MacBook Pro Lineup Set For 'Most Significant Overhaul in Over 4 Years'

[AlexGraphicD]

The office I'm working in is all iMacs. It's a professional architectural practice using Archicad, Photoshop, etc.

They can do all their "professional" work on them no problems.

What professional work can't you do on a 4ghz i7 iMac?

Are those the 5k macs? Personally I don't really want to spend money neededlesly for hyperthreading I don't do 3D or 4K video work. While the CPU is good in all of iMacs, my biggest gripe is with the GPU choice Apple has gone with.
I read that there are heat issues and in general they can't handle many tasks.

I don't know maybe I'm prejudiced to the use of mobile parts in a desktop computer but from what I read on the web there are better choices for Apple to choose from.

 

[lowkey]

Are those the 5k macs? Personally I don't really want to spend money neededlesly for hyperthreading I don't do 3D or 4K video work. While the CPU is good in all of iMacs, my biggest gripe is with the GPU choice Apple has gone with.
I read that there are heat issues and in general they can't handle many tasks.

I don't know maybe I'm prejudiced to the use of mobile parts in a desktop computer but from what I read on the web there are better choices for Apple to choose from.

They have a mix of iMacs from new top of the line 5ks to 3 year old iMacs. The renderers and best users of Archicad get the newer ones. The hand me downs go to the draftees, interiors designers then admins.

The whole office runs on iMacs.

The idea they can't do professional work is hyperbole.

 

[Val-kyrie]

That's another thing about Apple that drives me nuts.

They are clearly not interesting in the business/commercial setting. if they were, they'd have a Docking station.

They are so focused on Portability that they forget most people work in the same spot almost always. If they had a docking station so much of these arguments would be moot.

I agree. I just watched a video from the TB3 consortium which was demonstrating the Razer Notebook and Core. I did not realize the Core is more than a straight eGPU; it is also a docking station with 1x TB/DP/USB 3 type C, 4x USB-3 type B ports, 1x DVI port, 1x HDMI port, 1x VGA, and 1x Ethernet port. Its design is similar to the older silver PPC cheese-grater MPs. The only criticism I have is that it has only one TB 3 port instead of two.

I would love to see Apple follow Razer's port choices on its notebook by including USB type B ports and a 3.5mm audio port alongside the new TB 3 port.

I do believe Apple should diversify its line into two distinct lines:

A professional / prosumer line with
i7 quad cores or (optional) Xeon CPUs
17/16" and 15/14" screens
Iris Pro

i5 dual cores
14" and 13/12" screens
Iris Pro for 14"
Iris for 13/12"

A consumer line with
Core M with 12" screen
Iris

Apple should offer a docking station similar to Razer. The ability of an eGPU docking station to accept AMD or NVidia cards would appease advocates on both sides.

Of note is Razer's ARP:
13" Razer, Razer Core, and Radeon RX 480 (8GB) gfx card for the Core for $1959.97

Apple could then add their traditional $500 for upgrading to the 15" model with eGPU docking solution.

PS--I would love to see Apple shift to a thin bezel 16/14/12" form factors because (1) I think the 14" size offers the best option for both portability and screen resolution and (2) I don't think Apple would ever bring back the 17" form factor, but a 16" with thin bezels could offer a 17" screen in a more portable form factor for those needing a portable workstation.

 

[JohnnyRojazo]

They have a mix of iMacs from new top of the line 5ks to 3 year old iMacs. The renderers and best users of Archicad get the newer ones. The hand me downs go to the draftees, interiors designers then admins.

The whole office runs on iMacs.

The idea they can't do professional work is hyperbole.

The idea that you can possibly know what everybody else does for a living and how they do it is charmingly naive. It is passive aggressive too, but hey, it's the internet. Let's be "better" than a stranger who is just voicing his personal experience.

There is also form factor to take into account. I am a filmmaker working on set with raw footage. The debayering process of this material requires high cpu and gpu core count, fast and numerous ram, apart from hd-sdi in outs and high performance storage.

