Next Macbook 12" with >512GB SSD?

[apiro]

Hey, does anyone know if there is a technical issue for Apple to offer us more than 512GB SSD in the next Macbook 12" update? Or maybe SSDs of that type(?) are not yet shipped with more than 512GB capacity?

By a technical issue I mean something along the lines of Intel CPUs not supporting LPDDR4 thus Apple giving us LPDDR3 (or similar issue with 32GB not being available as there were no 2x16GB LPDDR3 modules at that time yet) - i. e. it being physically impossible.

Thank you for the help!

 

[EugW]

Where is the "Maybe" option in the poll?

 

[apiro]

Where is the "Maybe" option in the poll?

Here you go.

 

[EugW]

Voted maybe.

I don't think there is any technical limitation for 1 TB. It's more a marketing decision. BTW, I bought my 2017 MacBook with just 256 GB. I tend not to use that much storage in my laptops. I have a 1 TB SSD in my iMac though.

OTOH, I got 16 GB for the RAM for the MacBook (and 24 GB in the iMac).

 

[apiro]

I've had 512GB in my MBPs 15" for several years and now I have 2TB in the current one (MBP 15" 2016). I don't need/use that much performance and would rather prefer portability but with this transition I've realised I'd still gladly use 1TB or more space. So I want a Macbook 12" this autumn or earlier but with 1 or 2TB SSD (and preferably TB3 or at least 10Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2/USB 3.2 gen 1).

Voted maybe.

I don't think there is any technical limitation for 1 TB. It's more a marketing decision. BTW, I bought my 2017 MacBook with just 256 GB. I tend not to use that much storage in my laptops. I have a 1 TB SSD in my iMac though.

OTOH, I got 16 GB for the RAM for the MacBook (and 24 GB in the iMac).

 

[EugW]

Most likely you will not get ThunderBolt 3. MacBooks will likely get TB3 when Intel incorporates it for free into the chipsets. That has not happened yet, and likely will not happen with the next release either. I'm predicting 2020, but wouldn't rule out 2019.

 

[apiro]

Yup, that I know, sadly. That is why 10Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2 - that amount of bandwidth is enough to get 4K@60Hz + USB3.0 (instead of 4K@60Hz + USB2.0 or 4K@30Hz + USB3.0 now) - and that is enough for my needs.

Most likely you will not get ThunderBolt 3. MacBooks will likely get TB3 when Intel incorporates it for free into the chipsets. That has not happened yet, and likely will not happen with the next release either. I'm predicting 2020, but wouldn't rule out 2019.

 

[EugW]

As for USB 3.1 Gen 2 10 Gbps, I'm not sure, but I thought I read somewhere that we probably won't get that either until the chipsets get Thunderbolt 3, because generally they go together.

For me the biggest improvement would not be any of the above. The biggest improvement would be a second USB-C port, even if it's just 5 Gbps.

 

[apiro]

I bet for second USB-C port they need to spend at least one more PCI-E lane which they don't have enough. Actually considering PCI-E 3.0 x1 only gives 8GTps I understand neither USB 3.1 gen 2 nor USB 3.2 gen 1 is possible without additional PCI-E lanes (if I understand GTps and USB-C wiring to the MB and/or CPU right).

As for USB 3.1 Gen 2 10 Gbps, I'm not sure, but I thought I read somewhere that we probably won't get that either until the chipsets get Thunderbolt 3, because generally they go together.

For me the biggest improvement would not be any of the above. The biggest improvement would be a second USB-C port, even if it's just 5 Gbps.

 

[EugW]

I bet for second USB-C port they need to spend at least one more PCI-E lane which they don't have enough. Actually considering PCI-E 3.0 x1 only gives 8GTps I understand neither USB 3.1 gen 2 nor USB 3.2 gen 1 is not possible without additional PCI-E lanes (if I understand GTps and USB-C wiring to the MB and/or CPU right).

Yeah, so it's gonna be a couple of years before we get any of this. But that's why I bought in 2017. For me, 2017 was the major upgrade. It got a vastly improved keyboard, and an integrated GPU that did all the requisite video decoding and video DRM stuff in hardware.

 

[apiro]

Sadly I've got maxed out MBP 15" instead. Not that I don't like it at all but retrospectively I did it out of custom (I've had several MBPs 15" for several years in a row), Macbook 12" would've suited me better.

Yeah, so it's gonna be a couple of years before we get any of this. But that's why I bought in 2017. For me, 2017 was the major upgrade. It got a vastly improved keyboard, and an integrated GPU that did all the requisite video decoding and video DRM stuff in hardware.

 

[Kierikka]

I would love if it came with a 1TB drive, I have the 512GB and I use almost all of it.

 

[ZapNZs]

I think it will depend on what options the next MacBook Pro has, as a means of continued differentiation between the lines.

 

[EugW]

Sadly I've got maxed out MBP 15" instead. Not that I don't like it at all but retrospectively I did it out of custom (I've had several MBPs 15" for several years in a row), Macbook 12" would've suited me better.

Heh. Let me tell you my Mac laptop saga...

I bought an iBook back in 2001. I loved the form factor, but the G3 was just too slow for what I wanted it to do. So in November 2002 when Apple announced the 15" PowerBook Titanium I bought that, even though what I really wanted a G4 12" PowerBook, which didn't exist. Well, dammit... 2 months later in January 2003 they released the G4 12" PowerBook.

Eventually I just bought the G4 12" iBook. When the Intel Macs came out they discontinued the 12" models. I said they needed to release a 12" MacBook Pro (or MacBook). Everyone said I was crazy but in fact Apple did release one, as the 11.6" MacBook Air. Unfortunately, I didn't like the various compromises it had, and its premium pricing, so I got a 13" MBP. And then Apple started releasing Retina MacBook Pros so I said Apple needs to release a Retina 12" MacBook too and I'd buy that.

Fast forward to 2015, and Apple released the Retina 12" MacBook, the holy grail of laptops I had been waiting for... except the keyboard sucked and it was pretty slow. So I waited. Finally in 2017 they vastly improved the keyboard and also significantly improved the performance, and I bought my trusty 2017 Retina 12" MacBook.

As mentioned, I only got 256 GB, but I got it with 16 GB RAM. I think it would be good to offer a 1 TB 16 GB RAM model, although really Apple should be selling 2 TB 32 GB RAM 13" MacBook Pros at the same time.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have a 2017 maxed-out 12" MacBook (512 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM) and love it! The 512 GB is fine for me with this machine and with my other machines as well; I tend to put a lot of stuff on supplementary drives -- Samsung's T5 external SSDs are great for this --and that way I'm not cluttering up my computers with various folders and files that I don't really need to have at my fingertips every minute. It only takes a minute or two to grab an external drive, plug it in and look at or retrieve whatever file or folder I want.... I've been doing this for a couple of years now ever since I replaced my 2012 iMac that had a 1 TB drive with a 2015 15" MBP that had just a 512 SSD. Took me a little while to develop and refine my system but now I really would not go back to a larger internal drive on a computer unless I suddenly were involved in projects which involved having a lot of files on the machine all at once.