Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New MacBook Pro Features Breakdown: Everything Rumors Say We Can Expect

WinterEmerald said:
The reason why I'm expressing suspicion (and I obviously don't want it to be true) is that there'd be almost no doubt at this point from all rumour sites/influencers that it would be 32GB if it's black and white on a schematic. The fact we still have various platforms saying there're rumours it's up to 64GB is a good sign. We have no true way of knowing this really going to be the case, i.e. if the schematic is legit, and what sort of developments may have changed since then if it has. I also feel like Apple would be hurting themselves by offering less RAM than what they're replacing. Wouldn't be a good way to retain customers.
Click to expand...

we'll know on monday... AFAIK, the biggest available RAM chips right now are 16GB. looking at the layout of the 14" MBP's MLB, we can't tell how many RAM chips are going to be used because they're soldered onto the M1X SoC. the new SoC looks like it's about twice as big as the M1. so maybe Apple will use up to four RAM chips, IDK.
 
Eagle_Eye said:
Please leave the ports as they are. The HDMI port is absolutely unnecessary, most people already have a dongle for that. SD cards, maybe, but give me two thunderbolt ports on the left and right side, so I can keep my current setup (mbpro - 4k lg - 4k lg). Would be quite the change if I have to move the mbpro to the right side of my desk.
Click to expand...
If I'm buying a Pro level laptop, I shouldn't have to have dongles upon dongles for core essentials like HDMI, USB etc. Focusing on thinness and weight when it's meant to be an absolute workhorse is dumb to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dave559, JonnyBMac, Piplodocus and 1 other person
given the size of the M1X SoC (and the performance gain because of four vs. two memory channels) it would make sense to have four RAM chips soldered on. it's possible that we might see a 64GB option in the new 16" MBP only.
 
Some people complaining that these machines don't have replaceable/upgradable SSDs (which I somewhat agree why can't there be at least a 2nd M.2 or whatever SSD slot in there). Other people here saying SD card is a regression, keep an extra TB port.

I hardly ever use SD cards. But I'm very pleased as this means to me that further down the road I can effectively add a 1 (or 2?) TB SD card to give me more internal storage on the go, without having to take external drives with me. Don't know how fast the access speed will be, but I can just put stuff that doesn't need fast access on the SD card. Hopefully the card will be pretty flush with the edge when inserted. Not cheap to buy a big fast SD card currently, but hopefully in a few years when I'm lower on space the prices will have come down a bit.

Is that a cool plan? Or somehow inherently doomed/unworkable?
 
  • Like
Reactions: whythefuss
jz0309 said:
they are legacy ports on a 2021 laptop ... USB-C is far more versatile
Click to expand...
I would agree that USB-C is "more versatile", but is it "more convenient"? I would say it's not.

A USB-C only Mac (like my MBP16) requires a bag of adapters and cables to accompany it everywhere outside the home.

For my regular usage (and and I suspect that of many people), I need to connect it to:

1) An external screen or projector - HDMI seems to be to be most likely connection you'll find on a random office monitor or projector these days. I have some USB-C to DisplayPort and USB-C to HDMI cables to avoid the use of dongles, which makes things a bit cleaner (and maybe more reliable), but these are harder to find in an emergency than a standard HDMI-HMDI cable that is sold in any hardware store.

2) USB sticks. Most of mine are still USB-A, but I can live with a handful of $2 adaptors and I bought a (quite expensive) Samsung dual USB-A/C stick as my goto travel device. To be fair, I use USB sticks a lot less than I used to, given the fact that many internet connections are almost as fast.

3) SD cards. I take lots of photos and videos, so I'm always connecting a dongle or hub for transfers.

4) Backup drives - I still have a lot of USB-A drives and cables, so again, I need to use adaptors. However, I'm prepared to accept that USB-A is definitely old-tech that is going to be (eventually) superceded by USB-C, so I'm OK with adaptors until my old USB-A drives die. My newer drives are nearly all SSDs with USB-C.
 
