Intel's Processor Roadmap Leaves Uncertainty for Apple's 2014 Mac Updates

[DanCorleone]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Apple's ARM chips will be in Macbook Air's.

That's one of the reasons for making the 64-bit chip.

Just watch. WWDC2014

Or will there be an Apple "chrome-like" machine that uses ARM? First step in migrating these up the line... or at least threatening Intel so it keeps the prices low.

 

[katewes]

Regardless of whatever problems there are with using Intel chips in Macs, there'd be a bigger problem if Macs were to transition to a new chip such as Apple's A series -- because many of us need Intel chips to run Windows. I rely on some Windows software for work. This is not an insignificant feature of Macs - the ability to run Windows directly off the chip. So let's not get any funny ideas of moving away from Intel!

 

[Gudi]

No it's not. 17" simply has a lot more screen estate, fully independent of the resolution, than 15".

There is a scale setting in the 15" rMBP which provides pixel by pixel the exact same screen estate as a 17" MBP.

And I haven't even mentioned the 17" having more volume to possibly have a second HDD bay - which would be VERY useful to avoid having to use external HDD's as mass storage...

Dude! Apple even has removed the first HDD bay (present but not used) in early 13" rMBPs.

​

And you are asking for a second HDD bay? In a future notebook?

 

[MacLC]

alright ill bite. fireup netflix.com right now and do a binge watch of house of cards on your macbook pro (keep in mind it runs silverlight) and do the same on the ipad retina... see which one runs out of juice quicker and see which one stays cooler overall

I wanted to disagree with you so I looked it up. You are totally right.



23.5' room (74'F) and the surface was often around 39' (102'F) on the right side and top of the keyboard? I can't imagine a MBP being much cooler.

 

[Oldedit]

I'll upgrade when I can easily have 3 monitors

I use my MacBook Pro to watch the markets and news, work on spread sheets and monitor email. This requires 3 monitors. Today, I have to use two MacBooks to run two 27" monitors. That takes two track pads and keyboards. It's a mess.

Until Apple simplifies that, I'll consider switching to WinTel 8.1. iCloud is clunky and undependable, the iOS system is buggy and clunky. NO reason to stay with Apple. I've owned a lot of Macs and iPhones over the last 28 years. Apple quality seems to be going away.

 

[ihuman:D]

No way they will use ARM, since its far inferior to x86 in almost every way.

The 64bit chip has nothing to do with it except changing the architecture to support more efficient / faster performance for low level processing.

It's like telling Apple to go back to PPC, there is no way they would do such thing. It just not cost efficient and consumer friendly. Overall its a downgrade path, and not a small one either.

PS: Even Microsoft regret going after ARM with RT, it's essentially pointless and useless crap that does nothing but a Mobile Phone with bigger screen.

*cough*iPad*cough*

 

[fruitpunch.ben]

One way or the other I am hoping to see the MBPr updated. They seriously need to double their internal SSD to 256 GB for the low end model and double the RAM to 8 GB. At that point, I'm happy enough paying $1300. Not pleased with paying $1500 for brand-new.

I've been buying Apple products for 10+ years now. And I've noticed that it is very much Apple's MO to have their stock configs slightly less powerful than you'd hope/expect given the price of their products. Whether it's RAM, hard drive capacity, or similar, they will always under power the base config, to squeeze slightly more profit out of the clueless general consumer (who probably has no clue how much RAM is optimal, I've had friends in the past year come to me with Windows laptops with 3GB RAM. 3GB!) and to bump techies to the higher models which allow user configuration.

IMO it is a bit greedy, since they are high end computers and should come with high end specs to match, but it's not enough to switch me off Mac OS X. I'm pretty sure that by the time their stock configs include 256GB SSDs and 8GB of RAM, you'll be needing 512GB and 16BG. If you doubt that, look at the iMacs. The 21" model ships with a 5400RPM HDD!

Sigh, I've been holding onto my iMac late 2009 i7 waiting for the new mini. Guess I can wait until June.