An imac is basically too large to carry around. I already carry one 24" monitor, but this is a video monitor, and I can't carry a second 24", my footprint on set would be too large. In fact, my macpro rig is easier to carry around than an imac. It takes a 4u rack and the monitor I need is minute.

However, before RAW became the standard in film production, I could pack my MBP on a flightcase that has a 2u rack underneath. All my peripherals fit there. I take the case's lid off, plug into mains, open my laptop and I am working.

I am no fanboy. I use macs for two reasons. They have terminal and hence I can program scripts for bash. The second is that the software I use to make a living works solely on OSX as the film industry embraced OSX since times immemorial.

Do I or many of my colleagues ask for that much? Not really. I want an actual decent GPU on something branded as PRO.

Why I complain? Because it pains me that I cannot use my gaming laptop for work. It's got all the power and the form factor.

There was a time when Macbook Pro stood for professionals. It was expensive, high end, and packed a huge punch. Now it doesn't at all. The result is that the rig I must bring to work by default is 15 kg heavier than I need and twice as expensive.
[doublepost=1471703411][/doublepost]

Are those the 5k macs? Personally I don't really want to spend money neededlesly for hyperthreading I don't do 3D or 4K video work. While the CPU is good in all of iMacs, my biggest gripe is with the GPU choice Apple has gone with.
I read that there are heat issues and in general they can't handle many tasks.

I don't know maybe I'm prejudiced to the use of mobile parts in a desktop computer but from what I read on the web there are better choices for Apple to choose from.

They heat up madly indeed.

 

[lowkey]

I didn't suggest I know what everyone does. I simply pointed out that "professional" work can and is done on imacs by giving a concrete example. That's was directly in response to:-

"I want to be able to use my iMac for REAL PROFESSIONAL work. And with the current generation lineup that is not the case."

Architecture is "real professional work". It can be easily done on current iMacs. Therefore the suggestion that "real professional work" cannot be done on current Apple hardware is still hyperbole. Notice that the guy was talking about his iMac. When I asked what professional work can't be done on it the only answer so far has been it's not a laptop.

Perhaps if I had said "there is not a thing that can't be done on the current MacBook Pros" you would have a valid point.

The idea that you can possibly know what everybody else does for a living and how they do it is charmingly naive. It is passive aggressive too, but hey, it's the internet. Let's be "better" than a stranger who is just voicing his personal experience.

There is also form factor to take into account. I am a filmmaker working on set with raw footage. The debayering process of this material requires high cpu and gpu core count, fast and numerous ram, apart from hd-sdi in outs and high performance storage.

An imac is basically too large to carry around. I already carry one 24" monitor, but this is a video monitor, and I can't carry a second 24", my footprint on set would be too large. In fact, my macpro rig is easier to carry around than an imac. It takes a 4u rack and the monitor I need is minute.

However, before RAW became the standard in film production, I could pack my MBP on a flightcase that has a 2u rack underneath. All my peripherals fit there. I take the case's lid off, plug into mains, open my laptop and I am working.

I am no fanboy. I use macs for two reasons. They have terminal and hence I can program scripts for bash. The second is that the software I use to make a living works solely on OSX as the film industry embraced OSX since times immemorial.

Do I or many of my colleagues ask for that much? Not really. I want an actual decent GPU on something branded as PRO.

Why I complain? Because it pains me that I cannot use my gaming laptop for work. It's got all the power and the form factor.

There was a time when Macbook Pro stood for professionals. It was expensive, high end, and packed a huge punch. Now it doesn't at all. The result is that the rig I must bring to work by default is 15 kg heavier than I need and twice as expensive.
[doublepost=1471703411][/doublepost]
They heat up madly indeed.

 

[fastasleep]

That's another thing about Apple that drives me nuts.

They are clearly not interesting in the business/commercial setting. if they were, they'd have a Docking station.

They are so focused on Portability that they forget most people work in the same spot almost always. If they had a docking station so much of these arguments would be moot.

There are many 3rd party dock options. What's the problem?

 

[cdpage]

There are many 3rd party dock options. What's the problem?

the only real dock I know if is the Hendge Horizontal Dock. I don't know many IT departments that would be tilling to spend $550 per work station.

