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AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
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.

I wonder if that abbreviation will catch on? I'm gonna try to memorize it.
 

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
Unfortunately this is true. We're not as important as the iToys.

It's probably a matter of profit, the lion's share comes from the iPhone and iPad. Mac sales are becoming a very small percentage of overall Apple sales. I don't think they are going to abandon the Macbooks, but I won't be surprised to see them become a bit more iOS device like, if that makes any sense.
 

KindredMAC

macrumors 6502a
Sep 23, 2003
975
219
+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.

Honestly if the iPad is becoming your main computer then you never needed a MacBook Pro to begin with. An i7 is overkill for you. You should be running an 11" MacBook Air then. It doesn't get hot like a Pro. The battery life is better and the screen is still bigger than an iPad.


I wonder if Apple would be further ahead by going back to discrete GPU's in these models again as a way of making up for the lack of processing power. Anyone who uses video or design software knows that a system with a discrete GPU will always trump an integrated chip.
 

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,092
8,629
Any place but here or there....
...

Some folks here mentioned Broadwell delays so seeing these means waiting longer. Whatever I get to replace my aging 2010 iMac I'd like to it have that chip. I'm leaning toward a Mac Mini as a replacement, but if the MBA goes retina I might choose that instead.

Hopefully my iMac will hang in there for a long while yet.
 

McBeats

macrumors 6502a
Apr 10, 2007
728
5
erf
If Apple does another CPU chip change to their own ARM, I'm going to be pissed. :mad:

But then again, so we really need faster chips at this point for the average Facebook, email, & Spotify consumer? Nope. We need more optimized software.

this x1000.
 

xmichaelp

macrumors 68000
Jul 10, 2012
1,815
626
Looking forward to a successor for the 17" MBP. And don't you dare say that Apple won't do it! They pulled something like this for the Mac Pro, making us think that it would slowly die off, before releasing the new vastly redesigned cylindrical model. Methinks Apple will redefine the pro laptop in the same way that they redefined the pro desktop :)

Apple didn't let you think the 17 inch MBP would slowly die off by not upgrading it though... they actually killed it. There's a difference.
 

SusanK

macrumors 68000
Oct 9, 2012
1,676
2,655
It's probably a matter of profit, the lion's share comes from the iPhone and iPad. Mac sales are becoming a very small percentage of overall Apple sales. I don't think they are going to abandon the Macbooks, but I won't be surprised to see them become a bit more iOS device like, if that makes any sense.


AppleScruff, it makes total sense. I'm a Mac loyalist but I do understand that Apple is a business and the iDevices are very important to the bottom line.

Thanks for the response.
 

Chazz08

Cancelled
Dec 4, 2012
560
105
Just curious - what do you do that makes a mid 2010 "long overdue" for an upgrade?

I have a late 2011 and man I feel like that thing still has looong legs ahead of it

I actually use photoshop and indesign. I also do gaming with my friends, but some games I can't play because the graphics card sucks.

----------

Mee too, a 13" with Core2Duo. That makes me how many cpu generations behind? I lost count. :D

haha. Same as me. I guess if I start saving now I might have enough to buy one with the broadwell chips when they come out.
 

mabhatter

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2009
1,022
388
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.

As you can see all INTEL offers are minor spec bumps anymore. Apple buys at the top end of the chip pool, and the gains just aren't there for having to reengineer a whole system for 10%. Desktops like the Mini don't need the power, the real reason for the power improvements is that the smaller dies make INTEL more money per chip. I have a 2009 MacBook and the only thing holding I'd back are crappy graphics because Intel hijacked the whole bus... For more money.
 

CausticPuppy

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2012
1,536
68
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.

Blame Intel. At least the other manufacturers of Intel-based laptops will be in the same boat (and AMD is falling way behind too). No wonder Apple is pushing forward to making its own chips.

They could offer some new GPU options in iMacs and 15" rMBP but that's about it.
 

