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Next-Generation 15-Inch MacBook Pro Shows Up in Benchmarks

Sorry, but I cannot understand those of you who are so excited for the Iris Pro on a 15" rMBP. From what has been written on anandtech, it appears:

"Intel may have more raw compute, but NVIDIA invested more everywhere else in the pipeline. Triangle, texturing and pixel throughput capabilities are all higher on the 650M than on Iris Pro 5200."

Just remember, synthetic benchmarks are just that--synthetic. Real world performance is what counts and Intel just doesn't have the same performance and NV or ATI.

Also, anandtech concludes that while the Iris Pro increases battery life, it also comes with a regression in performance.


euvnairb said:
I'd be highly disappointed if there were no discrete gpu. Seriously a $2K machine with integrated graphics? That's got to be a joke. I'm putting all my marbles on the next 15" rmbp and discrete GPU is a must for me. I really hope there is more to this or else I'm going with something else.
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Ditto. Integrated graphics appear to me to be another way to force obsolescence of otherwise perfectly good hardware. Driver support is generally worse for iGPU than dGPU, and Intel's drivers are generally worse than NVidia's or ATI's drivers. Moreover, the lack of dedicated VRAM (128MB of eDRAM won't cut it for long) really ages a computer much faster. If you have ever used a MB or MBP with iGPU and then one with dGPU (as have I), you would have noticed the performance is night/day. If Apple goes all integrated, I will be purchasing a previous generation MBP with the NV GT650M with 1GB RAM.
 
If Apple does decide to go integrated-only this time around, you'd think there would be somewhat of a redesign, no? The dGPU takes up a decent amount of space on the logic board, so unless they dramatically increase the space the battery occupies we should see a somewhat "smaller" rMBP IMO.

FWIW, I'm hoping what was benchmarked yesterday was the low-end iGPU-only 15" rMBP configuration (much like the 13" rMBP benched not too long ago). Where as the high-end configuration could also possess a dGPU like the GT750m.
 
Blue Sun said:
If Apple does decide to go integrated-only this time around, you'd think there would be somewhat of a redesign, no? The dGPU takes up a decent amount of space on the logic board, so unless they dramatically increase the space the battery occupies we should see a somewhat "smaller" rMBP IMO.

FWIW, I'm hoping what was benchmarked yesterday was the low-end iGPU-only 15" rMBP configuration (much like the 13" rMBP benched not too long ago). Where as the high-end configuration could also possess a dGPU like the GT750m.
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I think they are more likely to use the space for more battery. Since this is a battery life focused CPU release, they will probably want to do something work against the retina display battery drain. That said, a bezel shrink would be cool.

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Val-kyrie said:
Sorry, but I cannot understand those of you who are so excited for the Iris Pro on a 15" rMBP. From what has been written on anandtech, it appears:

"Intel may have more raw compute, but NVIDIA invested more everywhere else in the pipeline. Triangle, texturing and pixel throughput capabilities are all higher on the 650M than on Iris Pro 5200."

Just remember, synthetic benchmarks are just that--synthetic. Real world performance is what counts and Intel just doesn't have the same performance and NV or ATI.

Also, anandtech concludes that while the Iris Pro increases battery life, it also comes with a regression in performance.




Ditto. Integrated graphics appear to me to be another way to force obsolescence of otherwise perfectly good hardware. Driver support is generally worse for iGPU than dGPU, and Intel's drivers are generally worse than NVidia's or ATI's drivers. Moreover, the lack of dedicated VRAM (128MB of eDRAM won't cut it for long) really ages a computer much faster. If you have ever used a MB or MBP with iGPU and then one with dGPU (as have I), you would have noticed the performance is night/day. If Apple goes all integrated, I will be purchasing a previous generation MBP with the NV GT650M with 1GB RAM.
Click to expand...