 

[jblagden]

the only real dock I know if is the Hendge Horizontal Dock. I don't know many IT departments that would be tilling to spend $550 per work station.

The OWC Thunderbolt dock is also rather expensive at $217. USB-C socks are a better option, costing $50 from Monoprice, but the only MacBook which implements USB-C is the 12-inch MacBook, whose only port is the USB-C port. If only Apple included USB on MacBook Pros, in addition to all of the other ports, for cost-effective docking.

 

[b_scott]

Gonna be an expensive end to the year. iPhone 7, Apple Watch 2 and a new MacBook Pro.

It would be, if you were being forced to buy any of those.

 

[cdpage]

It would be, if you were being forced to buy any of those.

I like that you said ANY and not ALL.

 

[badsimian]

The more I think about it, the more I think the new MacBook Pro is essentially like an enlarged 12" MacBook, but with (likely) three USB Type-C ports, including one Type-C port that supports the new Thunderbolt 3 I/O connection standard. And it will have the OLED touch strip, Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the power button, and the wider trackpad. RAM will be 8, 16 or 32 GB, and flash memory local storage will be 512 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB.

Apple could include a "dongle" for the USB Type-C port and on the dongle are older USB connectors, DisplayPort connector and even an RJ-45 gigabit Ethernet port.

I do worry that there is some technical reason why they won't be able to produce a dongle like that. All the current USB-C dongles have HDMI at crappy 30Hz if they also have USB A and ethernet.
The only USB-C -> DP dongles I have seen only do that and go to full size Dp.
It's going to be a right bloody mess of dongles to connect to my existing 4K monitor and ethernet

 

[Val-kyrie]

I do worry that there is some technical reason why they won't be able to produce a dongle like that. All the current USB-C dongles have HDMI at crappy 30Hz if they also have USB A and ethernet.
The only USB-C -> DP dongles I have seen only do that and go to full size Dp.
It's going to be a right bloody mess of dongles to connect to my existing 4K monitor and ethernet

Wow. I did not know that the multi-port dongle reduced the frequency for HDMI. This is the kind of information manufacturers should be required to disclose in a way that is easy for the consumer to find.

Do you have any information about the specs for TB docks?

 

[badsimian]

It is more that all the multi port dongles I have seen support HDMI 1.4 which therefore means a limit of 30Hz. It isn't that important for TVs but *is* important for computer monitors. In hindsight I probably bought my 4K monitor a little early and should have waited until HDMI 2.0 was more widespread. But even so, given how many displayport monitors there are out there you would think they would make it easy to connect to one.
I suspect some of the thunderbolt docks might well work but they are a magnitude more expensive. Literally ten times the cost.

 

[lympero]

Maybe the article was supposed to say , we'll see the redesigned MacBook Pro in 4 years!

 

[cdpage]

There are many 3rd party dock options. What's the problem?

Regarding 3rd Party Docks.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ORvPAPzWsuQ4N5L0bpiu94PuXu66grDeMpjqtOHGfkY/edit?usp=sharing

[edit]
OK i just updated it a little. If anyone wants to add more or make changes go for it.

 

[FelixDerKater]

The control bar is a great idea.

 

[kyykesko]

Imagine if it is just a processor bump..... I can see people going nuts

Not really. I'd rather take that than a crappier keyboard and even smaller battery, both of which seem to be in store for the next model.
[doublepost=1475247901][/doublepost]

There probably won't be official support but drivers are already available.

I'm pretty sure they'll implement external gpu support. Just think about it as a huge dongle and you'll see why Apple would be head over heels about it.
[doublepost=1475248148][/doublepost]

The best compromise would be to keep all current ports, but replace the MagSafe port with a USB-C port that allows both charging and USB-C functionality.

I'd love something like that although I'd probably like to see at least two USB-C. Maybe swap out one of the thunderbolts if you absolutely have to. Still, I'm pretty sure that they'll just go for all usb-c and thin out half the battery and put in the 12" macbook's useless keyboard and call that "pro" for "extreme gamers" (which seems to mean 'pro' for Apple ).

