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

[ToomeyND]

Does Schiller have a recommendation to go somewhere to buy a pro machine?

So to be clear. They wanted to make the thinnest, most aggressively engineered pro laptop. In order to do so, they had to reduce the size of the battery. Because of the battery size, they lost the ability to make it a properly specced "pro" machine. Did I get that right?

 

[bobdobalina]

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[Larry-K]

Dear Phil, when last did you speak to a professional user? If I have several multi layer texture files open, together with a heavy poly scene in Maya while rendering 2k frames I will eat through 16gb quite happily. My minimum working memory footprint is 24gb. That's not counting having mail and Firefox open.

Similarly, two or three heavy BIM models in ArchiCAD, with the usual slew of apps will happily chew 20+ gigs of ram.

Give us 32 gb of ram and let us choose how we use our machines.

(or don't, I'm not buying one in anycase)

Phil stopped by Starbucks and polled all the "Pros".

 

[elvislives]

Well that ends my long journey with Apple.
Totally a joke pro product, innovate my arse indeed. Call this a pro product? with a crappy GPU and memory... they have lost it.

 

[dannys1]

Weren't you the one moaning about the 1080/60p on the Apple TV 4 and how it ruins your film viewing experience? Didn't you know better in that thread you made? Just curious..

There's asking for something which could be a software feature added and there's the dramatic nonsense you have from most MacRumors members, which as shown by the post iPod announcement thread dates right back to 2001.

 

[AppleMad98004]

No ddr4 and no 32gb option doesn't make any sense. No matter how you spin it.

DDR 4 is SLOWER than DDR 3... Just thought you'd like to know.

 

[El Burro]

DDR 4 is SLOWER than DDR 3... Just thought you'd like to know.

no it's not .where the f did you get that from.

 

[JamesPDX]

That BMD Multidock looks sweet. Couldn't you just daisy chain in another SSD or another, more economical dock?

It seems like you've got a lot of performance/dollar going on there. I like it.

Oh yeah, I can't imagine not having this now. It's got TWO Thunderbolt ports in the back so you can daisy chain more than a few of these together. No more external enclosures for me: When I need to make a CCC? I put in an HGST 2.5 spinner in an open slot and make a clone. I make encrypted rotating clones and backups. When I'm done, they go back into the boxes. The lack of hassle and the lack of noise and wall-wartery makes this worth every penny. One rack space. Too bad Apple only put one Thunderbolt port on the Mini. I wouldn't mind making a RAID with another Multidock just for video editing. I only buy spinners for clones/backups. I'm all SSD for production now.

 

[Tech198]

so, "technical limitation" .. then.

Apple does seem to focus one thing at a time here i think. e.g battery takes priority over more memory..

32Gig in iMac only probably it's more high end than a laptop... since it has 4K, u would need it.

 

[The Mercurian]

...And has HALF the battery life, go Dell!!!

http://www.trustedreviews.com/dell-xps-15-review-performance-and-battery-life-page-2

I'm perfectly happy with 5 hours battery life for that performance. My 2014 15" MBP only gives me about the same under load also.

 

[ALUOp]

They may update it with Kaby Lake and DDR4 in 6 months. At that time, they may give you the 32GB option.

 

[runeapple]

The funny part of this conversation is how many people think they "need" 32GB of RAM... but are probably really only needing 8GB.

I have a 2013 Top Spec rMBP and I have see the "Your System has Run out of Application memory" message a fair few times in the 3 year's i've been using it - and that's just with Photoshop, Xcode, Brackets and Web Browsers usually have 2 of the following with 20-30 tabs open (Chrome, Safari, Roccat or Firefox).

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

For a pro version they should have left at least one USB3 port.

But instead, they gave you four USB-C/TB 3 Ports with 32 USB 3.0 ports-worth of I/O bandwidth. Sounds like a reasonable tradeoff to me...

You people who are whining about Legacy ports need only to look back at the original Bondi Blue iMac, which eschewed the then wildly-popular Serial ports for the then utterly-ununsed USB Ports.

Two years later, there was hardly a Serial Peripheral in sight.

These machines are FUTURE-PROOF as far as I/O is concerned. You just don't see that right now; but USB-C and TB 3 is ready to explode (and not because of Apple this time, but because of all the Windows laptops with TB 3 over USB-C).

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10579-laptops-thunderbolt-3/

 

[2B-4G10]

I've been using this 13in late 2012 heap of junk for four years now, each year passing with a hope being raped and murdered in it's crib.

First it was the faulty Retina screens fuss, so i waited for'em to be replaced with IGZO's.
Then it was the damn processor upgrades with the cool (new-then) DDR4.
After that the crazy idea that it's being delayed possibly to bring something cool like wireless charging.
I got realistic, and just hoped for the 15in model to get a single USB-C and DDR4...

apple got it the other way around fuxxing the whole deal, 4 USB-C's and not a single DDR4.
how can you seek to unify the Air MacBook And Pro and call it innovation?
it's like a kid throwing all what he have in a blender, this is an abomination, one that is sad to look at, killing it would be the most respectful and merciful action to take.

tell me how null that event was, and i'll tell you how courageous apple is.

Dell XPS...I'm coming

 

[Duane Martin]

You DO realize, of course, that DDR4 memory is actually SLOWER than DDR3, right?

How dare you bring facts to a MR thread! Don't you know these people don't deal in "facts"; they come to complain and stoke the flames. I swear if I read one more comment "It doesn't even come with a USB port" my head is going to explode (it comes with 4, BTW). There is so much BS about RAM in this thread I have to wonder if no one here even has access to the internet for fact checking.

