New MacBook Pros Said to Launch in 2017 With Price Cuts and Up to 32GB of RAM

[hiddenmarkov]

Btw - gamers actually drive the tech industry in a big way, so you should be glad some of them are interested in Macs. .

These people don't realize the longer apple holds off here, the more behind the VR revolution they will be. VR lends heavily from gaming. What industry has years and millions if not billions in R and D creating realistic environments, a plethora of physics engines to interact with that environment, and in some cases lessoned the annoyance of "Please Wait....Loading " screens with tech like procedural generation? Begins in G, ends in G, has amin in the middle lol.

All this..VR says thank you. VR devs unless going grass roots and making everything from scratch...buy premade engines. usually gaming engines that allow for VR incorporation. As covered above...they invented the wheel, why add unknown time and R&D costs to reinvent that. If MBP can't run latest and greatest engines now (as feral interactive has said sorry guys, we just can't port some of your wanted games), VR will be a problem.

Feral has been good to us who run games on mac os...when they say they can't port over some recent games its a bad sign. They have hooked us up with some great work (I know feral has poster(s) here, your work is appreciated) , its not a lack of skill an issue. its the hardware.

And most successful vendors options have an established tech baselines even this new 2016 is no where near. Occulus Rift v2 one day will raise this bar....not lower it.

 

[The Mercurian]

Wrong, it's called buy AMD, or scale up mobile processors (which are already not far off from desktop ones these days anyway). That's what you do when you have oogles of cash...unless you're Apple. In that case you buy a hyped up maker of really crummy headphones.

I've worked in semi-conductors many moons ago. Trust me ....it's not that easy. Intel are the absolute best at this. If they cannot make 10nm work - nobody can

 

[mazz0]

Never buy 1st gen. Apple products, or 1st gen. in a new design.
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You say intelligent, i say delusional.

Normally I'd agree with you, but there's nothing in the new Apple Watches to make me wish I'd waited.

 

[The Mercurian]

Normally I'd agree with you, but there's nothing in the new Apple Watches to make me wish I'd waited.

You must not be a swimmer. The stroke counting ability is fantastic for anyone who trains in a pool

 

[scoobydoo99]

So they had a couple options:
...
2. Spec bump the current rMBP and just replace Thunderbolt 2 with Thunderbolt 3/USB and have this weird between generations laptop.
...
I'd say they made the right choice overall, just not one I'm gonna buy.

The 2016 MBP IS a "weird in-between version"! It's got 4 ports that no one uses without a dongle. By the time USB-C is in widespread use, it will be time to upgrade the computer. It's not just one, but almost two generations too soon, and punishes users by taking away the functionality they need for, you know, actually USING their computers. Add to that the elimination of MagSafe and the replacement of probably the best laptop keyboard ever with the near-worst, and you have not just a disappointment, but a disaster. But they sure are light and thin! That's what people want! riiiiight

 

[cult hero]

The 2016 MBP IS a "weird in-between version"! It's got 4 ports that no one uses without a dongle. By the time USB-C is in widespread use, it will be time to upgrade the computer. It's not just one, but almost two generations too soon, and punishes users by taking away the functionality they need for, you know, actually USING their computers. Add to that the elimination of MagSafe and the replacement of probably the best laptop keyboard ever with the near-worst, and you have not just a disappointment, but a disaster. But they sure are light and thin! That's what people want! riiiiight

It's chicken and egg. USB-C won't see widespread adoption either for a long time or until manufactures are forced to make devices because a fairly popular laptop demands it. I am happy with this decision.

I'm actually pretty tired of hearing that users are losing any functionality with the ports. There are adapters. It's really not that big of a deal:

1. If you're on the road, what are you plugging into your laptop? And if you are, is that one adapter really such a big deal? No. It really isn't. I've been using Thunderbolt 2 almost exclusively since I got a MacBook Air three years ago. It's about the only port I use on my Pro. Why?

2. If you're at a desk, get a dock because it's awesome. Sorry, but if you need 10 ports on your laptop and you plug into that THAT MUCH stuff every time you sit down, I don't know what to tell you. In my opinion you're doing it wrong. 1 USB hub solves the problem. And no, if someone can afford to buy a $1,500+ laptop, my heart does not ache for another minor cost. This is the definition of a first-world problem.