It'd be lovely if they kept on doing what they have been so good at all these years: excellent keyboards, truly outstanding touchscreens. The user experience has been stellar until that 12 inch piece of ****. That dropped it to the level of zenbooks or possibly below them. Bought one of those years ago, found it's completely useless. Couldn't get rid of it even for free.
[doublepost=1475248734][/doublepost]

Is it really though? Do you upgrade/change your ram every night you get home from work? It's not that big a deal. We have to sacrifice some things for Apple's "thinness boner".

Be happy we're getting a remotely powerful overhaul. They can stick the ram underneath the display if they want for all I care.

I don't care about losing memory/disk upgradeability if it gives slimmer computer - even more so if it's more rugged, more moisture resistant and whatever else. I can live without it, though. What I do care about is getting a computer I can use. It's not really happening with the current battery life. Even less so if they thin out even more of the battery. Getting 1 hour more battery life gets me nowhere. Give me a machine that can actually give me that 12-14 hours of REAL LIFE use. Something other than watching por.. err, movies or something useless like that. I don't need gaming performance. I need to be able to rely on my machine even if I happen to edit a photo or two or work on music on the road. I'm so sick and tired of carrying a charger everywhere and plugging in every possibility I get - and having to pick my working location based on the availability of power sockets.

 

[oopsroger]

If over FOUR fricking years all they do is removing ESSENTIAL ports on a PRO notebook, then they are indeed very, you know, courageous.

 

[Appleaker]

Not really. I'd rather take that than a crappier keyboard and even smaller battery, both of which seem to be in store for the next model.
[doublepost=1475247901][/doublepost]

I'm pretty sure they'll implement external gpu support. Just think about it as a huge dongle and you'll see why Apple would be head over heels about it.
[doublepost=1475248148][/doublepost]

I'd love something like that although I'd probably like to see at least two USB-C. Maybe swap out one of the thunderbolts if you absolutely have to. Still, I'm pretty sure that they'll just go for all usb-c and thin out half the battery and put in the 12" macbook's useless keyboard and call that "pro" for "extreme gamers" (which seems to mean 'pro' for Apple ).

It'd be lovely if they kept on doing what they have been so good at all these years: excellent keyboards, truly outstanding touchscreens. The user experience has been stellar until that 12 inch piece of ****. That dropped it to the level of zenbooks or possibly below them. Bought one of those years ago, found it's completely useless. Couldn't get rid of it even for free.
[doublepost=1475248734][/doublepost]

I don't care about losing memory/disk upgradeability if it gives slimmer computer - even more so if it's more rugged, more moisture resistant and whatever else. I can live without it, though. What I do care about is getting a computer I can use. It's not really happening with the current battery life. Even less so if they thin out even more of the battery. Getting 1 hour more battery life gets me nowhere. Give me a machine that can actually give me that 12-14 hours of REAL LIFE use. Something other than watching por.. err, movies or something useless like that. I don't need gaming performance. I need to be able to rely on my machine even if I happen to edit a photo or two or work on music on the road. I'm so sick and tired of carrying a charger everywhere and plugging in every possibility I get - and having to pick my working location based on the availability of power sockets.

They will if the rumors of an external GPU display are true. I think it would be beneficial if they came up with their own external GPU solution as they would be able to control all aspects. But like I said, support already exists so either way it'll be possible.

 

[kazmac]

Okay, so one thing which may have been mentioned, if you want the old F bar commands (such as F2, F11) etc. will those still be available on the Magic Toolbar if I wanted to use my 2013 iMac in target display mode?

Or is Apple saying F.U. to the F bar shortcuts with the Magic Toolbar...

Or do we not know yet?

 

[JohnnyGo]

Okay, so one thing which may have been mentioned, if you want the old F bar commands (such as F2, F11) etc. will those still be available on the Magic Toolbar if I wanted to use my 2013 iMac in target display mode?

Or is Apple saying F.U. to the F bar shortcuts with the Magic Toolbar...

Or do we not know yet?

You will get all the function keys AND all the usual F-bar shortcuts when you press the control/alt/option buttons