MacBook Pro Reportedly Won't See Any Major Upgrades in 2018

[Gameboy70]

Improved butterfly third version keyboard.

No—just, no. The current butterfly keyboard is already the third version. Technically, it's the second rev of the second gen, but butterfly switches are fundamentally flawed by design, beyond "improving". Just put the Magic Keyboard's scissor switches and 16mm keycaps (i.e., not the typo-inducing 19mm keycaps), and Macs will be usable again.

 

[etoiles]

Face ID and cheaper internal 2TB SSD option is all I want for xmas

 

[andy89]

A proper keyboard (no touch BS) and 32Gb RAM and I might considering upgrading my original rMPB.

 

[Bacillus]

Animoji TouchBar to please Phil
Or find someone else with the ability to crank a durable keyboard out of a trillion dollar company (...)

 

[Michael Rebar]

Using the 15" MBP 2014 and realizing that the Apple Care is going to expire in February has kept me tuned to the "options" for upgrading.
I'll going to hold off till 32 GB RAM and a fix for the keyboard is out. Since I have already had a ripe battery replaced in 2017, the lack of inspiration I see keeps me patching together more options to keep this MBP going.

1) Storage - since the MBP came with 1 TB I have only recently filled the SD card slot with a flush 256 GB option
2) Screen - I miss my 17" MBP but have accepted the 15" and recently wore out a pair of Cinema Displays; now looking forward to the "Le Slide" (from Slidenjoy) to triple my portability
3) Windows - yes I tried Boot Camp again (for the 5th time) and it went bad; although I did finally figure out how to get Windows to really work on the MBP without Fusion or Parallels...the solution is Acronis TrueImage (used my GPD Pocket with Windows 10 Pro as a source to a USB near flush drive and downloaded the Boot Camp drivers, entered a freshly purchased key from MS and found the experience to be usable by holding the Option key at boot [no Boot Camp benefits of switching])

So, I am good with the present Mac setup. Keep a good backup of your setup ready in case Apple surprises us. Otherwise keep rocking the "near vintage" computer.

 

[ZapNZs]

I'm not clear if this article is referring to "major" as being "physical changes in appearance" or what. It seems that changes to CPU, GPU, and the keyboard to improve its ruggedness would not necessitate a change in physical appearance.

 

[pat500000]

Did Steve Jobs ever mentioned about the quality of the keyboards?

 

[DTphonehome]

iPhones get a “tick-tock” update schedule. Macs get a “tick-tick-tick-tick-tock” schedule.

 

[ssmed]

The problem is that they can't make it any thinner without taking away the keyboard completely! Everything else is irrelevant. Mind you, they could add it as a convenient dongle for those folk who like to use their legacy fingers.

 

[unobtainium]

•32+GB Ram options across the Pro range.

With currently available Intel chips, that would mean a huuuge hit to battery life.

•Option to choose between old and new keyboard design.

The old keyboard design would require the old case. So basically you’re asking for the 2015 case with 2018 internals. Seems unlikely.

(yeah I know... there's about 0.0000000000001% change of any of this materialising).

Or less.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Lots of people love it and don't consider it a gimmick at all. By your logic, any feature that isn't 100% necessary to use macOS is considered a gimmick. Might as well make the trackpad and camera optional too.

The problem with YOUR logic is that the Touch Bar is 0% necessary. Does it help a few people make using their Macbook Pro easier? Sure. Is it necessary? I (and most here if the comments are any gauge) think not. Should people that have no use for it be forced to pay for it in a higher end MBP config?

 

[tokajilover]

I dont beleve they will update this design bevor 2020 -2021

 

[Yebubbleman]

Y'know, that's totally okay. I can totally wait for them to require that I have another Mac with Apple Configurator 2 to be able to restore it and/or put in this gnarly Secure Boot crap that I don't need (because my Mac isn't an iOS device). Just slap in 8th Gen Core i7 processors and, if possible, DDR4L, and I'll be a happy camper.

 

[rixax]

32 gig of RAM or I'm moving

 

[KPOM]

There are no chips available for the 13” MacBook Pros. There is no way Apple is going to use Iris 620 in Pro machine. That’s a downgrade from the Iris 640 and 650 (TB 13” model).