The likely bad:

Flexgate not fixed. Just delayed like in the 2019 Intels. (There are reports of it appearing with M1 MBPros).
Not upgradeable. At all. Unless you want to pay Apple's gouging upgrade prices at time of purchase.
Soldered everything. No SSD.
Flash storage that dies when your logic board does. Data not retrieveable.
More accelerated planned obolescence.
Not repairable by third parties.
Bootable external backups not possible (that's a Big Sur / Monterey thing).

Applecare will be an expensive necessity.

But it's thin. THIN! The fanboys and fawning media will rejoice!

The good for me: sticking with my mid-2015 and not getting out my wallet. I already use USB-C with it after investing $40 in a Thunderbolt 2 adapter and cable. By the way, the PC world is not embracing Thunderbolt 3; it may well end up in the dustbin of history as Apple cuts ties with Intel. Peripherals will be very expensive if they ever exist at all, just like with T2. It's already essentially Apple-proprietary.

Even my utilitarian 2020 $400 Acer Aspire will be more versatile and connectable: no dongles needed. And I can upgrade RAM and the SSD or replace the battery in about 10 minutes with a Phillips screwdriver.

Now, if you have a 2016-18 MBPro, that changes everything: those are Tim Cook endless moneypits that you should get rid of ASAP before flexgate happens or the butterfly keyboard dies. Repeatedly.
 
Last edited:
BuddyTronic said:
I hope they add 5 zero profile LED’s to act as a visual indication that the MacBook is receiving charge (even with lid closed). This was in every MacBook Pro many moons ago and when they stopped, I was wondering why they would ever remove such a useful feature.

Anyone out there even remember those tiny LED’s?
Click to expand...
Anyone even remember them? I still have them on my daily driver MacBook Pro!!! Still works ok, but defo overdue this upgrade!

Also has the white sleep LED that shines through the invisible laser-cut holes in the aluminium. Looks a bit roughed up right on the sharp front edge of the palm rest, but give it a good clean and shine and you'd never believe it was >11 years old.
 
davidhunternyc said:
I've been using my MacBook Pro since 2010. Oh geeze, I need an upgrade. I've put too much money into fixing mine. I never upgraded because I hated the dongles and no ports and touchbar. My only other issue is will I be able to fix the new MacBook Pro when it breaks, after warranty? Will Apple glue the battery and hard drive down? I believe in my Right to Repair. It's my computer. I own it. I hope this is everything it is cracked up to be.
Click to expand...
A couple of things. Remving the glued in (the glue is more like double sided tape than what most people think of glue) batteries is fairly easy. A few drops of acetone or nail polish remover underneath to break the adhesive; slide a plastic cards under the cells to free them; and lift the battery out. Sounds daunting but its pretty easy and I’ve done it twice because I needed to replace the trackpads on our two 2014 MBPs. The M1 MacBook Air and previous Retina Intel Air used even easier to remove adhesive on their batteries. Replacing things like fans or speakers is equally easy on my 14.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: davidhunternyc
darngooddesign said:
A couple of things. Remving the glued in (the glue is more like double sided tape than what most people think of glue) batteries is fairly easy. A few drops of acetone or nail polish remover underneath to break the adhesive; slide a plastic cards under the cells to free them; and lift the battery out. Sounds daunting but its pretty easy and I’ve done it twice because I needed to replace the trackpads on our two 2014 MBPs. The M1 MacBook Air and previous Retina Intel Air used even easier to remove adhesive on their batteries. Replacing things like fans or speakers is equally easy on my 14.
Click to expand...
Typical buyers are not going to do that. They will gladly give Apple $200 to replace a $60 battery. More profit for Cupertino, and more chances of Apple selling new products when the customer is sitting at the Genius Bar.
 
JonnyBMac said:
Soldered everything. No SSD.
Flash storage that dies when your logic board does. Data not retrieveable.
More accelerated planned obolescence.
Not repairable by third parties.
Bootable external backups not possible (that's a Big Sur / Monterey thing).
Click to expand...
That's a nice bonus for me with my 16" Intel - if the hard drive dies then I can use an external bootable drive, since I haven't updated to Big Sur on that one. Creating a separate boot drive has kept my old 2012 MBP going for a few more years, since that is booted from an external SSD (I didn't fancy putting in an internal one) rather than the existing mechanical one, and I have a separate bootable drive with non-work apps (music stuff), to keep the work one uncluttered.

