Late-2014 rMBP what will be new?

[MacDevMike]

Totally agree with akdj's comments. ALL of them. There isn't much a rMBP can't do that I want to do. And to claim that the Pro isnt intended to be the portable version of a Mac Pro is ignorant. When you go on the Apple page, and click on performance, we see the unit editing Video in FCP, doing major Photoshop work, working with enterprise grade content creation apps.

To answer your question akdj, I have had the first gen rMBP and I was really impressed with it. In fact, the screen was such a shocking experience for me that it really screwed me up on other computers, they looked awful compared to the retina. The challenge I have (leman referred to me as obsessed with dGPU, which is probably fair...guilty on that one) is that the new 2013 rMBP with the pcie SSD's are SO fast that they can completely render most desktops an afterthought. The only bottleneck I run into is the GPU.

What happens to me is that when I run certain titles on a Windows bootcamp partition that are for fun, I was hitting fps problems. Some were at native resolution and some were at 1080p. These include titles like Metro: Last Light, Tomb Raider, etc. Diablo 3 I could get to run good at 1080 and your right its an awesome romp.

My thinking here was just that with these new Maxwell GPU's sporting 60 percent increase in performance, why would Apple throw that to the side and settle for a discreet GPU when they are charging me 3 grand for this computer? Because a rMBP with an 850 in it...they can have my money right this second.

 

[mcarling]

All this "can't be pro unless the GPU is on a discrete die" is such a perfect repeat of the "can't be pro unless the FPU is on a discrete die" from 25 years ago. Integration is progress. Embrace progress. Embrace integrated GPUs.

 

[827538]

Totally agree with akdj's comments. ALL of them. There isn't much a rMBP can't do that I want to do. And to claim that the Pro isnt intended to be the portable version of a Mac Pro is ignorant. When you go on the Apple page, and click on performance, we see the unit editing Video in FCP, doing major Photoshop work, working with enterprise grade content creation apps.

To answer your question akdj, I have had the first gen rMBP and I was really impressed with it. In fact, the screen was such a shocking experience for me that it really screwed me up on other computers, they looked awful compared to the retina. The challenge I have (leman referred to me as obsessed with dGPU, which is probably fair...guilty on that one) is that the new 2013 rMBP with the pcie SSD's are SO fast that they can completely render most desktops an afterthought. The only bottleneck I run into is the GPU.

What happens to me is that when I run certain titles on a Windows bootcamp partition that are for fun, I was hitting fps problems. Some were at native resolution and some were at 1080p. These include titles like Metro: Last Light, Tomb Raider, etc. Diablo 3 I could get to run good at 1080 and your right its an awesome romp.

My thinking here was just that with these new Maxwell GPU's sporting 60 percent increase in performance, why would Apple throw that to the side and settle for a discreet GPU when they are charging me 3 grand for this computer? Because a rMBP with an 850 in it...they can have my money right this second.

I totally agree with this. I know the rMBP is not a dedicated gaming machine but it handles gaming extremely well. I too played and completed Last Light on my bootcamp partition. After seeing the results of Maxwell and its ~50% boost in FPS it feels like it would really hit the sweet spot. Where I could go from gaming at mid 30 FPS to mid 50 FPS, really making gaming feel buttery smooth (please no idiot 60FPS is unnoticeable/unnecessary rubbish). I aim to sell my rMBP and get a Broadwell/Maxwell based one the day it comes out. Aside from that there's nothing else I really want in this laptop.
Only things I feel may come would be;
IGZO IPS display for a brighter and more efficient display
DDR4 RAM, would help some users but personally I doubt I would notice it much
Aside from that and the new CPU/GPU there's not much more to improve upon in my opinion. We should see a good battery life improvement, 14nm Broadwell + 20nm Maxwell.

 

[koyoot]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Schenker-S413-Clevo-W740SU-Notebook.98313.0.html

Read this review and later tell me if the iGPU gives you advantage in Battery life, temperature or lower power draw.

Apple will not ditch the dGPU from MBP. Not yet.

 

[SarcasticJoe]

This won't happen until DDR4 (i.e. Skylake). Making 16GB standard means that there will be no RAM expansion option at all - Apple will never do it

The chips in the current Pro actually support up to 32GB, so all Apple needs to do is introduce a 32GB option (which would naturally be even more expensive than than the current overpriced upgrade from 8 to 16GB). Here's Intel's own product specification for the CPU in the lowest end 15" Pro if you don't believe me.

 

[leman]

The chips in the current Pro actually support up to 32GB, so all Apple needs to do is introduce a 32GB option (which would naturally be even more expensive than than the current overpriced upgrade from 8 to 16GB). Here's Intel's own product specification for the CPU in the lowest end 15" Pro if you don't believe me.

Sure, but there are currently no DDR3 chips with high enough density so that 16GB DDR3 can be packed into one SO-DIMM (or 16 RAM chips). Currently, the 16GB model uses 32 RAM chips. A 32GB config would require 64 RAM chips - and there is no room for that in the current design. The RAM manufacturers have been trying to increase the density for years - without any success. This is one of the limitations DDR4 will be able to solve.

Now, there do exist high-dencity RAM chips which are created by DRAM chip stacking, but these are a) available in a very limited capacity b) quite expensive and c) do not work with Intel CPUs. You can read more about these modules in this article.

 

[mcarling]

Apple will not ditch the dGPU from MBP. Not yet.

The last remaining vestige of the discrete GPU will not be dropped from the MBP in 2014. It will happen either in 2015 or 2016. I guess probably in 2015.

