Key Takeaways of 2018 MacBook Pro vs. 2017 MacBook Pro

[Beachguy]

And the whining continues. Apple gave you EXACTLY what you kept asking for and you just don’t let up. Since 2016 it’s all been about 32g RAM and how the computer wasn’t fast enough. They’ve done it but of course it’s still not good enough for you. Then of course there’s the shock of the price. It shouldn’t be a surprise because realistically, you would be stupid and moronic to think that Apple would be dropping prices.

Yup. I was a griper, but these new ones impress me. Being married, I won’t be getting one for my birthday Saturday, but from what I see, they did a kickass job of updating. For the first time in a long time, I envy those buying new ones.

Now, about the Mini..........

 

[pl1984]

I am really trying to understand what people have against the Touch Bar so maybe you can help.

Some people like physical keys. Which do you prefer for lengthy typing: A keyboard or a touch screen?
[doublepost=1531438378][/doublepost]

This one is actually a pretty significant upgrade, much bigger than 2017. True Tone, T2 chip, even faster flash, faster/more RAM, bigger (probably redesigned) battery, ****ing biggest CPU upgrade since 2011, more VRAM standard. What other huge changes were you expecting?

Thank you AMD!

EDIT: Put correct post in first part of message.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

I'm curious about this too.. Wondering is the GPU is worth upgrading from my 2016 15" with the 460... I didn't upgrade to the 560 as I didn't feel it was enough of a performance boost, will this be?

Your 2016 MBP is still a perfectly fine, very modern machine. Why upgrade it already, after less than 2 years?

Unless you're a professional who can greatly benefit from those two extra cores, or desperately need 32 GB RAM, no good reason to upgrade really.

The 560X probably offers another increase in clock speed just like the 560 did last year, but it's still the same chip and won't be more than maybe 10-20 % faster than your 460, so don't worry.

 

[ambientdaw]

Ha ha. Headphone port. Who needs those? Not very courageous, Apple!

 

[smirking]

Some people like physical keys. Which do you prefer for lengthy typing: A keyboard or a touch screen?

I think you replied to the wrong post. I have no idea what you're referring to. I'm also a recovering keyboard fanatic with over three dozen keyboards so that tells you how I'd answer your question.

Anyone want to buy a keyboard or ten?

 

[luvbug]

In reality, you really need only one dongle (with a custom selection of ports geared towards your specific use case).

Then at your desk, use one usb c port for a monitor dock and another for the external GPU. Seems this is really what Apple’s vision of modularity entails. You have a thin and light laptop for productivity on the move outside, yet still be able to turn it into a desktop replacement at home with the right accessories.

Damn, now I'm questioning why I bought my 2017 27" iMac! I'd been using my 2012 15" rMBP, which I still have and still love, up to that point. As you suggest, I could have continued on with my MBP for another year, bought this new one, and set it up with an external monitor and dock for my desktop use. As it stands, I'll either buy the next iPad Pro 12.9" as a laptop replacement or wait for a MBP update with FaceID (say 15 months from now).

 

[dmille6]

My key take-away is that I have to sell my already over-mortgaged soul to get one and they will drop support in 6 years or less.

.. why would you expect or need more than 6 yrs support on a laptop? Does Dell or any other PC maker promise support longer ?

 

[pl1984]

I think you replied to the wrong post. I have no idea what you're referring to. I'm also a recovering keyboard fanatic with over three dozen keyboards so that tells you how I'd answer your question.

Anyone want to buy a keyboard or ten?

You're right, I did. How did that get in there?

 

[MrUNIMOG]

Haha. Funny you....Clearly you just writing for writing

What're you talking about?

How about referring to the points I made, no?

 

[notabadname]

. . . . A medium loaded Macbook is $3900 a fully loaded almost $7k ...really?

After being a long time Apple user, it is quite sad to see that Apple has become a telephone company, that does not care whatsoever about innovation.

Essentially now the most powerful Laptop out there. They “innovate” with the highly flexible USB-C ports and “Touchbar” which I have personally grown to love, Touch ID and (I think) the best touch pad with force feedback in the industry. So, lets see, you want them to be the same machines that the other manufacturers put out, or did you really mean that you want to see innovative? Oh, and the top model of the MacBook, not custom-built, is $2,799.00.
Add the 32G of RAM and make it $3,199. Sure, you can go crazy if you want - but saying a medium loaded MacBook is $3,900 is not accurate.

Here is a recent list of fastest laptops from PC Magazine - notice an absence of i9 processors. I think the new MacBook if pretty cutting edge.

 

[smirking]

You're right, I did. How did that get in there?

It's kinda chaotic here. One wrong button and a whole chain of replies go off the rails.

 

[pl1984]

It's kinda chaotic here. One wrong button and a whole chain of replies go off the rails.

I edited my post to put the correct text and person in it.

 

[reden]

When is Apple going to release something people can actually afford?

I don't think Apple has ever been in the business of offering their products at charity pricing.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

I would also love to have a better grasp of the GPU performance on the new 13” model... anyone ?

Probably depends on the application or game. Some might benefit greatly from the Iris 655's doubled eDRAM (128 MB) over the Iris 650's while others won't as much. The GPU itself is the same, just clocked a little higher (if you take the i7).

 

[luvbug]

I think removing MagSafe is one of those “mistakes” which has to be made. The whole point is that usb C is so versatile that it can be used for anything. MagSafe can only be used for charging. Why not replace MagSafe with another port which can be used for other purposes when not charging?

