Reliable Leaker Suggests Redesigned MacBooks in 2021 Will Include Both Apple Silicon and Intel Models

[giggles]

To all the people complaining & asking why... Just. Stop. This is good news if true and you're embarrassing yourself by trying to pretend otherwise.

We get it, you're excited by what the M1 has demonstrated and can't wait to see the possibilities of Apple Silicon coming to other Macs. Heck I'm excited and considering trading in my 13" MBP for an M1 MBA! But some of us still need (ex. virtualization) or want x86 (why I'll still have a hackintosh even if I get rid of my MBP), and for many of those people that do this could mean the difference between their next computer being a Mac or something else entirely.

This would also be really great news as it would more or less ensure that Apple will continue supporting the latest versions of macOS on X86 for many years after 2021. This is a good thing. Nobody wants to see Apple drop new release support for X86 after a few short years like they did with PowerPC (putting users of Macs not even outside of AppleCare without the latest release).

It’s not out of ”excitement”.

The longer a platform stays with 1 foot in 2 shoes, the slower it will move on.

If this was up to me, better to lose some business to other OEMs than to slow down the overall transition by years. Rosetta is working great anyway. But it’s not up to me and certainly Apple knows better. If this happens. I don’t buy it yet.

 

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

I'm a reliable leaker too, at 6 a.m. like clockwork.

 

[zombierunner]

I think the only reason they will release some Intel macs is either because they are contractually obligated to or they just want to troll Intel hard.

 

[garylapointe]

For professionals who can’t fully transition away from intel yet due to compatibility issues?

Seems unlikely. They could certainly update those apps by then, right? Plus, those people using those apps, don't need to update to M1-ish chips immediately.

I could see keeping a few of the Intel Macs around and maybe give a slight refresh (faster processor/RAM/bus speed) as happens sometimes, but a redesign that's still using Intel longer seems strange.

That said, I'm thinking one of the Mac teardowns commented on how similar the insides were to the Intel version, maybe it's not hard for them to do both.

But I think it'd be confusing, they're just fragmenting the MacOS even longer, at some point down the line (7 years?) they're going to want to stop supporting Intel, and the longer they sell them, then the longer they need to support them.

 

[garylapointe]

I think the only reason they will release some Intel macs is either because they are contractually obligated to or they just want to troll Intel hard.

The contractually obligated is a really good possibility, but Apple's been making their own chips for a dozen years now, I'm surprised they'd make a commitment like that (but if the got the Apple Silicon read a few years earlier than expected, maybe?).

 

[mike...]

If this happens it will be for the same reason Intel Mac Minis are still available: the M1X/Y/Z/whatever chips don't support all the features professional users want such as eGPUs and high memory configurations.

 

[giggles]

In case anyone missed this interview

“We are giddy”—interviewing Apple about its Mac silicon revolution

Craig Federighi, Johny Srouji, and Greg Joswiak tell us the Apple Silicon story.

arstechnica.com

Notably, Apple didn't update the higher-end configurations of the MacBook Pro or Mac mini—the devices with pro-user-friendly 32GB or 64GB of RAM, or with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, or 4TB of storage.

"We designed M1 targeting a specific set of systems. Those are the systems we set out to design, and those are the ones we're selling," Federighi said when we asked why there weren't any M1 MacBook Pros with 32 or 64GB of RAM. But Apple has already confirmed that it plans to move the entire lineup to Apple Silicon within a couple of years—including big performers like the Mac Pro.

.......

It's likely to be a while before we see how the Windows-on-Apple-Silicon-Macs future plays out. In the meantime, though, Apple plans to continue to provide software updates to Intel-based Macs. Federigh said:

From a software point of view, we haven't created a branch of macOS. There's not the version of macOS for M1-based Macs and a different version of macOS for intel. They're literally the same installer. It's the same source tree. It's the same OS we're building every night. It's a single project, and that will continue to be the case.
So as we build next year's [major macOS release] and so forth, we're building it as a universal OS that works on both systems. And so, if you buy an Intel Mac today, or if you already own one, you're going to continue—just as you would have expected—getting free macOS upgrades for years to come.