I wish I could do the same with my M1 Mini.
 
The person who wrote this list of features is living in such a fantasy world... No way in hell (unfortunately) Apple is bringing back magsafe, sdcard slot and full-size USB...
 
If I have Windows 10 loaded on an external drive, which I can currently boot from on my 2018 MacBook Pro….will I still be able to do this on one of the upcoming MBP’S?
 
Piplodocus said:
Anyone even remember them? I still have them on my daily driver MacBook Pro!!! Still works ok, but defo overdue this upgrade!

Also has the white sleep LED that shines through the invisible laser-cut holes in the aluminium. Looks a bit roughed up right on the sharp front edge of the palm rest, but give it a good clean and shine and you'd never believe it was >11 years old.
Click to expand...

I don't blame you for sticking with the old machine. I really do miss the older better MacBook Pro's.

Let's hope the new one's have all the missing stuff - it's time for an upgrade!
 
mightysashiman said:
The person who wrote this list of features is living in such a fantasy world... No way in hell (unfortunately) Apple is bringing back magsafe, sdcard slot and full-size USB...
Click to expand...

Yah - full-size USB - It's not like a headphone jack on the iPhone really - there are still tons and tons of old USB devices. Get us out of dongle world.

It's also a PITA to have to look carefully at white cords to determine if it is USB C or iPhone Lightning around the house, but I doubt they can solve that.
 
JonnyBMac said:
Typical buyers are not going to do that. They will gladly give Apple $200 to replace a $60 battery. More profit for Cupertino, and more chances of Apple selling new products when the customer is sitting at the Genius Bar.
Click to expand...
First of all, good quality replacement batteries are not $60; the latest MacBook Air battery is $140 from iFixit. Even if there were no adhesive, those typical buyers would not even remove the bottom and un-clip the battery.
 
Piplodocus said:
Anyone even remember them? I still have them on my daily driver MacBook Pro!!! Still works ok, but defo overdue this upgrade!
Click to expand...
My old 15” had them, but the charger plug having an orange/green light was more useful because it was visible from all angles. The only benefit to the five lights was seeing the battery level with the lid closed.
 
darngooddesign said:
You dont need a dongle if you just replace your cable, and if you haven’t replaced your cable with a $3 USB-C version, you’re just being stubborn.
Click to expand...
Not always - there are lots of RC toys and cheap gadgets still using old USB. It would be handy.

I wasn’t stubborn 6 years ago when they changed to nothing but usb c. It just didn’t pan out as well as we all wished, and now I have $1000 of extra dongles - not elegant - I have to have a mess of computer **** next to my lazy boy.
 
BuddyTronic said:
Not always - there are lots of RC toys and cheap gadgets still using old USB. It would be handy.

I wasn’t stubborn 6 years ago when they changed to nothing but usb c. It just didn’t pan out as well as we all wished, and now I have $1000 of extra dongles - not elegant - I have to have a mess of computer **** next to my lazy boy.
Click to expand...
Just leave an inexpensive adapter attached to the USB-A plug at which point it’s no more a dongle than the cable is.
 
darngooddesign said:
Just leave an inexpensive adapter attached to the USB-A plug at which point it’s no more a dongle than the cable is.
Click to expand...

I do that for an SD card reader, but I have a variety of multiple occasional old style USB things. I’m a gadget freak.
 
The same people defending having only USB-C ports on Macs don't seem to be saying anything about USB-C on iPhones and all iPads because they claim that Lightning is superior to USB-C. If iPad Pro is the highest end, most superior iPad, then why would have a USB-C port instead of the "superior" Lightning port? If Apple lovers are all about having the most superior ports, why aren't they asking to replace all USB-C ports on Macs with Lightning?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back