The drivers have improved over time. Games also now test against Intel chips. There is more discrepancy on OpenCL, but I believe Intel does decent there. Nvidia is the best for Cuda/OpenCL. ATI has performed poorly in OpenCL performance due to drivers. Hopefully they improve that before the Mac Pro release.

I'm looking forward to this. I think this is a more balanced system. Other then maybe the display, nothing is too power hungry. I need it to last on long flights and in airports. My MacBook Air is too underpowered for my work.

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selimnairb said:
I'm planning an upgrade in a few weeks and would like some advice. Firstly, I'm timing my purchase to take advantage of a sales tax holiday in my state, so I won't be waiting for new machines. I have a mid-2010 MBP (hi-res non-glare) and am torn between the 2.6-GHz mid-2012 MBP (hi-res) and the early-2013 rMBP (2.4 or 2.6 GHz). My priorities for this upgrade are: 16 GB of memory, USB3, and 4-cores.

One option is to get the 2.6 GHz MBP, place my current 512 MB Crucial M4 in it, and upgrade the memory to 16 GB. This would be much cheaper than a rMBP as I already have the SSD, and third-party memory is cheaper than Apple's.

Question 1. It seems like the bump from the 2.4 GHz to the 2.6 GHz processor is worth it in the non-retina MBP as it comes with a doubling of the GPU memory, and costs only $120 (edu pricing). Is the 2.6 GHz processor worth the $100 (edu) in the rMBP?

Question 2. I'm not sold on the retina screen. I think I would use it in 1920x1200 mode most of the time, but I'm not such a fan of the glare/glass covering (though I understand the glare is decreased in the retina panels due to there being fewer layers of glass or something), and am wary of potential performance drawbacks. Have any rMBP users had any problems with the glare and/or decreased graphics performance?
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I don't have a problem with glare, but go check it out at a store. Remember that the MacBook Air is also glossy. Just plastic gloss instead of gorilla glass gloss. The older MBP is also glass. The Retina display will have a wider field of view. The old MBP should also have a decent field of view. Personally I care more about that (and the resolution if you read a lot of text).

For processor, remember that the higher end processors also normally use more power. Check out the review on Anandtech if you are unsure about which one.
 
Wait what the hell? No dedicated gpu on this? Where did that come from? Well I ain't buying that. I use FCPX and am learning After Effects and won't be able to edit on an integrated card. Seriously how could they charge close to $3k (for a specced out rmbp) and not even put in a dedicated card? What a joke.
 
Calm down. Apple had a 15" MBP back in 2009 with 256 MB of the 9400M. I doubt they are going to go all integrated with the 15" rMBP unless they want to see sales tank. It would be a gutsy move and they would lose a lot of chips.
 
magbarn said:
Yup, it seems we've hit a wall in GPU performance (or just a lack of competition). AMD/Nvidia have gotten used to slowing down from annual (true updates) upgrades to just jacking up a few Mhz and 're-branding' the 'new chips' It's going to be late 2014/early 2015 before we get a new GPU process shrink. Unfortunately, if Apple is going to forever dump discrete GPU's from their MBP lineup, those new chips are only going to be a benefit only for the iMac/Mac Pro crowds.
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Yeah. Mobile devices are always limited by process. You can't just throw more transistors at the problem or your energy use and thermal go up too high. They are at a decent speed right now through. It should be good for the next couple years until the next process comes out.
 
djra8 said:
I look forward to buying this for profesional work also, but I also like to game.. Its insane to have the new model be worse than the previous. Apple is sacrificing raw power for a thinner case, just like they are sacrificing expandability and a second processor in their mac "pro". Apple has turned away from its true pro users in favor of the general consumer.. why? because its more profitable. their new mac "pro" and macbook "pro" is proof.
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Now that video codecs and even ray tracers use OpenCL for processing, the CPU is becoming less important for compute heavy tasks. The Mac Pro will have dual GPUs that are each much nicer then the old stock one. Although I don't think it has been determined if dual core systems are really out or not.
 