MagSafe was great when it was introduced, no doubt. However, when it was introduced in 2006 the laptop that premiered with it had a whopping 4.5 hours of advertised battery life, and more like 3.5 hours in real life usage. Being able to plug in while at a makeshift station (like a chair or a table or all the other places you might hook up while on the go) was a big deal since you were plugging in where people could easily trip.

Is this really an issue on machine with a 10-hour battery life (and with advertised battery lives that are now significantly truer to real life use)? I can work on my laptop almost all day without being plugged in. MagSafe was nice but give me a break, if you're working on a computer for over 8 hours straight you're plugged in somewhere dedicated to work and unless you have brilliantly placed your desk 5 feet from a power outlet, no one is tripped over anything.

Finally, the keyboard. I have never liked the keyboards introduced with the original white and black MacBooks—the keyboard that is on all current MBPs and all of Apple's standalone keyboards aside from the Magic Keyboard. They're not terrible (I've been tolerating them for a decade now), but the "best" laptop keyboard? I'm guessing you never owned a PowerBook or a high end ThinkPad. (This is also very subjective anyway.)

If you haven't yet, try the Magic Keyboard. The butterfly is actually very, very solid and it's a nice keyboard. The problem with the keyboard on the MacBook isn't the butterfly (which is definitely an improvement over scissors), it's the lack of travel. The new Pros (and I tested these side by side last night) are the in the middle, but to my touch that tiny added travel over the MacBook was enough to make it feel very nice to my touch.

And yes, people who travel with their laptops—you know, the main reason you would use a laptop instead of a desktop—tend to like light and thin. The reason there is no longer a 17" MacBook is because while there is a niche group that loves them, most people who travel with a laptop want light and thin. Most people don't want to carry a boat.

So, I like the direction Apple is going. I like thin and light laptops with really long battery life. I like the new keyboard. I'm a huge proponent of Thunderbolt. I also think this generation is overpriced and I'm not buying one. Okay. Apparently they're selling well, and that's fine too. The long and short is: don't spend money on machines that don't fit your needs or your budget.

Normally I'd agree with you, but there's nothing in the new Apple Watches to make me wish I'd waited.

I agree too. I got mine about 6 months after they were initially released and it's been a nice little device. watchOS 3 was a far bigger improvement than any of the second generation hardware (unless you're a swimmer).

 

[mazz0]

You must not be a swimmer. The stroke counting ability is fantastic for anyone who trains in a pool

You're right there! I went swimming on holiday this summer and discovered I'm absolutely atrocious at it, basically due to lack of fitness. I was knackered after about ten meters and had to turn back before I drowned! My Series 0 didn't have any problems with water though, wonder if you can somehow enable the stroke counting on that.

 

[libmanj]

Will it have a headphone jack?

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

You Sir, could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo.

In reality, I bet 3 people ever will get 80Gbps of bandwidth out of this unit. 99.99% of the others will never need such an impressive number. In other words, who cares.

Um, all those PROs doing heavy file I/O to SANs and RAIDs, and simultaneously doing heavy A/V I/O to multichannel A/D-D/A interfaces and external video "cards", and multiple, 4k/5k displays, and 10 Gbps Ethernet. You know, all those things that used to require a full-sized tower computer stuffed-full of cards and ribbon-cables.

That's just ONE group of people who will appreciate the massive amount of raw I/O bandwidth available with this line of laptops. For the "rest of us", they simply stick a $2 USB-C - USB-A adapter in one or two of the Ports, or a USB-C to EVERYTHING Dock in one of the Ports, and they only have one cable to disconnect when they "un-dock", and then they STILL have two or three more IDENTICAL ports to do whatever they want with.

And going forward, there is just no rational argument you can make against having 4 identical USB-C ports, each with TB 3 support. Over the next few years, processors will get marginally faster, GPUs somewhat more so; but Apple's choice of 4 USB-C/TB 3 will start looking LESS and LESS like a "stupid idea", and MORE and MORE like pretty smart "forward-thinking", ESPECIALLY in the "Pro" space...

