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rMBP impressions: 2015 vs. 2012
- Thread starter leman
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Thank you. Very interesting. And saddening as well since the 13" MBP's use the "U" variant(I think) and it doesn't even support DDR4
Which is why I think we'll see the same across the board. Until Intel support DDR4 on every CPU, I think Macs will continue to use DDR3.
I fully expect Apple to use DDR4 in the 15" Skylake MBP. Apple have repeatedly demonstrated that they are willing to use different technology in the 13" versus 15" laptops, depending on what is available at the time.
Thank you. Very interesting. And saddening as well since the 13" MBP's use the "U" variant(I think) and it doesn't even support DDR4
No DDR4 but a bit of eDRAM cache (64mb so half the current Iris Pro but still a boost) on the iGPU could be a real boost for the 13 incher graphics wise...
It is not likely wireless charging would be a good fit for another few years. The 100W USB Type C is a much better fit.
DDR4 is not likely to come with Skylake mobile chips, it is only available for the desktop lineups.
There aren't any confirmed reports that the mobile Skylake will have DDR4 support. That's going to occur with Cannonlake as far as I'm aware based on Intel's roadmap leaks.
As of this moment (meaning Intel doesn't change anything), it is not likely. You cannot add DDR4 out of nowhere. The memory controller is built into the CPUs, which means you must have the CPU support it first before you can add it. And no, Apple cannot modify Intel's CPU to add DIC/DDR4 support.
Only the desktop Skylake CPUs has the DIC support to support either DDR3 or DDR standards. To save on space, they've probably removed it from mobile CPU as the supply is not there anyway.
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Honestly, DDR4 isn't really a big jump over DDR3, it will barely be a performance boost; the speeds are pretty similar between the two.
For me, it is not the performance I care about, it is the energy efficiency and higher density. DDR4 will enable 16GB sticks and more at a much cheaper price because of the stacking feature.
I would like to grab 32gb support for my next upgrade.
16GB is, right now, still considered a lot. You don't really need 32GB unless you're dealing with multiple VMs or something like rendering, where a lot of assets go into memory. For almost all other applications, 16 should be fine.
I couldn't agree more with this statement. I challenge people all the time, and show me you actually using 8GB, let alone close to 16GB; they dont come close. I do run several VM (CentOS) along with JBoss running and the IDE. I can break 8GB but not 16GB. I feel vendors are taking advantage of folks pumping 16GB+ in computers.
Yes, 16GB or 8GB is fine for most folks and you don't have to get 32GB right off the box if you don't need it. However, it is better to have the 32GB support now than wait for technology to catch up later.
I do not buy laptops every year, I buy them every 4-5 years and unfortunately, we do not get the option to upgrade memory later for rMBPs. I would like the option to grab 32GB next year or in two years and be good for the next 5 years from there.
Right now, I have 16GB in my rMBP '12 (plus 32gb in iMac) and I do a lot of VMs/testing, laptop kept paging in and out (which sucks for the SSD) whereas I'm more comfortable on the iMac with 32gb with no paging.
OK, my cue now to drop a question. Yes I could wait for Skylake (but until when?). I want to upgrade from i5 rMBP 2013 to i7 rMBP 2015. When would the Skylake upgrade be going to happen?
I would love to trade in my 13" and my 2012 iMac (that I never use because it is upstairs) to a more workable laptop (screen real estate) on which I am also able to do some occasional gaming (like GTA V).
I would love to trade in my 13" and my 2012 iMac (that I never use because it is upstairs) to a more workable laptop (screen real estate) on which I am also able to do some occasional gaming (like GTA V).
Skylake-H is not coming for another 2-3 months. It is unlikely Apple will refresh again this year for rMBP. We probably won't see another refresh until next summer.
You probably won't see any big jump in performance from the CPU but might from the improved Iris Pro. However, if you're getting rMBP with the Radeon GPU, that won't matter much.
It's the same thing as everything else, you'll be waiting for something new every year and if you can afford it now, get it if you will find more useful purposes with the new laptop than you can get now.
Thanks Mikhail.
I think I know enough. Reading a bit more above the extra GB RAM will also help me (do a lot of work on Parallels VM (office computer virtualized) and 8 GB has always been enough for now.
Best regards,
Michel
I think I know enough. Reading a bit more above the extra GB RAM will also help me (do a lot of work on Parallels VM (office computer virtualized) and 8 GB has always been enough for now.
Best regards,
Michel
7-zip (the POSIX-compatible version p7zip) uses up to 10.5 GB RAM, if you choose ultra compression settings and a LZMA dictionary size of 1024 MBytes. 4 GB for the OS and 4 GB for a VM and you use 18.5 GB RAM.
And you're using 7zip all the time? At 100% usage for the entire time? Your computer can page the (up to) 2.5GB of RAM for the insanely short time you'd be using 7zip to compress/decompress. Just because your computer can spike up to 18.5GB of RAM does not mean you are constantly maxing out the 16GB of RAM in it. I can easily hit 32GB of RAM on my work box if I wanted to, but that doesn't mean that 32GB is not enough for me. I would have no use for an extra 32GB.
Agreed.
The Skylake-U parts that will go into the 13" MBP will not support DDR4, but the Skylake-H parts that will go into the 15" MBP do support DDR4. However, DDR4 is not such a big deal as to be a reason to wait for Skylake. If one needs a new MBP, now is a good time to buy.
I am in the same situation, I would like to replace the MacBook Pro late 2009 and the iMac late 2009, to a new highest spec MacBook Pro, but then buy a 5K apple display (if they will make it!) to use with 15inch, as I understand it this upgrade does not support a 5K display, or am I wrong?.
It might support it if Apple releases 5K Cinema with 2 DP cables to use. Latest rMBP supports a few other 4k/5k monitors like Dell and HP monitors via two DP cables.
I would suggest waiting for Skylake with TB3 support, which is enough to carry the 5K signal via one TB cable.
I'm guessing Apple is going to release 5K Cinema with TB3 support.
I use that much RAM on a regular basis. Datasets I work with require 5+ GB RAM alone
However, this is of course also bad software optimisation. There is no real need to keep all that stuff in RAM all the time. But its the limitation of the software I have to work with.As to DDR3/DDR4... I don't really care much about DDR4. Sure, its an update, its it an evolutionary one and I doubt that it will change much. However, I am very existed about the perspectives of high-bandwidth stacked memory. It would instantly catapult the IGPs into the performance realms of dedicated GPUs and possibly make VRAM obsolete.
You might find this interesting to read: http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/20...type-c-connector-doubles-bandwidth-to-40gbps/
It looks like TB3 will use USB Type C connector and Intel is saying Apline Ridge will be a separate chipset, not part of Skylake.
It will allow 2x4K display or 1x5K display. Yea, we can expect Apple to go full on USB C only for all Macs soon. TB3 will be supported via USB 3.1 ports.
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