We asked if there will be new Intel Mac hardware launches, too. Joswiak responded:

When we said we would support Intel systems for years to come, that was talking about the operating system… What we did say from a system standpoint, is that we still had Intel systems that were in the pipeline, that we were yet to introduce. And certainly that was so. The very next month, we introduced an Intel-based iMac.​

It's clear, then, that Apple Silicon is not just part of the Mac's future plans. Beyond ongoing software support for Intel devices, it will soon drive the entirety of the Mac strategy.

 

[agsystems]

In other news, water is wet?

there will be a handful of new (mostly likely merely updated) Intel Macs, because people are doing things with Macs that M1 Macs can’t do yet. Virtualization running Windows VMs comes to mind, but there will be some professional software that takes a while to be updated.

well -new intel Macs that's expected - now a new redesign of outgoing models doesn't sound like Apple would even need to do that for people that MUST have Intel for a few more years.

I am guessing their existing supply contract with Intel is active (maybe another 3-5 years), their existing leases with business, leases and governments will remain in effect (again 3-5 years)

 

[GadgetBen]

L0vetodream has lost the plot now.

 

[alien3dx]

It's clear, then, that Apple Silicon is not just part of the Mac's future plans. Beyond ongoing software support for Intel devices, it will soon drive the entirety of the Mac strategy.

too risky now even for me to bought new one. for now i stay huawei d15 first.

My option
1. to compiling xcode on macbook 2011. Not big project always but max 16 gb ram would do.
2. buy second intel which drop price but bit scare after rip 2017 imac(not sure how i can repair with covid era)
3. Just buy no think mac mini m1 if available even 8 gb just for pure compiling xcode. The problem is i don't want apple to consider x operation system cannot push /publish even thou i know some even use hakintosh.

 

[yoak]

It could mean everyone have to high expectations about the M2 or M1X or whatever. Maybe its not as straight forward for Apple to impress everyone at the high end as it was at the low end of their systems

 

[satchmo]

If the new laptops have bezels as depicted in this article, I'll eat my hat.

Not gonna happen.

 

[pers0n]

Why even bother with Intel anymore? The Apple Silicon blows it all away. Once they allow more monitors and RAM and possibly eGPU, even the Intel Mac Pro is headed to the dumpster.

 

[theluggage]

If they're going to offer redesigned MacBooks with Intel still inside, that means they will have had to take into account Intel's processors during the design phase..

It was a cryptic three-word tweet.

Far more plausible that we're talking about existing designs with bumped-up Intel processors alongside new designs with Apple Silicon (or even existing designs with Apple Silicon).

Thing is, though, something like a 16" MacBook Pro doesn't really need to get any smaller/thinner unless your name is Jony Ive. The overall size is set by the screen, keyboard and touchpad. The battery size in the 16" is set by the aviation regulations on maximum Lithium battery mAh capacities. The bigger you make the fan/heatsink -generally - the quieter it is when it does start up. If you want ultra-portable - well, suddenly the MacBook Air is capable of editing 4k video (allegedly). So I guess that it is possible that the "differences" in future MacBooks will be things like new screen technologies, speakers etc. There's an element of "Ain't broke - don't fix" about the current MacBook designs (given that it's beyond hope that Magsafe, HDMI, Ethernet and USB-A are coming back )

 

[alien3dx]

Why even bother with Intel anymore? The Apple Silicon blows it all away. Once they allow more monitors and RAM and possibly eGPU, even the Intel Mac Pro is headed to the dumpster.

from video from youtube , not yet most will be swap.

 

[EugW]

Hard to believe because there are two possible options:

The release new MBP with OLD Intel chips. Which seems pointless at least to me. What is the gain?

The release new MBP with 11Gen parts with Intel XE GPUs. They gains some iGPU performance gains, and maybe some battery life. But they incur a brand new Intel legacy support penalty right in the middle of a their transition away from Intel.

Which lesser of evils option do you find desirable?