 

[jawtab]

Agree - Love the surface Studio... but it does have laptop class hardware and a great screen. but a wacom cintiq screen alone is $2800

See I am the opposite the touch bar could be very useful for me - editing and animation etc. It's up to the developers to make it useful. I suppose if you touch type and need F Keys a lot it's an issue?

As someone forced to use windows at the moment... I cannot wait to leave it's a buggy mess.

Price is reflective of our terrible worldwide economy.

I rarely use function keys anymore myself. and If I do I will have to look down at the keyboard. I could touch feel function key locations based on a PC keyboard grouping. But long have left windows and their junk drivers. I'm so happy to not have to deal with that on a mac. I rarely go to the control panel for OS/System related issues.

I passed on the first gen XBOX One. But some just have to bite and you can always sell and re-coup a little for the next best thing.

The new 2016 MBP 15 Touchbar does some things great. For designers the upgrade to the color gamut and brightness are a big +. I had issues on past models because of the viewing angles for photo editing. Go to a desktop iMac and the images would not be the same because of this.

Maybe not the fastest. But still beats a PC. I've thought of switching but I've done this with Android as well. Went back to apple. Better displays, easier UI/UX. less time wasted.

eGPU can give you some more punch. https://bizon-tech.com

 

[mtneer]

I see a lot of posts complaining about Intel's "schedule"? I am not sure if they ever publish a schedule, at least publicly. So, why are they placed on a schedule while Apple takes its own sweet randomness in updating many of its own line - iPads, Macs etc?

 

[Santabean2000]

I see a lot of posts complaining about Intel's "schedule"? I am not sure if they ever publish a schedule, at least publicly. So, why are they placed on a schedule while Apple takes its own sweet randomness in updating many of its own line - iPads, Macs etc?

Intel does publish a roadmap.

 

[Appleaker]

These people don't realize the longer apple holds off here, the more behind the VR revolution they will be. VR lends heavily from gaming. What industry has years and millions if not billions in R and D creating realistic environments, a plethora of physics engines to interact with that environment, and in some cases lessoned the annoyance of "Please Wait....Loading " screens with tech like procedural generation? Begins in G, ends in G, has amin in the middle lol.

All this..VR says thank you. VR devs unless going grass roots and making everything from scratch...buy premade engines. usually gaming engines that allow for VR incorporation. As covered above...they invented the wheel, why add unknown time and R&D costs to reinvent that. If MBP can't run latest and greatest engines now (as feral interactive has said sorry guys, we just can't port some of your wanted games), VR will be a problem.

Feral has been good to us who run games on mac os...when they say they can't port over some recent games its a bad sign. They have hooked us up with some great work (I know feral has poster(s) here, your work is appreciated) , its not a lack of skill an issue. its the hardware.

And most successful vendors options have an established tech baselines even this new 2016 is no where near. Occulus Rift v2 one day will raise this bar....not lower it.

The new iMacs will be VR ready, however Apple don't seem interested in the VR that lasts an hour and is wired to your laptop. Similarly the desktop but it is a little bit better there. I think they are really interested in AiO solutions. Just like they are behind in VR, they are behind in gaming because they didn't care. Yet gaming is a vital part of what keeps the PC alive and innovative.
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I see a lot of posts complaining about Intel's "schedule"? I am not sure if they ever publish a schedule, at least publicly. So, why are they placed on a schedule while Apple takes its own sweet randomness in updating many of its own line - iPads, Macs etc?

Intel does have a public schedule. Apple's schedule is predictable, and released are leaked or rumored in advance. Apple doesn't publish a schedule of when they are going to update their products because they would massively lose sales. iOS release dates aren't so random, but Mac release dates are due to Intels schedule. Apple has more flexibility with AMD, but their schedule as well.

 

[prowlmedia]

I rarely use function keys anymore myself. and If I do I will have to look down at the keyboard. I could touch feel function key locations based on a PC keyboard grouping. But long have left windows and their junk drivers. I'm so happy to not have to deal with that on a mac. I rarely go to the control panel for OS/System related issues.

