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Should i buy Macbook pro now?
- Thread starter Nba188
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No one knows when the new machines will be released or what the release will entail spec wise. Anyone saying differently is just guessing. They could be a quiet refresh on the website only tomorrow, could be June could be Oct or Nov...
Waiting is a never ending game... You can get an idea if we are close by doing a custom build on Apple site. As new machines get close to release shipping dates for those start to slip back. Shipping times as of today for a 13" custom order are about what you'd expect to see with no abnormal delays.
I just did one with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD and the arrival dates are March 13-15.. Based on that, I'd say nothing is imminent.. When these dates get stretched out to 3 weeks or more then something is going on.
My .02
Waiting is a never ending game... You can get an idea if we are close by doing a custom build on Apple site. As new machines get close to release shipping dates for those start to slip back. Shipping times as of today for a 13" custom order are about what you'd expect to see with no abnormal delays.
I just did one with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD and the arrival dates are March 13-15.. Based on that, I'd say nothing is imminent.. When these dates get stretched out to 3 weeks or more then something is going on.
My .02
If you need laptop, get the tb mbp, there will be always a newer model. I got the same exact model few weeks ago and It was mega upgrade from my ten year old Acer laptop.
OP - print this quote and save it for every time you need to know if you should buy now or wait. Answer hasn't changed for the past 30 years.
Yuppers... Buy a new machine when you need a new machine. If you don't need one and just want one then maybe wait..
I was hell bent on purchasing a refurb model but the crummy keyboard chatter put me off. I've been using a first-gen Retina MacBook as my daily driver and it is just not equipped to handle 40MP+ images in LR. It wasn't built for that.
I don't think he needs a quad core when he was fine with an iPad before.
Op you didn't say what your needs are. But there won't be a design change in MB or pro till 2019.
Probably just the rumored Air
There is going to be so much crying on this forum if/when this doesn’t happen until 2019.
They won't get updated tomorrow, as not all the appropriate updated chips are available yet.
However, the new chips for the MacBook Pro are due out next month. And they're a doozy. It's expected that all the current dual-cores will go quad-core (unless Apple decides to keep a dual-core entry level model), and it's expected the quad-core models will go hex-core.
This is one time where it would be foolish not to wait, unless you have to have it right now. Expect updates to the MacBook Pros in Q2 or Q3.
13" Pros will go quad-core this year. It would actually be a surprise if they didn't.
The 12" MacBooks won't get quad-core until 2019 though. There's even debate about whether the 12" MacBooks will get a dual-core update in 2018 or not.
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We will see I think it kinda depends on the battery tech. I remember when the PowerBook G5 was inevitable... until power and heat were considered. Wouldn’t it just be a huge f*** you if apple just transitioned to low power ARM across the board this year. I guess I’ve seen this game long enough where I’m less sure than all of you.
The difference though is some of the quad chips are already available, and they're actually low power (15 Watts).
How did they accomplish this? Well, they are on a tweaked 14 nm process, and they dropped the base clock speeds. However, overall the speeds are higher since the base speeds aren't very meaningful these days, due to the way Intel deals with Turbo Boost. For single and dual-core, these chips remain relatively speedy but they now also have the option of quad-core (8 thread).
Or when some realize the quad cores (if they even happen in the nTB) are going to be clocked at MUCH lower speeds... However, even clocked at lower speeds, a quad would still offer more performance but it's not going to be anywhere even close to what some are expecting. I've read plenty of people thinking and saying the quad cores will be a 50% increase..
I'm gonna have to get some popcorn for the epic disappointments threads...
And they would be right in some instances.
Here are the actual Cinebench R15 benchmarks:
2.5 GHz Core i7-7660U (15 Watt dual-core) (with Turbo Boost up to 4.0 GHz)
Single-core: 170
Multi-core: 405
1.9 GHz Core i7-8650U (15 Watt quad-core) (with Turbo Boost up to 4.2 GHz)
Single-core: 175 (+2.9%)
Multi-core: 614 (+51.6%)
Yes, as mentioned in my other post, the base clock speeds are much lower, but they are largely irrelevant for poorly-threaded applications, since the CPU will simply run one or two cores much faster than the base clock. So, as you can see, the 1.9 GHz 8650 actually beats the 2.5 GHz 7660U in single-threaded work.
These base clocks are more representative of quad core speeds after extended use. So, the base clock speeds are often actually pretty good as a gauge to what the multi-core performance will be.
2.5 GHz x dual core = 5.0 GHz
1.9 GHz x quad core = 7.6 GHz (+52%)
To put it in more specific real world terms, the 1.9 GHz Core i7-8650 15 Watt chip is almost as fast as my iMac 3.5 GHz Core i5-7600 65 Watt chip.
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The only caveat here is what form of the chip Apple uses. Assuming they use an Iris Plus version of it, then it might be even lower clocked, at say 1.7 GHz. Still...
2.5 GHz x dual core = 5.0 GHz
1.7 GHz x quad core = 6.8 GHz (+36%)
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See how that works? We don't know IF they will even be quad core and we don't know what chipset or GPU they will use. You can't throw out numbers like that as you are setting people up for eventual disappointment.
My guess is that IF the nTB gets a quad there will maybe be a 20% increase. Of that 20% increase most buyers of a nTB model will never notice it...
Nobody knows when they will come or what will be in them.
I think the Pro getting updated, at some point this year, is a given.. The rMB? I would assume it will also get updated but I've not really heard much about it..
There are really only two options for the GPU. GT2 and GT3e.
The current 8th gen 15 Watt chip that is 50% faster than the 2017 MacBook Pro is a GT2 chip. If you put a GT3e in it, it would lose about 15-20% of that 50%, meaning the speed would be about 30-35% faster than the 2017 MacBook Pro. IMHO, a 20% speed boost would be a bit lower than expected. I agree it won't be 50% faster though of course.
BTW, it's not as I'm just being overly hopeful here. I actually have no desire to buy a MacBook Pro. I bought a dual-core MacBook last year, since those 12" machines suit my needs much better.
The MacBook Pro is likely to get an update in the next few months. (The updated chips for them are supposed to launch next quarter.)
The MacBook is unlikely to get an update in that same time period, unless it's just a very small incremental update or some sort. Actually, some believe there won't be a MacBook update at all in 2018.
Guess we will have to wait and see.. Not really interested in a debate over fictitious specs. Only Apple knows what they are going to do and they aint spilling the beans!
I'm not interested either as I bought a 2017 nTB a few months ago. I am a home user and don't ever push the machine so any increase would be minor, if that, to me..