May wait for 2020 redesign

[MBX]

So after all this i7/i9 "throttlegate" I may actually wait for 2020 MBP redesign versions.

I'm on late 2016 base model 13'' nTB with 2ghz i5 and 16GB Ram.

I do complex 3D stuff too and the machine is more than capable. I'm sure it would be better with a dedicated GPU but the integrated one is doing very well.

Aside from 3D & 2D graphics I do crypto trading on the side with charting software running. Overall with those apps & parallels I notice that the base clock speed isn't 2ghz but actually at around 2.6-2.7ghz (turbo mode?) while utilizing only about 20-40% of the dual-core CPU unless the very intense tasks such as rendering or gaming, then it moves to 60-90%+ with fans kicking in. - When just simple tasks like internet browsing/ YouTube the base clock speed is below 2ghz at around 1.4ghz average.

I probably do more pro stuff on this machine than most of the people who have a faster 15'' MBP with i7 and i9 and complain that it's not fast enough.

And I never had real issues and keyboard was always nice too, except how loud it is.

Now that I know that these new i9 MBP's throttle and put their CPU even under the base frequency I can probably just stay on this lower end MBP until 2020 when most likely the MBP will get a real redesign.

Just thought to put this info out there for those considering buying a new one or maybe want to get a lower end base model nTB, it's really a good laptop. You don't need the very best to do complex stuff on it.

 

[Macintoshrumors]

So after all this i7/i9 "throttlegate" I may actually wait for 2020 MBP redesign versions.

I'm on late 2016 base model 13'' nTB with 2ghz i5 and 16GB Ram.

I do complex 3D stuff too and the machine is more than capable. I'm sure it would be better with a dedicated GPU but the integrated one is doing very well.

Aside from 3D & 2D graphics I do crypto trading on the side with charting software running. Overall with those apps & parallels I notice that the base clock speed isn't 2ghz but actually at around 2.6-2.7ghz (turbo mode?) while utilizing only about 20-40% of the dual-core CPU unless the very intense tasks such as rendering or gaming, then it moves to 60-90%+ with fans kicking in. - When just simple tasks like internet browsing/ YouTube the base clock speed is below 2ghz at around 1.4ghz average.

I probably do more pro stuff on this machine than most of the people who have a faster 15'' MBP with i7 and i9 and complain that it's not fast enough.

And I never had real issues and keyboard was always nice too, except how loud it is.

Now that I know that these new i9 MBP's throttle and put their CPU even under the base frequency I can probably just stay on this lower end MBP until 2020 when most likely the MBP will get a real redesign.

Just thought to put this info out there for those considering buying a new one or maybe want to get a lower end base model nTB, it's really a good laptop. You don't need the very best to do complex stuff on it.

What makes you think apple is redesiging in 2020?

 

[Falhófnir]

What makes you think apple is redesiging in 2020?

Past form - redesigns in:
2008 (Unibody)
2012 (Retina)
2016 (Touch Bar)
So they seem to be on a 4 year cycle.

 

[Jerz]

So after all this i7/i9 "throttlegate" I may actually wait for 2020 MBP redesign versions.

I'm on late 2016 base model 13'' nTB with 2ghz i5 and 16GB Ram.

I do complex 3D stuff too and the machine is more than capable. I'm sure it would be better with a dedicated GPU but the integrated one is doing very well.

Aside from 3D & 2D graphics I do crypto trading on the side with charting software running. Overall with those apps & parallels I notice that the base clock speed isn't 2ghz but actually at around 2.6-2.7ghz (turbo mode?) while utilizing only about 20-40% of the dual-core CPU unless the very intense tasks such as rendering or gaming, then it moves to 60-90%+ with fans kicking in. - When just simple tasks like internet browsing/ YouTube the base clock speed is below 2ghz at around 1.4ghz average.

I probably do more pro stuff on this machine than most of the people who have a faster 15'' MBP with i7 and i9 and complain that it's not fast enough.

And I never had real issues and keyboard was always nice too, except how loud it is.

Now that I know that these new i9 MBP's throttle and put their CPU even under the base frequency I can probably just stay on this lower end MBP until 2020 when most likely the MBP will get a real redesign.

Just thought to put this info out there for those considering buying a new one or maybe want to get a lower end base model nTB, it's really a good laptop. You don't need the very best to do complex stuff on it.

I don't really get the point of this post. It seems like you're trying to justify or trying to convince yourself that waiting until 2020 is a good idea, and want affirmation from others?