 

[koyoot]

The last remaining vestige of the discrete GPU will not be dropped from the MBP in 2014. It will happen either in 2015 or 2016. I guess probably in 2015.

I agree with it. If Skylake GPU will make similar shift in terms of performance like Haswell did, then we will end up with iGPU that can achieve 6000 PTS in 3dMark11. And everything points that it will be possible for Skylake.

 

[mcarling]

I agree with it. If Skylake GPU will make similar shift in terms of performance like Haswell did, then we will end up with iGPU that can achieve 6000 PTS in 3dMark11. And everything points that it will be possible for Skylake.

I wouldn't count on the Broadwell MBPs to offer a discrete GPU. I would count on the Skylake MBPs to not offer a discrete GPU. However, if the high-end Broadwell MBP does include a discrete GPU, that won't keep me from buying one.

 

[koyoot]

I wouldn't count on the Broadwell MBPs to offer a discrete GPU. I would count on the Skylake MBPs to not offer a discrete GPU. However, if the high-end Broadwell MBP does include a discrete GPU, that won't keep me from buying one.

Like I said before on this forum, Im hoping for a config:

2.5 GHz Broadwell, 16 GB RAM, 768GB SSD, GTX850M OC'ed for 2399$. That will be the computer I will buy.

 

[MacDevMike]

Like I said before on this forum, Im hoping for a config:

2.5 GHz Broadwell, 16 GB RAM, 768GB SSD, GTX850M OC'ed for 2399$. That will be the computer I will buy.

This.

 

[mcarling]

Like I said before on this forum, Im hoping for a config:

2.5 GHz Broadwell, 16 GB RAM, 768GB SSD, GTX850M OC'ed for 2399$. That will be the computer I will buy.

Good luck!

 

[Bookshelf]

Minor differences

All they seem do is come out with products that are slight thinner plus a few
incremental improvements. Not much of a WOW factor since Steve's gone.

 

[leman]

All they seem do is come out with products that are slight thinner plus a few
incremental improvements. Not much of a WOW factor since Steve's gone.

This again... Let me refresh your memory then. Since Steve's death, Apple has introduced:

- the world's first ultra-high resolution consumer laptop
- the world's first actually passable implementation of resolution independence in an OS
- the world's first series of consumer device which utilise state-of art fast solid state storage with direct PCI-e connection
- the world's first high-performance workstation that manages to pack a Xeon + 2 high end GPUs in a form factor of a small garbage bin

Sorry if I forgot something

 

[MacDevMike]

If they kick out an Apple TV with Comcast apps I'm cutting the cord.

 

[827538]

This again... Let me refresh your memory then. Since Steve's death, Apple has introduced:

- the world's first ultra-high resolution consumer laptop
- the world's first actually passable implementation of resolution independence in an OS
- the world's first series of consumer device which utilise state-of art fast solid state storage with direct PCI-e connection
- the world's first high-performance workstation that manages to pack a Xeon + 2 high end GPUs in a form factor of a small garbage bin

Sorry if I forgot something

Just ignore the Apple doomsayers. They are either idiots or misinformed.

 

[nomanstool]

what's the estimate date for a mbp refresh is it sometime soon? I'm contemplating if I should wait or not.

 

[mcarling]

what's the estimate date for a mbp refresh is it sometime soon? I'm contemplating if I should wait or not.

The rumors point to a very minor refresh in or about September. I would buy now rather than any other time in the next 12 months. If you're willing to wait until summer of 2015, then it might or might not be worthwhile to wait for Broadwell.

 

[stevemiller]

The rumors point to a very minor refresh in or about September. I would buy now rather than any other time in the next 12 months. If you're willing to wait until summer of 2015, then it might or might not be worthwhile to wait for Broadwell.

i just took the plunge myself. if doing so ensures that by murphy's law, some massive improvement comes out in june, then to those of you who are waiting, "you're welcome"

in general, i've decided that i'd rather have the current upgrades helping me in my day to day work now, than an unknown extra benefit at an unknown point in the future.

that said, i know i'm going to lust after maxwell if it makes it into a future revision...

 

[alphaod]

New processor, new dGPU option, same everything else.

 

[Cooee!]

LTE capabilities would be nice

 

[FrozenDarkness]

i didn't read this entire topic, but isn't the most likely new feature be a fingerprint scanner? Maybe one that takes a part of the touchpad.

 

[mcarling]

..., new dGPU option, ....

LTE capabilities would be nice

isn't the most likely new feature be a fingerprint scanner?

So much wishful thinking! There is about zero chance any of these things will happen in 2014.

 

[leman]

So much wishful thinking! There is about zero chance any of these things will happen in 2014.

I think the likelihood of getting a new dGPU is actually quite high. I believe we will see a CPU bump + Maxwell GPU by end of the spring/mid summer. The hardware is there.

 

[Teuthos]

I think the likelihood of getting a new dGPU is actually quite high. I believe we will see a CPU bump + Maxwell GPU by end of the spring/mid summer. The hardware is there.

I agree, though didn't the same person that leaked information about the retina 12 inch computer with no moving parts leak something about the next MBP release coming in September?

People are saying that the change from the GDDR5 modified version of the 750M to the 850M is not that great, but keep in mind that if Apple tinkers with the GPU as it did with the 750M, I think it'll be closer to the 860M.

With an 850M, it will be a very competitive machine even in the gaming computer market, yet it will be lightweight and have long battery.