I’m in a similar situation as OP. My work specialized work software probably won’t get arm support for several years at best, and I’m on an old 2012 rmbp. Surprisingly, it still works well, but who knows for how much longer. And actually, it’s already a bottleneck in terms of me wanting to upgrade some of my other hardware. I could upgrade to the 16” mbp now, but I don’t absolutely need to just yet, and I don’t like the idea of buying a two year old chip, especially when it needs to last me for who knows how many years. I think there’s a chance that there will be one final 16” intel mbp update, sometime next year with a slightly better chip (maybe tiger lake or rocket lake) and wifi 6, so I’m going to try to hold out and see.
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Should we buy a MacBook Pro 16 inch now?
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An 2021 16” arm macbook pro will run better even under rosetta2 than your 2012 rmbp
again for people who can wait one more month, probably until 10 of November, to see the difference between the first new macs vs the current intel ones
We’ll see if that’s true, but even if so I’d rather get the current intel 16” and get the even better native performance. This laptop’s sole purpose is to run my work software so there is no point for me to get arm until it’s supported by the developers. And if it never is, then my next laptop would have to be windows, which would be quite unfortunate. At that point my hope would be that windows goes arm too so that the developers will be forced to support arm.
No at the moment but is unlikely that the MBP flagship do not receive any refresh in more than a year after the release
I picked up the i9 MacBook Pro base model about 3 days ago. SO far I love it. Battery life hasn't been more than about 5-6 hours currently, but it was installing updates, putting my iPhotos on the drive, etc. I have a 45 return policy so depending on what Apple may release in November, I may switch or keep this machine since I have it all set up how I like. This is my first Touch Bar model as well as I switched to windows for about 5 years ago. Gettin used to it, but I do find it useful in some respects.
If you are on the fence, pick one up, you won't be disappointed!
If you are on the fence, pick one up, you won't be disappointed!
For the 5600 gpu advisors... the inbuild 5600 gpu is like 850€ more config. For this price you can have high grade egpu which will work much better with external monitors and the performance boost is out of question too + you can upgrade it later...For standard usage the base 5500 is more then enought...
Same here although I did buy my 16" before they really started talking about Apple Silicon. I really don't think I am going to notice or care what cpu is under the hood as long as my apps keep working as expected. My last MBP was a 2013 15" and I still use it mostly especially if I am someplace that might be potentially hazardous such as working outside.
Almost certainly it would be next year. I believe Apple is waiting for the next intel chip appropriate for the 16” which hasn’t been released yet.
First, no November Mac event has been announced. That's often when new Macs get announced in a typical year - so it's a plausible guess - but in case you haven't noticed this hasn't been a typical year (apart from the pandemic, Apple Silicon Macs are the biggest Mac upheaval since the Intel switch - we can only hope that Apple doesn't release them until they are ready...)
Second, although nobody knows for sure, most of the speculation is that Apple will release a 13" (or 13" replacement) MacBook and maybe a 21.5" iMac replacement first. That makes sense - the MacBook Air/entry-level 13" MBP are the "low hanging fruit" that will benefit most from low-power chips and - along with the 21.5 iMac. Heck, they could put an iPad chip in the Air and it would out-perform the Intel version - it could even live without Thunderbolt.
I really wouldn't bet the farm on ASi replacements for the 16" MBP and the 5k iMac this year - they've got more to prove and may have to wait for some sort of "Apple Silicon Pro" - in particular to convince people they don't need a dGPU. Apple said that the transition would take about two years so its not reasonable to expect a complete ASi Mac range to materialise just 6 months after the announcement...
The thread starter is also dependent on AVID and Ableton - and, while I don't doubt that they'll get native Mac versions eventually, there's no promise that they'll be there on Day 1. Maybe they'll be OK with Rosetta - but it's unlikely that they'll get a performance boost that way. However, in both cases, the likely headache is going to be with third-party plugins and hardware drivers where there are bound to be stragglers and a few that just don't make it.