Just to be clear, USB C is a connector spec, nothing more. Thunderbolt 3 is the functionality/protocol running over the cable that provides the versatility you reference. Not trying to be an ass, but other folks may get confused.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

... Phil, is that you?

I see you got the hint

 

[Mr. Dee]

Its fun speccing it out on Apple.com. Now I know what its like to be Kylie Jenner.

 

[Mydel]

What're you talking about?

How about referring to the points I made, no?

Your only point is justification of Mag Safe removal. I am standing on the position that it should be kept. I have all of Apple computers that are currently on sale (except of iMac Pro). And I dont see any advantage of charging port removal. USB C is inferior at all fronts. Its only, have no charging light etc. Sure there are some pseudo replacements but parts sticking out are not acceptable. Its just bad design. Same way lightning connector is 100x better than USBC

 

[code-m]

Another opinion that will be unpopular around here: What if actually most people who have them appreciate the feel of the new keyboards? Obviously those who dislike it are more vocal about it... I think this to be quite likely.

This one is actually a pretty significant upgrade, much bigger than 2017. True Tone, T2 chip, even faster flash, faster/more RAM, bigger (probably redesigned) battery, ****ing biggest CPU upgrade since 2011, more VRAM standard. What other huge changes were you expecting?

It seems to me all the complainers have pretty selective perception..

If someone is in the market for a “pro” laptop that runs macOS, what option do their have? If someone does not like the keyboard Gen 1,2 or 3, what option do they have? Carry around a Bluetooth keyboard.

TrueTone is fine, SuperRetina and ProMotion would have been great. T2 chip only reaffirms that Apples in-house SOC will eventually power its own entry level laptop in the near future. Faster Flash, I have yet to see a significant difference on a daily basis compared to my 2014 MBP. The increase in RAM and DDR4 was way overdue by a year if not longer. Battery efficiency is not quite where the industry should be, nothing major to see here. Quad-core on 13” model and Six-cores on 15” models, if a program you use does not take advantage of it, you are not going to notice a significant difference. More VRAM, yeah no biggy.

A Standard USB port, SDXC slot, HDMI ports would have been great considering there is ample of room for its placement.

Not a complainer when someone is considering spending “THEIR hard earned money” to purchase a perceived “Pro” Apple laptop. Your comments resemble those that come across as, “We should be so lucky for company/government XYZ to offer/provide us with anything.”

Oliver Twist: “Please Sir, may I have some more.” - Charles Dickens.

 

[jriskin]

So they made us wait this many years for 32GB waiting for LPDDR4 to be supported by intel and finally gave up and just used DDR4 ‍*facepalm*

 

[notabadname]

This new MBP paired with the Blackmagic EGPU may be the replacement I’ve been looking for on my Mid-2010 Mac Pro. And an LG 5K display. (Oh, and the iMac Pro Keyboard and Trackpad in Space Gray)

 

[sog1927]

When is Apple going to release something people can actually afford?

I've bought a bunch of similarly configured MBPs and Dells for my group over the last year (my policy for my group is that people can order the platform they prefer - saving a few hundred dollars over the course of a 4 year refresh cycle at the cost of reduced productivity is a false economy). The maxed-out Dells have typically been about $200 more expensive than the MBPs. Yes, they've had 32GB of RAM but I really don't see a price penalty for using Apple at the high end.

My main gripe has been the inability to purchase a configuration with sufficient RAM, and they took care of that today. The loss of the physical ESC key will be really annoying and I will sorely miss the MagSafe, but this is certainly sufficient to get me to pull the trigger on an upgrade (for which I'm 2 years past due).

Yes, at the low end you do seem to pay an unreasonable premium to run Apple (at least based on the hardware specs). I'm hoping they fix that this fall.

 

[luvbug]

All I’m saying is Apple’s excuse back in 2016 was BS and we now see all it needed was 10% more battery. If there’s anything specific that I’m missing please state facts, I’d like to know.

What you're missing is that 2 years ago they couldn't fit 10% more battery in the case. The T2 chip goes beyond the T1 and replaces a couple other discrete controllers. That, and probably some other downsizing of components in that timeframe, made adding more battery capacity possible now. Just sayin'.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

Your only point is justification of Mag Safe removal. I am standing on the position that it should be kept. I have all of Apple computers that are currently on sale (except of iMac Pro). And I dont see any advantage of charging port removal. USB C is inferior at all fronts. Its only, have no charging light etc. Sure there are some pseudo replacements but parts sticking out are not acceptable. Its just bad design. Same way lightning connector is 100x better than USBC

I agree with you on exactly one thing, namely your last sentence. Lightning is way superior to USB Type C, for mobile devices that is. For Macs, the capabilities of the USB Type C connector make it the only suitable choice.

What I'm saying is, you don't really need MagSafe the way Apple designed the charging cable. It slips out easily while other cables and adapters sit tightly.

Advantages of MagSafe are charging light and simply being MagSafe, while advantage of USB Type C is everything that I mentioned, mostly it's versatility. I don't want MagSafe on my MBP which I can charge (and have done so) everywhere from any USB power supply I find or even my portable battery to extend mobile usage.

 

[smirking]

And the whining continues. Apple gave you EXACTLY what you kept asking for and you just don’t let up.

I made the mistake of peeking at this thread because I thought people would be happy for a change. Maybe a guarded happy, but definitely not doubling down on their gripes.

Now I've got to find my way out of this rabbit hole so I can get back to work.