Ice Dragon said:
Calm down. Apple had a 15" MBP back in 2009 with 256 MB of the 9400M. I doubt they are going to go all integrated with the 15" rMBP unless they want to see sales tank. It would be a gutsy move and they would lose a lot of chips.
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Likely offer a discrete GPU on the high end model. You have to pay more.
 
VoR said:
Dell and HP make a broad range of workstation machines - Might not come in an interesting shaped case, but simply mentioning 'performance' with regards to what's possible to buy off the shelf from other manufacturers is pretty naive.
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As soon as I read about the new Mac Pro's design and specifications I went looking on both the DELL and HP sites for an equivalent machine. It did not exist, in that none had dual-Xeon with PCIe SSD and dual video cards in such a small form-factor, nor in something larger.

It was very disappointing and just highlighted, yet again, Apple's push against the technology envelope.
 
gxtoast said:
As soon as I read about the new Mac Pro's design and specifications I went looking on both the DELL and HP sites for an equivalent machine. It did not exist, in that none had dual-Xeon with PCIe SSD and dual video cards in such a small form-factor, nor in something larger.

It was very disappointing and just highlighted, yet again, Apple's push against the technology envelope.
Click to expand...

Dual Xeon...? I thought the new Mac Pro benchmark that was leaked on GeekBench specifically showed a single Xeon processor of 12 processing cores... :eek:
 
release already ... im waiting on the 13" retina...

Im still on a early 2008 macbook pro ... my 8600GT is a ticking bomb...
 
iKrivetko said:
Iris Pro is definitely not weak if it can play Crysis 3 and record 1080p simultaneously. Looking forward to seeing it in action in person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh6RbxQahgE
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Iris pro is a very capable GPU for gaming.
The thing that really makes it drop in score compared to nVIDIA/AMD counterparts is that when you turn on FXAA and such, it drops like a bomb in performance.
But seriously who uses that on a laptop anyway when gaming?
You loose so much FPS compared to not using it, no matter what GPU you use.
The quality increase is just not worth the FPS loss imho. (but some may disagree)
How ever like i said the drop in fps is substantially lower on nVIDIA/AMD cards then on the Intel GPU´s.
 
What do people reckon to a likelihood of the non-rMBP getting an update around the same time? I know there's rumours of Apple not providing any further updates to them but, I mean, their most popular computer?!

While a nice Retina display is good to have, I certainly don't need it. It would be total overkill and I'm better off saving money by not having it. Not to mention that I'd rather have the additional battery life instead.

While slim is nice for some, I actually prefer the size and weight of the non-rMBP. I prefer and use the additional size-related features such as the DVD drive.

I really want to see an update to the non-rMBP or at least know if there will be one or not so I can decide to wait or get a brand new 2012 MBP again.
 
Blue Sun said:
If Apple does decide to go integrated-only this time around, you'd think there would be somewhat of a redesign, no? The dGPU takes up a decent amount of space on the logic board, so unless they dramatically increase the space the battery occupies we should see a somewhat "smaller" rMBP IMO.
Click to expand...

wait, the macbook pro might be thinner and lighter!?
 
I think Apple is doing the right thing if they use Iris Pro only for the low end model, but only if they manage to cut the price as well. Or include more RAM as standard, to compensate.
 
G4er? said:
Going to visit my daughter this weekend. She plans to go MBP shopping.

She is 21, downloads tons of things but still wants and uses the DVD. So she will also say no thanks to the retina display in order to get the convenience and usefulness that she wants and needs.
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Just buy her a thunderbolt 3T external hardrive, she'll say good bye to the DVD Rom.
 
My farfetched guess is that the current "MacBook Pro" will be renamed to "MacBook" (after all... it's kinda stupid to call it a "Pro" model if there's no basic model) and then the "retina MacBook Pro" will become the new "MacBook Pro"

That way you return to the old lines...

-MacBook Air
-MacBook
-MacBook Pro
 
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