Freida

Suspended
Oct 22, 2010
4,077
5,868
There is a scale setting in the 15" rMBP which provides pixel by pixel the exact same screen estate as a 17" MBP.

he explained it to you and you still didn't get it. Resolution is not the same as screen estate!!!! Just cause I can have 1920x1200 on 15" doesn't mean i'm getting the same 1920x1200 on 17". 17" wins by miles here simply as you have more screen estate!!! Otherwise we would all be having ipads as those can have even higher resolution. So, your browser window would shrink so much that you would not be able to read it. (i hope you will get it now)!

to the op about 17" - yes, please bring back 17" If they reduce the bezel etc. then the new 17" wouldn't even be much bigger and I would sell my 15" rMPB crap immediately!
 

Burger Thing

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2009
1,063
1,010
Around the World
There is a scale setting in the 15" rMBP which provides pixel by pixel the exact same screen estate as a 17" MBP.

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

I love my 17" MBP for video editing. But out of curiosity I went to an :apple: Store and played with the 15" MBP Retina and set the resolution to a scaled equivalent of the 17" and fired up FCP X, which was installed on the demo model. Compared to my 17" MBP it ran like crap - the UI felt sluggish.

I am not sure, if you ever used some professional content creation software, but if you did, you would have probably realized, that UI elements can get very small on a 15" screen (talking After Effects, Cinema 4d, etc)

By looking at the MP we might can seen where :apple: is heading. External expansion via TB, HDDs, etc, but with the 17" I like the fact, that I was able to remove the DVD drive to replace it with another HDD. 2 TB internal, really fast storage, which hold my video raw files and then some. On the road I don't have to mess with external HDDs - or external Monitors... :D
 

teknikal90

macrumors 68040
Jan 28, 2008
3,351
1,902
Vancouver, BC
Honestly if the iPad is becoming your main computer then you never needed a MacBook Pro to begin with. An i7 is overkill for you. You should be running an 11" MacBook Air then. It doesn't get hot like a Pro. The battery life is better and the screen is still bigger than an iPad.


I wonder if Apple would be further ahead by going back to discrete GPU's in these models again as a way of making up for the lack of processing power. Anyone who uses video or design software knows that a system with a discrete GPU will always trump an integrated chip.

I bought a macbook pro i7 because i am in a band and we use lots of synth that runs through as patches on MainStage 3. outside of that (and work), i use my iPad - hence it becoming my 'main' computer.
 

Constable Odo

macrumors 6502
Mar 28, 2008
483
268
The only mac that needs to be updated is the Mac mini anyway. The rest can go another 10 months without updates easy.

Agreed. I don't think Apple has any need to try to keep pushing performance boundaries for its core customers. Apple doesn't really seem to be competing with the Windows PC users at this point. I have a late model Mac Mini i7 2.3 GHz model and I'm satisfied with it but I did wish it came with a better GPU or a type of GPU that could be used by some video encoding applications to process things faster. I think for most users it would be deemed as satisfactory and I'll probably be using it for years to come like most of the Mac products I've owned.

I think Apple is more concerned about reliability than speed and is mostly focused on product margins. They always want to get back more than they put into a product. I don't see that as a problem for Apple satisfying the mainstream Apple product user.
 

Windlasher

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2011
483
111
minneapolis
What are you smoking ?

Aging? I know people still using 10 year old macs. I myself am still using a 2008 Mac Pro. 16 GB RAM, 8 Processors, and its still running like a bat out of hell. Macs do tend to last a lot longer as far as productive years so why should anyone worry. Apple knows, this and probably doesn't feel like it needs an upgrade avery year for every machine.
 

GregA

macrumors 65816
Mar 14, 2003
1,249
15
Sydney Australia
If Apple does another CPU chip change to their own ARM, I'm going to be pissed. :mad:

But then again, so we really need faster chips at this point for the average Facebook, email, & Spotify consumer? Nope. We need more optimized software.

iPad already has all this. And very optimised. So just add a keyboard to an iPad internals, at a similar size to the 11" MacBook Air.

iPad Air,
iBook Air,
MacBook Air.

