New MacBook Pros Max Out at 16GB RAM Due to Battery Life Concerns

[Elijen]

Guys, let us vote with our wallets and not buy this garbage. I for one, will look elsewhere.

Man, I thought the same, but other laptops look like **** compared to MacBooks. I was just checking Dell XPS, Lenovo Yoga, Surface etc. in a showroom but all are really bad. Small, ****** trackpads. Poor keyboard. Terrible OS.

Furthermore it's still pretty impossible to buy the new Kaby Lake laptops here in Europe.

 

[BeefCake 15]

There's a lot of butthurt on the forums lately. Funny how every single person here seems to NEED 32GB of RAM. How are you existing on your 16GB of RAM older MacBook now?

MR is a huge memory hog and I need all 32GB of RAM to write this post!

 

[Larry-K]

That's right. Everyone doing any kind of graphics or video work definitely prefers battery over extra RAM. That's 103% undebatable fact.

I prefer RAM & Battery over "Thin-ness".

But I have to admit, nothing is thinner than Apple's excuse.

 

[Elijen]

As an iOS developer my wallet would hurt real bad if I didn't purchase this.

I'm guessing we'll see a Mid/Late 2017 update with a 32GB option, just to spite us who need to purchase this generation.

My 2012 MBP is going to die soon. I really hoped this update would be worth it

 

[Stella]

If you want smaller, go buy a 13" or macbook. Maybe apple should create a 15" macbook.

15" macbook pro should be a work horse. Not a glorified fashion accessory.

Portable functionality is far more important to Apple - that's the issue.

I'm surprised there is still an dGPU in any of the 15"..

While I agree that the lack of a 32GB option in such a high-end computer is lame, I'm also sick to death of the form vs function pseudo-argument. The very definition of a notebook computer demands that form is an aspect of function (it wouldn't be a "notebook" otherwise). For a notebook, portability is part of its function. And notebooks have always been less performant than desktops, because of this functional requirement of smaller form. The colour, on the other hand, is pure form (though an industrial designer might be able to reasonably argue otherwise!). Having a smaller, thinner, lighter form may not be a priority for you—or may be a lesser priority for you—but that doesn't change the fact that these are still functions of a notebook computer.

 

[arkmannj]

If it is true then just make it a Custom option to increase the RAM and have a warning
*more RAM may decrease battery time*
let us consumers decide what is more important, and show us shareholders that you have an option for increased revenue that would likely be popular with professional.

 

[Elijen]

MR is a huge memory hog and I need all 32GB of RAM to write this post!

My 2012 MBP has 16Gb RAM and 768Gb fusion drive. How on earth would I justify buying a new laptop for $3000 that has almost the same specs in 2016?

 

[ginkobiloba]

And they have the guts to put this on their webpage

because, yeah, people that are going to be using TWO 5k displays and TWO Raid systems are definitely not the kind of people who are going to need more than 16GB. They just need the displays and Raid to create their annual Halloween invitation flyers with iWork Pages.

 

[jjjoseph]

Schiller's answer: ........ " I hope you check out this new generation MacBook Pro, it really is an incredible system."

Why is Apple Computers now rely on the saying, ITS AMAZINGl. ITS INCREDIBLE. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT. IT'S THE BEST. Its marketing has become desperate and pathetic.

Aren't the consumers the ones that tell APPLE what is the best, its borderline propaganda, and kinda insane.

Apple is giving us things that we didn't really want and telling us how great it is. I would rather have a REAL GPU and 32GB or RAM and MagSafe power cord than a bit thinner and a bit lighter. Aside from Apple being ridiculous in every way by pushing its idea of the future on us, MagSafe?? Killing off MagSafe??? Where is that the future. I'm waiting for all these people who BLEW $2700 on an outdated laptop go up in arms as their laptop falls to the ground, cause someone tripped on their cord. Reality will hit hard when they realize that Apple Took away its best MacBook Pro feature, to date..

I work in Film and TV post production, and this has really forced our company to start looking at PC's, its such a waste, we have about A million dollars invested in Apple Hardware, maybe closer to ~500k now because its some older MacPro 5,1 hardware, and a bunch of the now dead Mac Pro Trash cans have depreciated so much, but HEY ZEUS this is bad....

Its unbelievable, it truly is, I thought Apple could turn this around. And they can't. Its over. Apples motto is "buy an iPhone, buy a $2700 Laptop for Email and Browsing the web, Forget Pro Desktop computers, and most importantly, SIT THE F**K DOWN AND SHUT THE F**K UP."

 

[kwikdeth]

My apologies if this has already been answered, but I didn't see anything about this specifically.

Do we know yet if the components are soldered in so they can't be upgraded after the fact, like with other recent models? My older MBP wasn't, and I was able to buy upgraded RAM and a bigger HD and install it on my own to circumvent Apple's insane upgrade costs. But I know with other recent models they have made that impossible. Is that the case here again? I would assume so, since Apple want's to be able to charge an arm, a leg, and your firstborn just to get a reasonably-sized HD in an already $3k machine.

Soldered.

 

[bighype]

A Pro machine that can't do 32GB in 2016/2017? What Pros are they after? Pro writers or "pro" Facebook posters?!?!

RIP Mac.