I, too, wish it had a BTO option of 32GB RAM because I tend to keep my Macs a long time (writing this on my early 2011 MBP, bought it for the Thunderbolt which I had been waiting on at that time). I have a work mate who does DIT work On-Set who is really disappointed because he has hit the wall in Resolve with 16GB and has a legit concern. I hesitated ordering because of the RAM issue knowing Apple would likely introduce a new version in 6-8 months with Kaby Lake and 32GB. Then I thought "you know, you could just sell the late 2016 in a year or two, get a good price, and get the newer version then since not everyone needs 32GB." And my 2011 MBP is really feeling long in the tooth now.

That hesitation cost me on delivery but I am satisfied with my decision to buy now. BTW, few if any posters actually seem to be aware of the specs on this new MBP other than what they read on MR, and most of that is BS anyhow.

People, don't come to MR for facts, just enjoy the show. I suspect, however, you know this and were just as frustrated as I am and felt the need to try. Good effort, I applaud the brief dose of reality.

For what it's worth, I edit and assistant edit video for television, currently working on a TV drama in its 10th season. Most of the work I do is Offline ("dammit Jim, I'm a picture editor, not a VFX guru") so 16GB will do for now but it would have been nice...

 

[2B-4G10]

But instead, they gave you four USB-C/TB 3 Ports with 32 USB 3.0 ports-worth of I/O bandwidth. Sounds like a reasonable tradeoff to me...

You people who are whining about Legacy ports need only to look back at the original Bondi Blue iMac, which eschewed the then wildly-popular Serial ports for the then utterly-ununsed USB Ports.

Two years later, there was hardly a Serial Peripheral in sight.

These machines are FUTURE-PROOF as far as I/O is concerned. You just don't see that right now; but USB-C and TB 3 is ready to explode (and not because of Apple this time, but because of all the Windows laptops with TB 3 over USB-C).

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10579-laptops-thunderbolt-3/

Future Proof is one thing, and Present Retarded is another!

 

[Seed101]

...And has HALF the battery life, go Dell!!!

http://www.trustedreviews.com/dell-xps-15-review-performance-and-battery-life-page-2

I don't really get this battery life hang up...who works on a MBP for more than 3-4 hours away from a socket?

I want something powerful, that I can transport and plug in on arrival...I don't work in a field...

 

[BorderingOn]

Hogwash. Else they would not offer higher clock speeds or i7.

 

[bobdobalina]

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[JamesPDX]

Then get a Mac Pro or iMac. Problem solved!

Oh man, believe me, I've nearly pulled the trigger on the refurb 4-core and the 6-core, but everyone here knows that Apple is charging too much for 3-year-old hardware. I've read horror stories about GPUs being DOA from the refurb store. And if I need service down the line? My specs are pretty decent for Pro Tools 12.6 and my studio is quiet and I've got a little distributed processing. All I want is more RAM. The iMacs are too thin, run too hot, and then throttle-down. They're gorgeous machines with very reflective displays, but too thin, run too hot, and are a PITA to service for the price point. I found a 2012 DP 6-core cMP, but I can't justify the juice and the lack of Thunderbolt (yes, know that I can put those SSDs on a PCIe card) and it's grunt would be for the studio, so there's install/machine room change considerations. Tempting, but not as worth it as I thought it could be. Especially the juice factor.

If I'm going to pay a premium and run a machine at 800+ watts, Apple should just sell their OS so I can configure a Boxx.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Or get a real PRO machine (Thinkpad P50) that allows 64GB of RAM.

And, if stuffed with that 64 GB of RAM has a ridiculous TWO to THREE-hour battery life (and many other problems, too) :

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkP...ng-the-4K-P50-with-great-sadness/td-p/2270456

Oh, and the review with that same laptop with 16 GB of RAM had it getting 8 hours of battery life (which the review compared to be equal with the 2015 MBP).

So maybe Mr. Schiller isn't trying to pull our legs afterall, eh?

And before you say "It doesn't matter about the battery life", can you imagine all the forum-bitching and review-bashing that Apple would get if they announced a THREE-HOUR battery life, REGARDLESS of the Max. RAM spec?

 

[OriginalClone]

There's asking for something which could be a software feature added and there's the dramatic nonsense you have from most MacRumors members, which as shown by the post iPod announcement thread dates right back to 2001.

I get where you're coming from. Most times they are being unreasonable, but sometimes they do have a point.

 

[bobdobalina]

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[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

was just looking at the store too.

The only way to get the quad core is also going 15" version as neither 13" models offer Quad Core CPU (which IMHO makes them more MacBook Airs than MacBook Pros)

And the 15" Quad-Core base price is $2999.99 Canadian. That's a lot. For $3,000 Canadian, there are a lot of options at that price for high end powerful laptops. Many offering far more functionality / features.

And all of them running Windows 10, Spyware Edition...

 

[Wahlstrm]

32GB of RAM is an insane amount of memory.

One solution may have been to allow up to 32GB of memory when plugged into power, and then limit it to 16GB on battery power, but I don't know the technical requirements for that, or even if it's possible.

Anyone calling this garbage because this laptop doesn't support an astronomically large amount of RAM is just making noise. The Mac Pro supports up to 64GB of memory, so if you're in the market for a powerful Mac, Apple has you covered. It's unrealistic to expect them to pack a Mac Pro into a laptop. Possible, maybe, but at what compromise?

PC-PRO-Laptops with 64GB of RAM have been available for quite some time now, so it´s not exactly groundbreaking with 32GB in a Laptop for pro-use..