It all really depends on whether you depend on your Mac to get paid work done or, alternatively, you enjoy tinkering and don't mind running two systems side-by-side for a while. Just remember - the early worm gets the bird (or, if you prefer, the second mouse gets the cheese...)
That is a completely fair point, but I still recommend consideration of the 5600M. With the way the 5300M/5500M work and the amount of heat they generate (even without an external display), I struggle to recommend a part that has been labeled as performing normally despite such abnormal behavior (as well as several other graphical glitches I experienced with the 5500M). I agree the update price is pretty insane for the 5600M, but it's the only option that works in a fashion that I personally consider to deliver the experience a dGPU should, and an eGPU doesn't necessarily work for everyone. It's great to have that flexibility, but for such a big investment I want an internal GPU that 'just works'. I feel the 5600M fits that bill best. I do wish it was a more affordable option, or Apple/AMD offered a less-expensive 4GB HBM2 card.
Looks like two new 16" MacBook Pro models will be released in the near term.
The 16" MacBook Pro is still on 9th Generation 14nm Coffee Lake Refresh CPUs. So these new SKUs are likely the 10th Generation 14nm Comet Lake CPUs.
So:
i7-9750H is replaced with i7-10750H
i9-9880H and i9-9980HK are replaced with i9-10980HK
The 16" MacBook Pro is still on 9th Generation 14nm Coffee Lake Refresh CPUs. So these new SKUs are likely the 10th Generation 14nm Comet Lake CPUs.
So:
i7-9750H is replaced with i7-10750H
i9-9880H and i9-9980HK are replaced with i9-10980HK
I've been using my 16" i9 as a desktop replacement for the past couple of months, and it's been a stellar performer. While I imagine a refresh is right around the corner, I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger again, and right now, for one of the current machines.
I'm about two weeks in on my new 16" MBP, 64GB, 5600M. I'm loving it. Happy to have this and watch the ARM transition over the years.
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In 2005 I bought a dual Powermac G5 and in 2006 apple released the Intel Mac Pro. I stayed on my powermac for 5 years and had no issues using it day in and out as my work machine. No issues with software or anything. I didn't try to update the OS or software too much because I believed updates would slow it down. Preformed great for me and I didn't feel like I was missing anything from the intel machines (besides more speed eventually down the road). In 2010 I upgraded to intel and was happy to have jumped in when all the machines and software were multiple versions into Intel.
Also to note, on Sept 8th leaker l0vetodream stated there would be no more updates to the 16"MBP this year.
forums.macrumors.com
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In 2005 I bought a dual Powermac G5 and in 2006 apple released the Intel Mac Pro. I stayed on my powermac for 5 years and had no issues using it day in and out as my work machine. No issues with software or anything. I didn't try to update the OS or software too much because I believed updates would slow it down. Preformed great for me and I didn't feel like I was missing anything from the intel machines (besides more speed eventually down the road). In 2010 I upgraded to intel and was happy to have jumped in when all the machines and software were multiple versions into Intel.
Also to note, on Sept 8th leaker l0vetodream stated there would be no more updates to the 16"MBP this year.
Waiting for 2021 MBP
forums.macrumors.com
Well Apple just filed two new 16" MBPs with the ECC so guess his ranking is going to take a bit of a hit on Appletrack.org...
Source please? Personally, I will be surprised if they replace the current 16" with anything but an AppleSI version. This would be a good way to demonstrate to the customer, their confidence in the performance of their product. If they wait, it could be seen as worry on their part of the ability for the AppleSI to compete on the high-end.
Rich S.
I would see it as quite logical to wait with the 16" until maybe the last before the Mac Pro goes AS.
16" is a low volume machine with the pickiest segment of customers who expect/need full functionality from day 1.
It’s better to start with the $999 MBA/MB segment to get a few million machines out there as fast as possible and show developers it’s worth making native apps.