I have to say, a 4.5 year lifespan for a computer is pretty depressing. Why don't these things die more quickly? Then I could get a new one faster.

I have the exact same computer. In 2011 I bought an Intel 320 160GB SSD on Black Friday, and following an iFixit repair document, replaced the DVD drive with it, with no trouble at all. The computer was then 10x as fast, because guaranteed your bottleneck is the HDD. Then I upgraded the RAM to 16GB 1333 MHz, the most it can handle. It's now blazing fast as ever. Easy as fast as my Macbook Air. I have the OS on the SSD and my iTunes, iPhoto and Movie library on the internal HDD, which I did not touch. Or you could combine the two into a fusion drive (instructions on Macworld) if you wanted, but I like to keep manual control of things.

You should do the same. I guarantee if you do that, you will not see much of a performance increase even from a 2014 Mac Mini (since the i7 processor was a great one, and desktop, and the Mac Mini one will be a mobile processor).

 

[ikir]

+1 I've been watching house of cards...and honestly, the experience is so much better on my iPad than my macbook pro. despite the macbook pro having a quad core i7 vs. the A6x chip on the ipad
the macbook pro gets hot on my lap, runs out of battery much quicker and takes more steps to do what i want it to do.

the iPad is quickly becoming my main computer.

You're not supposed to use a notebook on your lap or legs, they can't dissipate. iPad is not a computer, your Mac can do much more than you're iPad.

 

[Cougarcat]

I'm just hoping my 2010 MBP can last til I can get a retina air or "13 MBP for $1,200 or less.

 

[AppleScruff1]

You're not supposed to use a notebook on your lap or legs, they can't dissipate. iPad is not a computer, your Mac can do much more than you're iPad.

Why are they called laptops?

 

[Digital Skunk]

Their bread and butter are the iOS devices. They'll get to the rest of the lineup as they see fit, IMO.

Totally agree. Ever since the industry changed to mobile computing, and ever since Apple took the crown, their PC offerings have been nice, but nothing I'd swoon over like I did with the Powerbooks and PowerMacs of yore.

----------

the iPad is quickly becoming my main computer.

This is like saying: "My orange doesn't taste like a plum, so I'll just stick with my plum."

Not to offend, just that the MBP and iPad were made for two different reasons. Your iPad was built specifically for media consumption. Your MBP for heavy lifting.

While there are somethings the iPad can't do that your MBP can, there really isn't anything keeping most people from replacing or not ever buying a traditional desktop or laptop nowadays.

 

[Renzatic]

Why are they called laptops?

It's an ironic hipster thing. You wouldn't understand.

 

[AppleScruff1]

It's an ironic hipster thing. You wouldn't understand.

Evidently not. Someone called me a home turfer or something like that a few days ago. And before that an astroturfer. I actually thought I knew what a laptop was. Fooled again!

 

[techwhiz]

Sheeple (yes sheep/people) get a grip.
The days of PPC Macs were different than today.
The switch was because the power consumption/performance equation was off. PPC couldn't get the same performance per watt as an Intel processor. This became very apparent in laptops. The expense of developing server and laptop processors is huge. Ask Sun, now Oracle and AMD.

What we are seeing now is the limitation of process, architecture and verification.
It's getting more difficult to make things even smaller and smaller geometries challenge physics in not just being smaller but in controlling leakage.
You can make pipelines deeper to run faster but you need to get a certain amount of work done per clock cycle. So doing something creative with architecture will be key.
Verification of the design before tapeout was difficult before but as you add more hardware the problem grows significantly.

Now the whole ARM thing. ARM is not a Xeon class processor so the thought of replacing a Xeon or i7 with an ARM is just silly.

Apple is not dumping Intel. If Apple can't make a faster machine, neither can Sony, ASUS or anybody else.

 

[Renzatic]

Evidently not. Someone called me a home turfer or something like that a few days ago. And before that an astroturfer. I actually thought I knew what a laptop was. Fooled again!