As far as I know, Intel is not releasing any quad core chips with Iris 640 and higher.

They may make it optional. Some people would prefer 4 cores vs a faster GPU.

 

[AppleMad98004]

Nope, that wouldn't be nice. I like many people would leave the platform if that was the case.

Totally agree. Many people like me use Windows and Linux through Parallels. No Intel. No go for many users.

 

[Brien]

My reading of it is no structural change in layout - screen, case, all Thunderbolt ports, and (controversially) the keyboard. I'd expect a CPU refresh but that's not always a guarantee with Apple lately.

With this, Kaby Lake Refresh seems to be the order of the day and that's surely just an obvious refresh even if the notebooks get done before WWDC.

We would then have had 3 generations of the current shape and Apple would then be in a position to move on from this generation to something else early next year. I'll still point out my theory of a slightly bigger 14" and 16" model with smaller bezels and better graphics performance (and optional additional cores) plus a sorted out keyboard.

I hope so. Still miss the 17”.

 

[Bacillus]

iPhones get a “tick-tock” update schedule. Macs get a “tick-tick-tick-tick-tock” schedule.

Maybe a chicken farm is better positioned than this trillion dollar company to crank out a decent laptop

 

[parsonsmike]

What more does it need than an upgraded CPU? Not much more should be done at this time.

A keyboard with more than a 4-month lifespan?
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Awesome. Crap keyboards and useless touch bars for all!

I'm so glad I just bought that used 2012 15" MacBook Pro as a stopover computer. We got my wife a max'd out 13" MBP, and it has been a disaster. Her spacebar on the left doesn't fully press, and about in 1 in 200 presses triggers two spaces instead of one. She has a similar issue with her #3 key. We have gotten it repaired by Apple for free once, as it's still under warranty, but we're planning on keeping it for a while, and the problem has returned. Getting AppleCare Plus on this seems to be a pre-req for an enjoyable experience, as it's basically a certainty that we'll have to get the keyboard fixed once every five months or so.

Keep getting it repaired. They'll keep replacing it for free. As long as you can demonstrate that any key doesn't work reliably, you get a new keyboard (and a bonus free new battery!). I should know, I had mine replaced 3 times before I sold the stupid thing and went back to a 2015.

 

[etoiles]

The problem is that they can't make it any thinner without taking away the keyboard completely!

Apple "Hold my beer..."

 

[KPOM]

Totally agree. Many people like me use Windows and Linux through Parallels. No Intel. No go for many users.

The iMac Pro likely offers a glimpse at future Macs. macOS will offload behind-the-scenes tasks to the ARM chip, freeing up capacity to the Intel chip.

 

[nutmac]

Just 4 things:

1. 32GB RAM
2. Mechanical Escape key
3. Haptic Touch Bar
4. Face ID

 

[44267547]

Using this thread as a reference, apparently I'm rare, I have no issues with the keyboard and the Touch Bar I find to be convenient. I think the Touch Bar really depends on what you're using it for, but hopefully will continue to expand with more developer support.

 

[dblissmn]

They're not going to compromise on the power consumption, and I think that's the bottom line. So, until Intel -- or someone else -- comes up with 32GB memory for a mobile platform, we're stuck at 16. For me it's fine. For many it isn't. And I hope the Apple will consider pulling the plug on Intel if the pace of innovation continues to drag.

For my part, the current Kaby Lake iteration is very, very good. Runs cool. Handles video so much better than previous Mac laptops. First meaningful improvement in battery life for a long time. Keyboard works well for fast typing unlike the previous Skylake one which I had to pass on because I made so many mistakes when trying it out. Works well as a laptop or a desktop.

But it really is overpriced for its overall capabilities and considering its total lack of configurability. In the 15-inch version it's maybe a $2,000 to $3,000 machine, not a $2,400 to $4,000 one.

 

[alexanderkilts]

Really hope this rumor is false. I've been putting off a needed laptop upgrade for way too long. The current Mac lineup is still not worth the cost and inconvenience, and using Windows just reminds me why I tolerate the frustrations of the Mac ecosystem. Please, give me something to upgrade to. Please, take my money.