Macbook Pro

[MacBW]

Dear MacRumors Community:

I will be receiving funding in July to purchase a Macbook and I would be very grateful for any of your insights about how to proceed.

1. Can someone please explain where in the life cycle is the 15 inch Macbook Pro?

2. Does anyone know if they worked out all of the current display ghosting bugs?

3. It will be very important for me to drive a larger display. Is the USB C technology going to make its way to the Pro or is Thunderbolt the pro standard?

Thank you very much.

 

[cruisin]

1. Look in the buyers guide: https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//#Retina_MacBook_Pro. Only the 13 inch got the update so you shouldn’t get the 15 inch for now.
   
2. The ghosting is minor or non-existent as I haven't heard anything. The bigger issue is that the screen animations are laggy and slow compared to the non-retina models.
   
3. Both Thunderbolt and USB Type C use DisplayPort to transmit the video signal and use adaptors as needed for all the display connectors. Considering the 13 inch did not get the new USB, I doubt the 15 inch will get it this time around. You can use a mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable and use a DisplayPort monitor directly. There is no USB Type C monitor.

 

[CaptainChunk]

I really don't understand why so many people are getting so hung up over USB-C. The primary reason why Apple used it on the new 12" MacBook was because it's a super-slim connector that they are also able to route power through. The way the 12" MB is designed, even a TB2 port is too big.

Putting USB-C on a larger laptop is kind of superfluous because you'd have to buy a dongle or breakout to connect just about anything useful to it. Besides, Apple uses the Gen 1 implementation of USB 3.1 in the 12" MB, which means it's still 5 Mbps for USB (i.e. no better than the USB 3.0 ports almost every new Mac has already).

 

[MacBW]

Thanks

cruisin, thanks for your kind and very helpful reply.

1. Could you please rate the current video card on the 15" Macbook Pro Retina? How does it compare with what's on the horizon? I have read a bit about the OS updates and how they're showing support for higher res screens. Do you think the current video card can drive a higher res screen?

2. If you were to put your money on it, do you think the new Macbook design will influence the upcoming 15" Pro models? If so, when do you think that update will happen?

Thanks again.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

cruisin, thanks for your kind and very helpful reply.

1. Could you please rate the current video card on the 15" Macbook Pro Retina? How does it compare with what's on the horizon? I have read a bit about the OS updates and how they're showing support for higher res screens. Do you think the current video card can drive a higher res screen?

2. If you were to put your money on it, do you think the new Macbook design will influence the upcoming 15" Pro models? If so, when do you think that update will happen?

Thanks again.

1. It depends the basic model iGPU only is a middling graphics card with not optimised for open GL or CUDA. If you use apps that support this it is not great, but good for everything else except gaming.

The higher end with dGPU is not worth the money for what is essentially fairly slow by todays standards 3 year old tech...
Both the current 15" (and the 13 ") can easily drive a 4k screen, nothing mobile can currently drive a 5 k screen.

2. If I was putting money on it I'd say the only differences on the next 15" rMBp will be force trackpad, new chips and new dGPU in the high end model.

 

[MacBW]

Samuelsan2001, that was very helpful. Thanks!

So if I understand correctly, the Macbook Retinas are currently using outdated video cards (and overcharging for them as well). I work in the social sciences and will probably use the machine for data analysis and visualization. Do you think the news chips (in the high end models) will be fine for this?

It has been 1309 days since the cinema display has been refreshed. I'm assuming that if there's going toe an update, it will be retina (or 4k). If you agree, do you think the updated Macbook Pro will be able to drive such a display? I read that Dell already has a high res display.

If I understand correctly, the Macbook lifecycle is about 250 days. My funding comes in July. Do you think there'll be an update over the summer?

Thanks again, everyone.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Samuelsan2001, that was very helpful. Thanks!

So if I understand correctly, the Macbook Retinas are currently using outdated video cards (and overcharging for them as well). I work in the social sciences and will probably use the machine for data analysis and visualization. Do you think the news chips (in the high end models) will be fine for this?

It has been 1309 days since the cinema display has been refreshed. I'm assuming that if there's going toe an update, it will be retina (or 4k). If you agree, do you think the updated Macbook Pro will be able to drive such a display? I read that Dell already has a high res display.

If I understand correctly, the Macbook lifecycle is about 250 days. My funding comes in July. Do you think there'll be an update over the summer?

Thanks again, everyone.

Yeah they'll be fine for that use case and they are still good for most things, there is just better out there.

Well there is endless talk of a new apple display, but it's being going for well over a year I think they'll do a 5K display when they start to put Thunderbolt 3 in the machines so they can run it with one cable.

There are numerous 4K displays that all the current macbook pro line can run.

Wether we get a new 15 inch in summer depends on wether Intel release Broadwell H at all and don't skip to skylake in august september october sort of time.

 

[bookwormsy]

Putting USB-C on a larger laptop is kind of superfluous because you'd have to buy a dongle or breakout to connect just about anything useful to it. Besides, Apple uses the Gen 1 implementation of USB 3.1 in the 12" MB, which means it's still 5 Mbps for USB (i.e. no better than the USB 3.0 ports almost every new Mac has already).

Funny story. The USB 3.1 spec actually absorbed the USB 3.0 spec. USB 3.1 Gen 1 is the exact same as USB 3.0. USB 3.1 Gen 2 is the 10 Gbps version.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Funny story. The USB 3.1 spec actually absorbed the USB 3.0 spec. USB 3.1 Gen 1 is the exact same as USB 3.0. USB 3.1 Gen 2 is the 10 Gbps version.

Yep - and that further reinforces why I laugh every time someone is gonna "hold out for a new rMBP with USB-C". It seems that a lot of people just see a fancy new connector and want it, without even knowing why it exists in the first place.

 

[dusk007]

The new connector will become the new standard. Type-A connectors are going to die out and B probably too. Type-c has so many advantages there is no reason other than currently not requiring adapters to hang on to Type-a.
It will die out and if you want to buy a notebook for 5+ years use waiting for type-c isn't unreasonable.

Type-C does not exist for thin MacBook like computers it exists to replace Type-A and obviously why they have been at it making it thin was a good idea. It is not like micro-B usb just for the small devices.

 

[bookwormsy]

The new connector will become the new standard. Type-A connectors are going to die out and B probably too. Type-c has so many advantages there is no reason other than currently not requiring adapters to hang on to Type-a.
It will die out and if you want to buy a notebook for 5+ years use waiting for type-c isn't unreasonable.

Type-C does not exist for thin MacBook like computers it exists to replace Type-A and obviously why they have been at it making it thin was a good idea. It is not like micro-B usb just for the small devices.

I'm sure it'll be the new standard, but it'll be a slow march. Consider all the peripherals that people have. Keyboards, mice, charging cables, external hard drives, USB microphones, webcams, printers, etc. These would all require new cables, which may or may not be possible to swap.

Also consider that all the different USB standards (3.1, Type C, Power Delivery, Alternate Display Mode) don't need to use them all. You can have a Type A with Power Delivery. You can have a Type C with 2.0, etc.