guess what, that's what FUSION stands for after the A10. :)
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I like the idea. There's a problem here though. Apple gets a huge amount of sales for Macs that are used as PC's because of the easy native Windows installation (not VM's). Going to a A1x will end that ability and kill those sales and based on what I see in companies, its not an insignificant amount of sales.

Sticking with Intel is not a bad option, but Apple needs to rev their Mac line with new parts, they've chosen to let it slide and here were are.
 
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rawweb said:
Seems smart to just return to dedicated graphics. Seems most people would prefer it anyway.
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That would seem smart, and Apple could even offer tiers of dedicated graphics performance--low end AMD for those cost-conscious people or those wanting better battery life, and higher performance AMD (or even better, nVIDIA) for those with deeper pockets and a thirst for top-notch graphics. You know, something to run the 5K display in the new Macbook Pro. ;)
 
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djang0 said:
So all bets are off for seeing Kaby Lake in the next refresh. Expect Skylake to be the norm for the foreseeable future of the 15" MBP.
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I think that was the expectation anyways, there has been a number of articles and rumors already that the kaby lake versions that would go into the MBP would not be out until 2017
 
rawweb said:
I wouldn't be surprised if they have something else worked up in a lab. I mean, they were running intel chips while most folks never in a million years guessed they would ditch PPC.
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Actually the PPC to Intel was the worst kept secret. I remember how there were so many rumors of Apple running two versions of OS X, PPC and Intel.

If Apple ditches Intel over this, I see no positives coming from this, they'll not sell more laptops (which is their goal), but less. I for one would stop buying Macs, as I need and want an intel based computer
 
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