 

[Since1987]

If I was still doing development, I might want a machine with 2 TB storage and 32 GB RAM....wonder what this market segment will do.

We will go elsewhere. Which is what Apple wants. They want the albatross of computers removed from their neck. Use an iPad or P!$$ off! That's your REAL reason why they limited to 16GB. They KNOW that's a no go for Pro users.

Another invitation from Apple to go away. Guess what?.... they will. I'll say it again, Ferengi is on the Microsoft Payroll ... destroying the computer division from the inside.

 

[Ener Ji]

How many people have an existing laptop with 32GB of RAM? Just wondering. From the amount of complaints, sounds like majority here have existing laptops with 32GB of RAM, and thus looking for a new laptop with the same feature.

Asinine comments like yours make me wish for a downvote button. RAM requirements tend to go up over time. RAM is not upgradeable post-purchase. Therefore, we don't need to be using 32GB NOW in order to be unhappy about Apple's decision, we simply need to anticipate that we may need >16GB during the laptop's lifetime.

Personally, I was hoping for 24GB and 32GB options. I'm pretty sure I won't need 32GB, but I'm concerned that 16GB will be limiting.

 

[Sefstah]

So how do you plug your brand new iPhone 7 into this machine?
Answer: Spend more money

 

[bobdobalina]

edit

 

[emailnotebox]

90%* of people probably don't require a 2016 15" Macbook Pro . The Macbook, 13" very low end or iPad, would probably suffice.

* large proportion

Well if thats the case price should be relevant.

 

[skellener]

Apple - where Pro means nothing.

64GB in my MacPro currently (heavy After Effects user). Was hoping for a MacPro that could handle 256GB for the next rev. I guess they'll soon be out of the headless Mac business as well.

I think Steve said it best. This is where Apple is now. Apple is run by toner-heads.

 

[LordVic]

Aha good to know! Thanks! They are a brand I'm not familiar with. Any good ?

They historically have been a premium gamer's laptop manufacturer, but have recently ventured out to Ultrabook's and other assorted computers. Lots of peripherals, lots of hardware. While most people think of them first for game devices, These laptops are starting to be on par, if not more powerful than a lot of other options.

They just haven't released the pricing on their newest lineup of skyake/ pascal devices.


The "new razer blade" which is their competitor to the 15" MacBook Pro, at the $2,999 price point (Same as the 15" MacBook Pro base here)
Core i7-6700HQ (2.6/3.5Ghz boost)
Geforce GTX 1060 w/ 6gb DDR5
16GB DDR 4 @ 2133Mhz
256Gb PCI-E SSD
14" 3200x1800 IGZO 10 point touch IPS Matte display. (available in 1080p as well for cheaper)
Fully Customizable RGB (per key) backlit keyboard
Thunderbolt 3 ports. USB-C, USB-A,
Wireless (AC/N/G/B + Bluetooth 4.1)
HDMI Output
2MP webcamp
Supports 7.1 surround sound output via HDMI

but sacrifices (in comparison to the MBP), 3mm of thickness and about .8 lbs.

 

[HiRez]

There's a lot of butthurt on the forums lately. Funny how every single person here seems to NEED 32GB of RAM. How are you existing on your 16GB of RAM older MacBook now?

Honestly, it's tricky and frustrating. 16 GB works fine for me now about 90% of the time. Just would be nice if it was 100%. That percentage will almost certainly be worse 3-5 years down the line when I'd still have a machine I bought today.

First, we're doing things today that we weren't doing 3-5 years ago, like making motion graphics in 4K and soon, 8K. That takes a lot of RAM. Sometimes you can make do with less, but you'll get much shorter real-time previews, for example. Cameras also push a lot more data now, so if you're editing hundreds of photos in RAW format with 20-30 megapixels, you need tons of RAM.

Plus, a lot of workflows need to switch off apps frequently. I will often have After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema4D, Xcode, Terminal, Safari, TextWrangler, Team Viewer, Mail, and iTunes open at the same time (and probably other stuff like Calculator, Preview, Numbers, etc.). You don't want to quit and restart apps every time you want to switch.

Not to mention the many, many background processes we have running these days that also suck up RAM, like Dropbox and iCloud Drive and Google Drive syncing, Time Machine backups, metadata/indexing, software updates, color calibration, Adobe CC manager, iCloud Photos agent, etc. Right now I'm on my 2011 MacBook Air and I have 3.4 out of 4 GB used with only Safari and Activity Monitor open.

 

[Glideslope]

Phil has now become "One of Them." There is no going back. Try to focus on the "Good Ol Days" when they were Apple Computer Inc.

 

[trifid]

THEN PUT IN A BIGGER BATTERY YOU NUGGET.

hahahahaha, made my day bro

 

[rizzo41999]

What's the discrepancy? 10hr battery life covers pretty much everyone if they charge once a day.

It's a sarcastic remark in regards to Tim and Co saying their research shows people don't mind charging their devices everyday. It'a funny how they are now factoring in battery efficiency

 

[bobdobalina]

edit

 

[2457248]

apple website doesn't publish mah

you're right, it's [Wh] which is kind of the same isn't it? i'm not expert on batteries

 

[5590982]

So... decreased battery life is apparently worse than not ever having a comfortable amount of RAM?