11" MBAs already have the same

Apple's ARM chips will be in Macbook Air's.

It's possible they'd replace Airs entirely, or they could offer 2 options. My money would be on an iBook Air and a small bump to MacBook Airs in 2014, and discontinue MBA in a year when sales are low.

No way they will use ARM, since its far inferior to x86 in almost every way <snip> It just not cost efficient and consumer friendly. Overall its a downgrade path, and not a small one either.

iPads can already run pages, numbers, iPhoto, iMovie, Safari, Email and many many apps.

Or will there be an Apple "chrome-like" machine that uses ARM?
Yes it could compete with Chrome laptops very well.
 

Rafterman

Contributor
Apr 23, 2010
6,952
8,281
I just upgraded my 3 year old Macbook Pro 15 Core I7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD with a 15 inch Retina, 16GB with 512GB SSD. And the speed difference was minimal. In fact, the older system seemed faster more times than I would have liked after buying a $2600 laptop. I'm guessing most of it is from the fact that the Retina has to push a 2800x1800 screen.

But the reason I really upgraded was ports and radios. Out went USB 2.0, wireless N, bluetooth 3.0, a 256MB DGPU and Thunderbolt 1 and in came USB 3.0, wireless AC, bluetooth 4.0, a 2GB DGPU and Thunderbolt 2 (and a better battery life). Now, some stuff, like Photoshop now being able to run its 3D features, and having USB 3.0 and its wicked fast transfer speeds, are now possible.

Processors from 3 years ago are just as capable as what we can get today, but its the "side" features than sometimes force you to upgrade.
 

usarioclave

macrumors 65816
Sep 26, 2003
1,447
1,506
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).

I have a 256gb SSD + a 4TB drive and made a fusion drive out of it, so my disk is fine. My problem isn't the speed, my problem is external storage is slow. I want USB 3 + TB so I can offload a bunch of crap to externals without taking much of a speed hit.

For most of the stuff I do the machine is fine, but occasionally Aperture sort of bogs down. Plus once I top out my storage I'm SOL.

I should probably look more at a used Mac Pro than a Mini, except I can't stick a thunderbolt card in the cheaper, older ones.
 

DaveN

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2010
906
757
I guess it is too early to replace my 93 month-old MacBook 1,1! I guess I'll just get another battery and wait until Intel starts improving on its chips again. Thankfully I still have my Early 2009 iMac for the heavy lifting!
 

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2011
1,141
61
United States
Not really sure the main point of articles like this...

If people need a new computer, there are many acceptable products on the market right now. All are fine products. If people look into .1 GHz into making their purchasing decision, I question their actual need for a new computer.
 

Gudi

Suspended
May 3, 2013
4,590
3,265
Berlin, Berlin
He explained it to you and you still didn't get it. Resolution is not the same as screen estate!!!! Just cause I can have 1920x1200 on 15" doesn't mean i'm getting the same 1920x1200 on 17".
You're holding it wrong! 1920x1200 here and 1920x1200 there, is exactly the same. The rest is viewing distance, which is variable anyway.
Otherwise we would all be having iPads as those can have even higher resolution. So, your browser window would shrink so much that you would not be able to read it. (I hope you will get it now)!
What do you mean, "otherwise"? We are all having iPads and we all use them as browsers. The whole internet is getting optimized for touch. No, I don't get it. Because the 17" MBP never was a bestseller, the 13" was. And the 8" iPad mini is outselling them both.

On the road I don't have to mess with external HDDs - or external Monitors... :D
Instead you have to mess with internal HDDs and internal 17" screen in your 3 kg schlepptop*. You only have internalized all the trouble, you don't like to have externally. Next thing you add is an internal ODD. And than a FDD.

*(to schlepp + laptop = schlepptop)
 
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