 

[leman]

Overall with those apps & parallels I notice that the base clock speed isn't 2ghz but actually at around 2.6-2.7ghz (turbo mode?) while utilizing only about 20-40% of the dual-core CPU

Careful with how you are interpreting those 20-40%. On modern multi-core machines, 100% means 100% uptime of all cores. If only one of your cores is active 100%, the system will report 25% CPU utilisation (since you have 4 virtual cores with hyper threading). But in fact your CPU is running as hard as it can, since running on only one core allows it to boost maximally.

When just simple tasks like internet browsing/ YouTube the base clock speed is below 2ghz at around 1.4ghz average.

Its because the CPU are idling and reducing the frequency to save energy.

Now that I know that these new i9 MBP's throttle and put their CPU even under the base frequency I can probably just stay on this lower end MBP until 2020 when most likely the MBP will get a real redesign.

They don't throttle and they don't run under their base frequency — unless on idle, where they are supposed to run at 1.3Ghz... . They run well above their base frequency when performance is required. A 2018 15" MBP will run circles around your current laptop, even in single-threaded code

Just thought to put this info out there for those considering buying a new one or maybe want to get a lower end base model nTB, it's really a good laptop. You don't need the very best to do complex stuff on it.

Sure, its a good laptop. Just not as good as the 2018 lineup.

 

[MacNut]

Past form - redesigns in:
2008 (Unibody)
2012 (Retina)
2016 (Touch Bar)
So they seem to be on a 4 year cycle.

The design hasn't changed since 2008. These are all basically the same body.

 

[unglued]

So after all this i7/i9 "throttlegate”
I may actually wait for 2020 MBP redesign versions.

6-core Vega 20 go big or go home, 2020 do it all again.

 

[KarmaRocket]

Past form - redesigns in:
2008 (Unibody)
2012 (Retina)
2016 (Touch Bar)
So they seem to be on a 4 year cycle.

IMHO, if Apple wants to make it seem like they care about the Mac lines and their professional customers, they would address it now and come out with redesigns for all models in 2019. 2020 might be too late. I'm already seeing a lot of creative professionals in NYC moving to Windows for video editing and motion graphics. I'm seeing a lot of students dumping Macs in favor of cheaper and more powerful windows laptops for game development and programming. Price is becoming a greater factor as well. Apple keeps raising the price but not really offering much to justify the cost.

 

[MacNut]

Any new redesign will have less features and a higher price tag. Apple has been slowly stripping quality useful features every upgrade cycle. We are down to usb-c ports and nothing else.

 

[Falhófnir]

The design hasn't changed since 2008. These are all basically the same body.

They’ve reached the pinnacle of what’s currently feasible with a computer. You’re not realistically going to get anything better than the unibody build they’re currently offering. It’s just been refined at the 4 year mark - to perfection in 2012 and to slimageddon in 2016.

IMHO, if Apple wants to make it seem like they care about the Mac lines and their professional customers, they would address it now and come out with redesigns for all models in 2019. 2020 might be too late. I'm already seeing a lot of creative professionals in NYC moving to Windows for video editing and motion graphics. I'm seeing a lot of students dumping Macs in favor of cheaper and more powerful windows laptops for game development and programming. Price is becoming a greater factor as well. Apple keeps raising the price but not really offering much to justify the cost.

I’d be very pleased for them to redesign the 2019 machine around the magic keyboard in 2019, but like I said, past form. Of course it’s not impossible they will change it up next year, but I think it’s more than fair to use 4 years as a working hypothesis until we know better. Yes the cost is eye watering, rising to outright prohibitive if you want what I’d consider to be an only/ main machine configuration (upwards of £3k).

 

[MacNut]

They’ve reached the pinnacle of what’s currently feasible with a computer. You’re not realistically going to get anything better than the unibody build they’re currently offering. It’s just been refined at the 4 year mark - to perfection in 2012 and to slimageddon in 2016.


I’d be very pleased for them to redesign the 2019 machine around the magic keyboard in 2019, but like I said, past form. Of course it’s not impossible they will change it up next year, but I think it’s more than fair to use 4 years as a working hypothesis until we know better. Yes the cost is eye watering, rising to outright prohibitive if you want what I’d consider to be an only/ main machine configuration (upwards of £3k).

If Apple moves to a magic keyboard that would be the killer feature. By killer I mean what kills the product line forever. As of now these machines are barely considered pro machines. The more Apple changes they might as well just sell you an iPad and call it a MacBook Pro.