I passed on the first gen XBOX One. But some just have to bite and you can always sell and re-coup a little for the next best thing.

The new 2016 MBP 15 Touchbar does some things great. For designers the upgrade to the color gamut and brightness are a big +. I had issues on past models because of the viewing angles for photo editing. Go to a desktop iMac and the images would not be the same because of this.

Maybe not the fastest. But still beats a PC. I've thought of switching but I've done this with Android as well. Went back to apple. Better displays, easier UI/UX. less time wasted.

eGPU can give you some more punch. https://bizon-tech.com

This is the thing that most TECH windows guys never get... 95% of people don't need / use the power of their computer anyway. These things are a thousand times more powerful than one 20 years ago... and (apart from general speed) they were fine for most people.

So most people don't give a damn about the actual specs - just how well and seemless it works and Macs beat PCs hands down for this and always have.

 

[sracer]

I wonder how those purchasers who just parted with $4,100 feel about this. LOL, the best way to game Apple is to always wait. Like I said, I am not looking at another MBP until Intel Icelake or Tigerlake.

Good point. Personally, I'm waiting it out until Intel GoJumpInTheLake

Seriously though, Apple will need to show me that they are producing high quality MBPs that live up to the price they charge. We've had 3 15" MBPs (one was a 2011) in our home that went casters up (outside of warranty) because of manufacturing and/or design issues.

 

[nia820]

Lol @ all you suckers who jumped to buy the 2016 model.

 

[The Mercurian]

Lol @ all you suckers who jumped to buy the 2016 model.

I saw a nonTB 13" in the flesh today. Not impressed. Honestly...its too thin and 12"MB like (I'm not even joking).

 

[Mr. Dee]

Good point. Personally, I'm waiting it out until Intel GoJumpInTheLake

Seriously though, Apple will need to show me that they are producing high quality MBPs that live up to the price they charge. We've had 3 15" MBPs (one was a 2011) in our home that went casters up (outside of warranty) because of manufacturing and/or design issues.

I feel like I bought in at the right time. My 2015 13 inch MBP is going well, feels faster than the day I bought it with Yosemite preloaded.

 

[TheralSadurns]

Does anyone have a link to the original Research Note by Ming-Chi Kuo? Not just this post here on Macrumors and ALL the reposts on virtually every other page... slightly changing what was said?

 

[tadanderson]

Does anyone have a link to the original Research Note by Ming-Chi Kuo? Not just this post here on Macrumors and ALL the reposts on virtually every other page... slightly changing what was said?

I wouldn't put much weight into it. It was a guess/hope/prayer... nothing based on research.

 

[TheralSadurns]

I wouldn't put much weight into it. It was a guess/hope/prayer... nothing based on research.

Ya okay... granted you have to take it with a huge grain of salt...
I'd still much rather read HIS words... than what all the pages here MADE out of them.

 

[maxdigital]

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a new research report outlining why he's upbeat about MacBook growth in 2017. Kuo expects price cuts for both new and existing MacBooks in 2017 coupled with a refresh that adds support for 32GB RAM and more, bolstering his belief in the MacBook line next year.

Kuo cites Apple's tendency to price "major-upgraded models," like the original MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, higher near the initial launch "before undergoing in price cuts in the following year" as precedent for price cuts in the second half of 2017. He also believes that the ecosystem for USB-C devices and software that takes advantage of the Touch Bar will become more mature, making it more enticing for users.

Finally, Kuo expects refreshed MacBooks Pros to be launched in the second half of 2017 with support for 32GB of RAM. However, Kuo says this is dependent on whether Intel launches Cannonlake processors on time.


Many customers have been upset that the new MacBooks, which run more energy efficient Skylake processors, continue to max out at 16GB of RAM and cost more than previous-generation models. For instance, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar starts at $1,799, $500 more than previous-generation models.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, in an email to MacRumors reader David, explained that for Apple to make a notebook with support for more than 16GB of RAM, it would have to use a memory system that consumes too much power. Regarding price, Schiller said in an interview that affordability is "absolutely something we care about" but that the company designs for experience rather than price.