If you think about it, with the
- 2018 Mac Mini
- 2019 Mac Pro
- 2019 MBP 16”
- 2020 Intel Comet Lake iMacs
- eGPU support added in March 2018

we have already been blessed with a streak of awesome “last hurrahs” to keep living the “Intel Mac life” at its fullest for years to come

what exactly a new Intel hardware would afford?
only thing I could think of is Intel not making those CPUs any longer so Apple is forced to move to newer Intel CPUs

New form factor of course. Nah, actually I don't believe that.

I believe they'd release a few Intel new updates with the same old enclosures. Just a few choice ones.

As for legacy support, Apple is going to be supporting Intel machines until 2027 anyway, possibly longer.

It was a cryptic three-word tweet.

Far more plausible that we're talking about existing designs with bumped-up Intel processors alongside new designs with Apple Silicon (or even existing designs with Apple Silicon).

Yup.

 

[polyphenol]

If this happens it will be for the same reason Intel Mac Minis are still available: the M1X/Y/Z/whatever chips don't support all the features professional users want such as eGPUs and high memory configurations.

I can't see an Intel Mac mini on the UK Apple site.

Am I missing something? Or what?

 

[smulji]

Far more plausible that we're talking about existing designs with bumped-up Intel processors alongside new designs with Apple Silicon (or even existing designs with Apple Silicon).

This is a great point.

 

[jz0309]

doesn't make any sense to put Intel CPUs into redesigned Macs. Updating existing Intel Macs with new Intel chips, yes, but redesign? keep dreaming ....

 

[jonnysods]

Get me an M1/M1X/M2 iMac variant please...

 

[bnumerick]

I wonder why

it is awkward the 2016 "new form" 16" is getting smoked by Air now, there's no 14" MBP anywhere to be seen nor an iMac redesign

Eh it depends. I picked up a M1 mini this week based on reviews and I'm a bit disappointed in the encoding performance in Compressor. I was hoping to get a stack of them for encoding but outside of my '18 i7 Mac Mini it is the slowest of the bunch by a hefty margin. In my, limited, testing it is taking more than twice as long as my 16" MBP w/eGPu and my base model iMac Pro to convert a 4k video to 480,720,1080,4k for HLS streaming.

 

[richinaus]

New form factor of course. Nah, actually I don't believe that.

I believe they'd release a few Intel new updates with the same old enclosures. Just a few choice ones.

As for legacy support, Apple is going to be supporting Intel machines until 2027 anyway, possibly longer.


Yup.

Yeah, this is what I was thinking. Old chassis and design for some intel updates, new chassis for the M chips.

It makes no sense otherwise, as they need to be showing off the M chips in the best light.

Also on some other peoples comments on why keep making intel machines, nearly ALL the core apps I use professionally are not available native for AS. There is no way I could shift the business right now to AS and I imagine there are many other businesses in the same position.

It seems a lot of people on macrumors think Macs are just used for Apple apps at home.

 

[ColdShadow]

Why would they do that?
Intel is the laziest and greediest CPU company.
AMD beat them this year and Apple moving away from Intel was one of the best tech news ever.

 

[mike...]

I can't see an Intel Mac mini on the UK Apple site.

Am I missing something? Or what?

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini have you tried scrolling down?

 

[EugW]

Eh it depends. I picked up a M1 mini this week based on reviews and I'm a bit disappointed in the encoding performance in Compressor. I was hoping to get a stack of them for encoding but outside of my '18 i7 Mac Mini it is the slowest of the bunch by a hefty margin. In my, limited, testing it is taking more than twice as long as my 16" MBP w/eGPu and my base model iMac Pro to convert a 4k video to 480,720,1080,4k for HLS streaming.

What format are you using? I'm curious.

I suspect at a lot of M1's encoding prowess is due to its excellent image signal processor. However, it's not all encompassing, and it's possible whatever you're doing or the format you are using requires pure CPU encode, and in that context the M1 being a lower end chip will fall down.

That's just my undereducated guess though.