New Graphics Card for 16" MBP?

[Sirmausalot]

Here is some info on the next generation 7nm AMD chips likely to power the rumored 16"MBP. I would assume these could also make their way over to the iMac as well. They seem to be lower power, higher performance and the correct increase in "compute units" whatever those are

AMD Radeon™ RX 5500M Mobile Graphics

AMD Radeon™ RX 5500M mobile graphics powers next-level 1080p gaming, Everywhere. Includes 1408 stream processors, 4 GB GDDR6, & game frequency of 1448 Mhz.

www.amd.com

Manufacturers will be releasing gaming laptops with these mobile chips in November, so that could include Apple who has a very close relationship with AMD. And Catalina now references these cards as well. So a November launch for the new MBP 16" still seems likely. Press release today perhaps?

 

[leman]

By the way, these GPUs are already supported in 10.15.1 I also think this means that we will see some Apple hardware with Navi GPUs very soon.

 

[ugru]

https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-5500M-GPU.436556.0.html

"The chip is specified with a TDP of 85 Watt"

Not suitable for MBP, unless heavily underclocked or Apple abandon USB-C for power delivery.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

By the way, these GPUs are already supported in 10.15.1 I also think this means that we will see some Apple hardware with Navi GPUs very soon.

Navi GPUs are indeed support not just for only external use but for internal use.. I do expect the 16" to feature Navi.. I mean if it doesn't no purchase from me.

 

[leman]

"The chip is specified with a TDP of 85 Watt"

Not suitable for MBP, unless heavily underclocked or Apple abandon USB-C for power delivery.

Binned chips + die thinning, and TDP will drop. AMD already did this for Apple with Polaris and then Vega. Not to mention the they might pair Navi with HBM2, which would cut down RAM power consumption. I'd expect the TDP of the Macbook Navi to be around 50W, same as Vega.

 

[Sirmausalot]

https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-5500M-GPU.436556.0.html

"The chip is specified with a TDP of 85 Watt"

Not suitable for MBP, unless heavily underclocked or Apple abandon USB-C for power delivery.

I think you are confusing CPU tdp and GPU tdp. The current Vega 20 in the 15 inch Macbook Pro is rated at 100 tdp. So this being a 7nm process is only 85 and will help battery life if included in the 16" It also justifies a.higher base price.

 

[leman]

I think you are confusing CPU tdp and GPU tdp. The current Vega 20 in the 15 inch Macbook Pro is rated at 100 tdp. So this being a 7nm process is only 85 and will help battery life if included in the 16" It also justifies a.higher base price.

The Vega in the MBP is 50W TDP. I have tested it quite extensively... not to mention that 100W TDP wouldn't make any sense, that's more than the laptop's charge capacity.

 

[ugru]

Binned chips + die thinning, and TDP will drop. AMD already did this for Apple with Polaris and then Vega. Not to mention the they might pair Navi with HBM2, which would cut down RAM power consumption. I'd expect the TDP of the Macbook Navi to be around 50W, same as Vega.

Then it will be a totally custom GPU, not a RX-5500M which comes with GDDR6, so my point stands....This GPU could not fit in the current power and thermal envelope of the MBP.

But Apple is known to use custom silicon, so what you say is possible. It is incredible what engeneering gymnastics Apple has to do to avoid admitting they were wrong in adopting USB-C for power delivery also in their workstation-class laptop...

I think you are confusing CPU tdp and GPU tdp. The current Vega 20 in the 15 inch Macbook Pro is rated at 100 tdp. So this being a 7nm process is only 85 and will help battery life if included in the 16" It also justifies a.higher base price.

In the link I provided there are the power figures under heavy load: "between 64 and 105 Watt".
Even under conservative assumptions, this, coupled with the notoriously power hungry H-series CPUs, will exced the power avaliable to USB-C.
When under heavy load, a laptop like this will start sucking the battery even with the power chord connected....

 

[leman]

Then it will be a totally custom GPU, not a RX-5500M which comes with GDDR6, so my point stands....This GPU could not fit in the current power and thermal envelope of the MBP.

What matters is the fact that this chip (Navi 14) is out. The exact configuration (RAM type, TDP, number of cores) can vary different (after all Intel ships the same chip as low-powered 15W laptop chip or a 65W+ hot desktop chip).

On paper the Polaris chips used in the current line are also supposed to be hotter, but AMD and Apple have managed to keep their TDP at under 40W with the performance levels of 70W counterparts.

It is incredible what engeneering gymnastics Apple has to do to avoid admitting they were wrong in adopting USB-C for power delivery also in their workstation-class laptop...

Apple never had a workstation-class laptop, if by "workstation-class" you mean things like ZBook 15, and they probably near will. Apple does use a lot of features that are commonly found only in workstation-class laptops in the Mac Book Pro.

 

[MisterAndrew]

The RX 5500 and 5500M are not supported by macOS 10.15.1. The device IDs are missing in the drivers. Therefore I can confidently say that no new Mac on the horizon will be using that GPU. There are however several device IDs for as yet unknown Navi GPUs in the drivers so it's likely the new MBP will have a Navi GPU, but not the RX 5500M.

 

[danwells]

It is a workstation class laptop, but in the ZBook Studio / Lenovo P1 Gen 2/ Dell Precision 5540 range, rather than the ZBook 15/Lenovo P53/ Dell Precision 7540 range. 15" notebook workstations have split into two groups, ~4-4.5 lbs and ~6 lbs, and the MacBook Pro is right on spec in the lighter group, although the "order it like you want it" element is unusual - the others have at least limited upgradability (RAM, sometimes SSD).