MBPs USB3 and maximum memory questions?

[lloyd709]

I normally hate speculation about future computers just after a new one has been released but can't help thinking that if only the new MBPs had USB3 and could take more then 8Gig of memory I would be comfortable buying one and thinking it will last me 4 years or so. At the moment, without USB3 (even with Tbolt) I can't bring myself to buy one.

Just spoke to an Apple sales guy and he said he didn't think Apple would ever use USB3. I can't believe this is true but scary if it is.

Am I correct in thinking that the next set of support chips from Intel will be 'native USB3' (what ever that means) and in which case it will be hard for Apple to have USB 2 only?

I personally really want USB3 on my next MBP even if Tbolt is fantastic as I have a funny feeling USB will still be very handy for a long time!

Regarding memory, does anyone know the limiting factors regarding memory in the MBPs - is it simply physically how much memory they can put on the chips or an addressing thing or something else. More specifically, do you think the next generation of MBP (Iverybridge I think) will take more than 8Gig of memory?

 

[mulo]

the new macbook pros support 16GB ram.

 

[bamf]

USB3 can be enabled via PCIE over Thunderbolt. Someone just needs to create the correct accessory to do so.

Why would you want to limit your storage access to 5Gbps when Thunderbolt can do 10Gbps though?

 

[iMacDragon]

Just spoke to an Apple sales guy and he said he didn't think Apple would ever use USB3. I can't believe this is true but scary if it is.

Am I correct in thinking that the next set of support chips from Intel will be 'native USB3' (what ever that means) and in which case it will be hard for Apple to have USB 2 only?

I'd be shocked if they don't use USB 3 next year, when intel add native chipset support finally.

 

[lloyd709]

Why would you want to limit your storage access to 5Gbps when Thunderbolt can do 10Gbps though?

I'm a photographer and use all my ports a lot on location. I know you might be able to get some kind of thing that gives you lots of ports from a single Tbolt but means that you are relying on just the one port - if that goes down you are stuffed (or at least slowed down). That's just one reason. Say I don't want to mess around with a converter and most of the card readers you can buy in the future are USB 3 only - that's another reason. Say camera manufactures decide to go with USB 3 to connect directly to the computer and again I don't want to fiddle around with converters.

 

[bamf]

I'm a photographer and use all my ports a lot on location. I know you might be able to get some kind of thing that gives you lots of ports from a single Tbolt but means that you are relying on just the one port - if that goes down you are stuffed (or at least slowed down). That's just one reason. Say I don't want to mess around with a converter and most of the card readers you can buy in the future are USB 3 only - that's another reason. Say camera manufactures decide to go with USB 3 to connect directly to the computer and again I don't want to fiddle around with converters.

I can understand not wanting to fiddle with converters. I can also understand your concern about USB 3 only devices in the future. USB 3 devices can all be used in USB 2 ports though - they just fall back to USB 2 speeds.

Also, most SD cards can't nearly push a USB 2 interface at this point, so port speed isn't the limiting factor there. A class 10 card is only 80 Mbit/s - which is still 6 times slower than USB 2.

 

[lloyd709]

I can understand not wanting to fiddle with converters. I can also understand your concern about USB 3 only devices in the future. USB 3 devices can all be used in USB 2 ports though - they just fall back to USB 2 speeds.

Also, most SD cards can't nearly push a USB 2 interface at this point, so port speed isn't the limiting factor there. A class 10 card is only 80 Mbit/s - which is still 6 times slower than USB 2.

USB 3 is 3 times as fast as USB 2 (at least approx). USB 2 is 7 years old or something. Everything is getting faster. I want to a new MBP to have the latest technology that I can see myself using - and I can see myself continuing to use USB.

I don't know what cards I've got but I can download 16Gig cards (compact flash) using USB 2 in about 8 minutes - which I thought was near the max speed of the USB port. According to your 80 Mbit/s it would take about 26 minutes! Either I've got my maths wrong or you have!

 

[bamf]

USB 3 is 3 times as fast as USB 2 (at least approx). USB 2 is 7 years old or something. Everything is getting faster. I want to a new MBP to have the latest technology that I can see myself using - and I can see myself continuing to use USB.

I don't know what cards I've got but I can download 16Gig cards (compact flash) using USB 2 in about 8 minutes - which I thought was near the max speed of the USB port. According to your 80 Mbit/s it would take about 26 minutes! Either I've got my maths wrong or you have!

Or your card is faster than class 10...

Also, USB 3 is more than 10 times faster than USB 2. It's a better port for sure, but I think Apple is really going to push using Thunderbolt and chaining devices.

Once Intel natively supports USB 3 in their chipset, sure Apple will end up having USB 3 (I would think). My point in replying to your thread was just to say that industry standard isn't always what Steve (and others at Apple) envision. Remember floppy drives?

 

[PAPO]

now with light peak (thunderbolt) coming about I see USB dying out fairly quickly (3 years) because USB has (and always will be) a crap standard, for in the real world FireWire is better by far even only using FW400 and with ThunderBolt USB 3 has nowhere to gain traction, I look forward to the death of USB

 

[Bill Gates]

now with light peak (thunderbolt) coming about I see USB dying out fairly quickly (3 years) because USB has (and always will be) a crap standard, for in the real world FireWire is better by far even only using FW400 and with ThunderBolt USB 3 has nowhere to gain traction, I look forward to the death of USB

USB is not going to die anytime soon. USB is cheap to implement which is why it's ubiquitous. USB 3.0's backwards-compatibility will ensure that USB remains the dominant standard for the foreseeable future, with Thunderbolt occupying a similar niche to that of FireWire.

 

[lloyd709]

USB is not going to die anytime soon. USB is cheap to implement which is why it's ubiquitous. USB 3.0's backwards-compatibility will ensure that USB remains the dominant standard for the foreseeable future, with Thunderbolt occupying a similar niche to that of FireWire.

I also think this is going to be the case. The best technology rarely becomes the main standard from what I've observed of the technology market.

 

[grahamnp]

What lloyd709 said is true. At the moment, people are used to USB devices and they way they function. Most people only have a few USB devices and as long as their computer has enough ports and it does what they need, they're not going to bother changing even if it is for the better.

Also, Intel has put a speed limit on Thunderbolt's implementation by not allowing express or PCI cards.

Thunderbolt is definitely the superior standard, it just would be nice to have a choice.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Also, it will be a while before you see much Thunderbolt supported hardware. USB 3 is just beginning to catch on and it is backward compatible which is important for the average user.