While Kuo expects price cuts for new and existing MacBooks, like both the 12-inch MacBook and the new MacBook Pros, it's unclear whether he expects Apple to offer support for up to 32GB of RAM for the 12-inch MacBook in addition to the MacBook Pros.

Update: As pointed out by Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham and others, Kuo's outline of chip possibilities does not match up with what is known from leaked Intel roadmaps. Intel is not planning MacBook Pro-class chips in the Cannonlake family at all, and Coffee Lake chips aren't arriving until 2018.

Article Link: New MacBook Pros Said to Launch in 2017 With Price Cuts and Up to 32GB of RAM

[doublepost=1486669227][/doublepost]what about Kaby Lake chip with an AMD GPU, on board that would be a change to see, in a mac, they are going very slow they should change strategy and release new models every six month, i do not see other choice, the Kaby Lake/Radeon hybrid will make a great machine, for multi screens set, and 3d VR, etcc..

 

[Sk8pnk]

My everything burrito Macbook Pro should let me:

Change ram memory and ssd memory at my pleasure, as I would with ham.
Give me back mi SD card reader.
And allows us for greater power option, for the sake of the Pro family name.

The meaning of Pro is more a marketing tag for dessign and innovation, but if there is no flexibility in innovation, then we should call it "next step", just that. - Next step backwards? Maybe.

I like MacBook Pros but lattely they don't offer what I look for: power, efficiency. Dessign is there. If Apple allows us to craft our laptops then these would be awesome (again).

 

[v4lkyr11]

Based on Kuo I'm not too confident. So...

I just decided to buy an HP Z840 workstation and I can config it anyway I want and its super powerful. I can use their free RGS software to control it through my MBP or even an iPad which is like having a turbo boost of power and the files are all created on the z840 so I don't have to clutter my MBP and use one device to control two. I can do that from the same room or 1,000 miles away.

So now I don't have to worry about Apple's BS anymore. I can upgrade ANY component I want and HP backs it up with 30 day money back, awesome 3 year warranty, etc, etc. So my recco is for anyone curious to checkout HP's workstation website. You can even call them and they'll walk you through it and get you special discounts. Better yet check out the RGS (remote graphics software) which has a MAC centric webpage and videos to explain how you can use your mac to work with the z.

Knowing is half the battle.

I got a wonderful HP in 2008. It was great, did everything I wanted it to do.. until it didn't. One week after the warranty was up it died. The video chip apparently killed the mobo. When I contacted the company they, of course, didn't care. Looked it up and as it turns out this was a major defect in many HP Pavillion laptops- they even lost a class action lawsuit over it (my model was one character off from being involved in that case). $1,100 lost after a year with my poor laptop.

Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro my mom got in 2008 is still running- the only reason she replaced it was to upgrade hardware.

Screw HP.
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Our music studio uses a 2012 27 inch Imac. It had 8gb of ram and they needed 16gb. I put in 16gb, so now it has 24gb and they are happy. The one guy I hired to do video work also teaches at a university and he uses and older MacBook pro with 16gb of ram while traveling and an iMac in his office. He does quite well with his older machines. I know there are much higher end video editing users, but on laptops?

I don't know about everyone here but the reason I don't want to buy last year's models is bc I need a new laptop and I want to get a good one that's going to last as long as possible and be able to run through multiple software updates. I have limited income so if I'm going to drop some big bucks on a good laptop I want the most up to date system I can get my paws on. If I can get much better specs for the same $3,500, then I may as well buy the latest and greatest for that amount.

 

[The Mercurian]

I don't know about everyone here but the reason I don't want to buy last year's models is bc I need a new laptop and I want to get a good one that's going to last as long as possible and be able to run through multiple software updates. I have limited income so if I'm going to drop some big bucks on a good laptop I want the most up to date system I can get my paws on. If I can get much better specs for the same $3,500, then I may as well buy the latest and greatest for that amount.

Well if that is your logic - the 2015 model is a tried, tested and perfected design of established reliability. The 2016 model has only been around less than year and has multiple complaints about it already. I would not bet on those keyboards long term for one thing.