But then why not go all in right away and switch over the iMac and Mac Pro to arm? The higher end macs, including apple’s high end laptop, are targeted toward professionals who need plenty of time to move their businesses and all associated software over to arm. That’s really who the two year transition period that Apple set is for. It’s to give them fair warning of how long they’ll be able to continue updating the hardware for their business, with the final hardware update giving them one last push off after which they have to coast until they’re able to make the software transition, which could take several years. To me, two years pretty much implies one last intel update for each line, at least for the high end macs. Replacing those macs first just to make a point would be pulling the rug out from under businesses. I suppose though it is possible that Apple could sell both intel and arm versions together for a time.
I'm curious, what's the history on the time between filings and the release? Apple knows they are going to update all the products. It's just a matter of when. They could just release lower end models in 2020. But those filings do make November's announcement a bit more interesting...
Eight Unreleased Mac Models Appear in Regulatory Filings
Eight unreleased Macs have appeared in Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) filings, alongside a large number of iOS devices, as spotted by French outlet Consomac. Three of the Macs have appeared in EEC filings before, including model A2147, A2158, and A2182, while five of them are entirely...
forums.macrumors.com
Someone in the thread stated that two of those numbers are unused MacBook Pro 16 IDs, but I do not know where they got that information.
I expect the first ASi models will be replacements for those models that have an Intel iGPU as the iGPU in the A14 SoC will be more than capable. Apple is developing an independent GPU and I expect that will be paired with the A14 SoC to replace the Macs with an AMD GPU (16" MacBook Pro and 27" iMac) but that might not be ready until later in 2021.
Eight Unreleased Mac Models Appear in Regulatory Filings
Eight unreleased Macs have appeared in Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) filings, alongside a large number of iOS devices, as spotted by French outlet Consomac. Three of the Macs have appeared in EEC filings before, including model A2147, A2158, and A2182, while five of them are entirely...
Someone in the thread stated that two of those numbers are unused MacBook Pro 16 IDs, but I do not know where they got that information.
I expect the first ASi models will be replacements for those models that have an Intel iGPU as the iGPU in the A14 SoC will be more than capable. Apple is developing an independent GPU and I expect that will be paired with the A14 SoC to replace the Macs with an AMD GPU (16" MacBook Pro and 27" iMac) but that might not be ready until later in 2021.
Thank you for the source
. I too expect that the first release, which is rumored to be next month (Nov), to be a new MacBook, maybe MacBook Air, or perhaps even the 13" MacBook Pro. I really think that it is going to come down to performance. Nobody outside of Apple really knows how well the unreleased AppleSI performs on desktop workloads. Folks with the transition dev kit, have some idea, but I expect the actual hardware we will see to be faster than that. My comment about the 16" being replaced by the AppleSI is only based off of the idea that it is hitting a year old at this point, the 13" MBP was just refreshed earlier this year, so unless it is the MacBook, the 16" is the one most primed for an update. As mentioned, this would also demonstrate confidence in their performance coming out the gate. This is pure speculation on my part, but I am thinking that Apple has no new Intel based systems on the drawing boards, and are only going to release the models that are already in the pipeline. Current Intel CPUs are just too hot for the thin designs of Apple laptop computers, and until Intel can get thermals in-check (maybe next year), there aren't really any new Intel CPUs that would help the current 16". Thanks!Rich S.
As a current and happy 16" (2.4/32gb/8gb/2TB/space grey) owner I'd say yes... I'm still liking intel over ARM until ARM proves itself in actual use in real world scenarios... call me old fashion.
As for music use I would lean in the intel camp for now especially if you earn a living with this.
I will get many years of use out of this laptop before I hand it over to others and buy new ARM in 3 years...
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I am convinced that once Apple gets arm based CPUs and GPUs in league with MBP needs that the results are going to be amazing. Yesterdays presentation of how the iPhone 12 will process Dolby HDR video and how all the custom ASi components interplay makes me think that a MBP built on this same concept will be an amazing device. However, I am still very happy with my current 16" and glad I have it while I wait for the next chapter to arrive.
Im just hoping an intel refresh and updated gpu's next month otherwise im just gonna pull the trigger on a 5600m model. Only been waiting this long because i work with dual monitors, I returned my order from the summer because of the heat/fan issues.