Apple has to tread carefully now as they are on the verge of losing a lot of customers to Windows. I would not be surprised if the next major upgrade has no ports at all.

 

[Falhófnir]

If Apple moves to a magic keyboard that would be the killer feature. By killer I mean what kills the product line forever. As of now these machines are barely considered pro machines. The more Apple changes they might as well just sell you an iPad and call it a MacBook Pro.

Apple has to tread carefully now as they are on the verge of losing a lot of customers to Windows. I would not be surprised if the next major upgrade has no ports at all.

If Apple moves from their controversial butterfly KB to their much praised Magic KB, that would kill the line? Why, can only divisive MacBook Pros sell? I'd be first in line for a MBP with a typing solution which works as well in practice as it does in theory. I'd probably even forgive Apple the £2,699 for 512GB storage if I could actually use it without fear of it going wrong. I suspect most potential buyers would agree with me. The butterfly experiment was interesting, but ultimately I don't think something as fundamental as typing experience should be controversial, they should aim for universal praise.

 

[leman]

The design hasn't changed since 2008. These are all basically the same body.

Just because they look similar doesn't mean its the same design. Design is not just the outer appearance, its everything. And the construction, function, arrangement and even material of the 2016 design is very different from the original unibody.
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They’ve reached the pinnacle of what’s currently feasible with a computer. You’re not realistically going to get anything better than the unibody build they’re currently offering. It’s just been refined at the 4 year mark - to perfection in 2012 and to slimageddon in 2016.

Pretty much this. The MBP is the laptop reduced to its most essential form. I have no idea how the design can get more streamlined than what we have now...

 

[MacNut]

If Apple moves from their controversial butterfly KB to their much praised Magic KB, that would kill the line? Why, can only divisive MacBook Pros sell? I'd be first in line for a MBP with a typing solution which works as well in practice as it does in theory. I'd probably even forgive Apple the £2,699 for 512GB storage if I could actually use it without fear of it going wrong. I suspect most potential buyers would agree with me. The butterfly experiment was interesting, but ultimately I don't think something as fundamental as typing experience should be controversial, they should aim for universal praise.

Apple had a great keyboard but they chose to change it for the worse. Why would Apple admit it was bad and change back? When I think of a magic keyboard I'm thinking of something in line with the Touch Bar. Personally my 2010 has the best keyboard ever invented. Why Apple thought they needed to change it is beyond me.

 

[Martius]

Well I expect that the redesign will come in 2020, but it really could be too late. The new MBA should have been the first try to fix the current product lineup disaster, however it seems they are not realizing how unreliable their laptops are and that sooner or later it will make most of the Pros to switch to Windows.

 

[filmbuff]

If they go to a haptic solid state keyboard I think that would actually be really cool. Being able to adjust the haptic feedback on it would let people choose the feeling they want, hotkeys could change what they were displaying, etc. Downsides would be weight and power consumption. A haptic keyboard would also give Apple a reason to raise the price on it by $300-500, which is why I think it's possible.

 

[Falhófnir]

Apple had a great keyboard but they chose to change it for the worse. Why would Apple admit it was bad and change back? When I think of a magic keyboard I'm thinking of something in line with the Touch Bar. Personally my 2010 has the best keyboard ever invented. Why Apple thought they needed to change it is beyond me.

Just to straighten the record - you think of the touch bar as opposed to the actual magic keyboard which I was referencing? The one that comes with the iMac and offers a very good typing experience? (IMO better even than the previous MBA-MBP keyboard). I'd hate a Taptic 'touchbar' keyboard. If they announced a machine with one in 2020, my money would be straight back in my pocket and I'd be out the door and looking at alternatives.

 

[filmbuff]

Just to straighten the record - you think of the touch bar as opposed to the actual magic keyboard which I was referencing? The one that comes with the iMac and offers a very good typing experience? (IMO better even than the previous MBA-MBP keyboard). I'd hate a Taptic 'touchbar' keyboard. If they announced a machine with one in 2020, my money would be straight back in my pocket and I'd be out the door and looking at alternatives.

There is a 0% chance they go back to a thick keyboard on a notebook. It's not gonna happen.

 

[Falhófnir]

There is only a very slim chance they go back to a comfortable keyboard with significant travel on a notebook. Sadly, it's not likely to happen.

FTFY. Ultimately I think you're probably right, but we can but hope common sense prevails and/ or the impact on the bottom line is significant enough for Apple's exec team to start caring.