I dunno what a home turfer is (sounds dirty), but we all know you're an astroturfer, Scruff. Hell, I've seen your paychecks.

Don't feel bad about the laptop thing, though. Up until some time last year, I thought they were called Little Bitty Table Computers. The name never made much sense to me, cuz I've seen them used on big tables before. I dunno. The whole thing's dumb.

 

[teknikal90]

You're not supposed to use a notebook on your lap or legs, they can't dissipate. iPad is not a computer, your Mac can do much more than you're iPad.

'iPad is not a computer'?

whoa

 

[pubwvj]

What will really happen:
Apple will switch to their own chip for the Mac's which will be compatible with what is used in the iOS machines and it will be able to offer low level just-in-time cross compilation of javascript, java, PowerPC and 68K to give us legacy support. This will unify Apple's programming development and their hardware development.

The new processor, called the SJ1, will be available in five flavors:

1. Ultra low power for sub-portable devices like watches, eye glasses, hearing aids, etc in one core versions.

2. Low power devices for hand held devices and tablets which are currently the iOS category in one to four core versions.

3. Medium power (10W to 30W variable power) for notebook and MacMini computers in one to eight core versions.

4. High power screaming be-geezy eight to 64 core chip for the iMac, MacPro and new server Sow which can hold eight of the 64 core chips at 2.8GHz each and still doesn't generate enough heat to keep your house warm in the winter here in Vermont.

 

[Gudi]

I'm just hoping my 2010 MBP can last til I can get a retina air or 13" MBP for $1,200 or less.

That day is called black friday. Go ahead!

 

[Chazz08]

Whenever there is a shrink to a smaller microarchitecture. Broadwell will introduce 14 nm.

Well then, I'd say I'm long overdue for an upgrade. haha. I've got a mid-2010 MBP.

 

[charlituna]

apple is sad...just sad...
apple should have a big update for each year rather than minor spec bump.

Maybe need to focus more on MP.

Most users don't buy a new computer every well. Every three, perhaps five. So it is a major bump for them.

Remember it's only the 5% that demands big every year. For any hardware. And Apple designs for the 95%

 

[Renzatic]

That day is called black friday. Go ahead!

Geez, Gudi. Might as well tell the guy to step out into oncoming traffic on the interstate for all the good that'll do him.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I dunno what a home turfer is (sounds dirty), but we all know you're an astroturfer, Scruff. Hell, I've seen your paychecks.

Don't feel bad about the laptop thing, though. Up until some time last year, I thought they were called Little Bitty Table Computers. The name never made much sense to me, cuz I've seen them used on big tables before. I dunno. The whole thing's dumb.

Careful, the big boss might be on. Sam, what's his name? :

Maybe that's why they call them notebooks now, less confusing. But I thought you put papers in a notebook, so that can't be right either. This is waay too complicated. It should be called an any relatively flat surface computing device. That way it covers tablets too.

 

[Renzatic]

Careful, the big boss might be on. Sam, what's his name? :

Maybe that's why they call them notebooks now, less confusing. But I thought you put papers in a notebook, so that can't be right either. This is waay too complicated. It should be called an any relatively flat surface computing device. That way it covers tablets too.

I'd go with Ultra Portable Processor Equipped Microcomputer Machine That Can Be Used Wherever A Relatively Stable Surface Presents Itself. Or a UPPEMMTCUWARS for short.

 

[xmichaelp]

Was hoping for a spec bump soon on the 13" rMBP. I need to upgrade from my good old 2006 white MB.

They're not even that old, you might be waiting awhile. I'd say just get one.

 

[Gudi]

I've been buying Apple products for 10+ years now. And I've noticed that it is very much Apple's MO to have their stock configs slightly less powerful than you'd hope/expect given the price of their products. Whether it's RAM, hard drive capacity, or similar, they will always under power the base config.

The problem is, we used to be able to upgrade RAM and HDD ourself with standard parts at market prices. Now that the RAM is soldered and SSDs are proprietary, we are screwed.