Skylake CPUs for next MB. (merged)

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

I'm using a 2010 iMac as my home computer, and every time I sit down to use it, I'm more than satisfied with its processor power. I upgraded to an SSD and 8GB of RAM, and it's been more than adequate for my needs for the 3+ years I've owned it (bought it used off Craigslist). I can understand that power users and pros that actually do heavy tasks would want a faster processor, but for the market that the rMB is aimed at, processor power is fine and probably will be for a while. To put it another way: emailing, web browsing, and streaming Netflix is no faster on a Mac Pro than it is on an Air.

emailing, web browsing and streaming can be done on a 5 year old iPad 2. Besides, the speed of such tasks are so largely dependent on the internet connection that under certain circumstances a mac pro may appear slower than an iPad.

I've got a 2010 iMac, too, the 21.5" 3.06GHz. With each new OS X I notice the boot time increases. Indeed, the OS becomes more resource hungry. It is still adequate and will be so for the next 5 years but let's not forget that its i3 stays always at 3GHz whereas the rMB has base freq of 0.9GHz.

Whatever. We are going circles in this topic.

 

[Vladislav]

Those last few pages with BJ's posts and quotes removed 1) look really funny and 2) make no sense whatsoever.

I'm leaving this thread but I'll be back when they announce new Skylake rMB in June or so

March 15 th more likely, why they would wait for june? loosing on sales etc

 

[toddzrx]

emailing, web browsing and streaming can be done on a 5 year old iPad 2. Besides, the speed of such tasks are so largely dependent on the internet connection that under certain circumstances a mac pro may appear slower than an iPad.

Quite right; you're proving my point.

I've got a 2010 iMac, too, the 21.5" 3.06GHz. With each new OS X I notice the boot time increases. Indeed, the OS becomes more resource hungry. It is still adequate and will be so for the next 5 years but let's not forget that its i3 stays always at 3GHz whereas the rMB has base freq of 0.9GHz.

Put an SSD in it. That processor is still very capable. Besides, if you're using a desktop for 10+ years, I don't see why you'd make a big deal about processing power.

Whatever. We are going circles in this topic.

Not really: more like a tennis match.

 

[Trey M]

March 15 th more likely, why they would wait for june? loosing on sales etc

As much as I'd like a March 15 release for the rMB, it'd be hard for me to bet that that will end up being the case. It seems they'll be using the event for a new iPad, new watch accessories, and new 4 inch iPhone (all iOS based). I think it's unlikely Apple will throw laptops in there as well, though I wish they would.

I think the more likely event will be a silent release for at least the rMB, if not the MBA as well (mostly processor updates). But who knows. It's anyone's best guess.

 

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

Put an SSD in it. That processor is still very capable. Besides, if you're using a desktop for 10+ years, I don't see why you'd make a big deal about processing power

like I said, the processor in the 5 year old iMac is much more capable than that in the rMB and that's why I may keep it for longer. My workflow bottleneck is not processor speed but hard drive size as I am approaching the 500GB. There are options, though, and I may subscribe for a cloud service where I may offload my photos. Using an external drive constantly defeats the purpose of the iMac.
Speaking of photos, the iMac is sluggish when I process my 20MP row files and is hopeless when I try to process and export a home video. You may say a rMB is not the right tool for either task but why should I have to buy a 15" MBP for that? The MBP is a computer for professionals, that's why it's called the Pro. For home users there's the MBA with its crappy screen (not good for pictures and videos) and the rMB with its slow processor (not good for pictures and videos). Basically, I have no option with Apple laptops right now. Those 20% SkyLake will bring will close the gap and will make the rMB better value for the money. Not by much, honestly, but still.

 

[boltjames]

Those last few pages with BJ's posts and quotes removed 1) look really funny and 2) make no sense whatsoever.

I'm leaving this thread but I'll be back when they announce new Skylake rMB in June or so

June? LOL. Now it's June? What happened to March?

I'm onboard with Apple announcing Skylake in June with an August supply chain ready date. I'm on record saying that the back-to-school time period and the August anniversary of the Apple Store in-stock date is the earliest that a potential Skylake RMB would be made available. If that is your thinking, we are on the same page.

BJ

 

[oneMadRssn]

June? LOL. Now it's June? What happened to March?

I'm onboard with Apple announcing Skylake in June with an August supply chain ready date. I'm on record saying that the back-to-school time period and the August anniversary of the Apple Store in-stock date is the earliest that a potential Skylake RMB would be made available. If that is your thinking, we are on the same page.

BJ

The rMB update will either be spring-time, or after back to school. Apple has rarely announced an updated Macs right before back to school (there has never been a Macbook/Air/Pro update in August). The closest was a MBA update in late July 2011 or MBP update in late July 2014, and those are the exception if you look at the pattern.

I think they usually rely on back to school sales (whether their own, or that of their re-sellers) to clear out stock.

 

[toddzrx]

June? LOL. Now it's June? What happened to March?

I'm onboard with Apple announcing Skylake in June with an August supply chain ready date. I'm on record saying that the back-to-school time period and the August anniversary of the Apple Store in-stock date is the earliest that a potential Skylake RMB would be made available. If that is your thinking, we are on the same page.

BJ

I liked it best when Apple did their computer updates at WWDC in June, but Intel's release schedule has thrown that timing off for a couple years now. Macs at WWDC, iPhones in September, and iPad/Watch in the spring.

 

[breadley]

Might I probe the masses on a question:

Would the Core M CPU bottleneck a meaty external GPU to such an extent that it introduced minimal improvements?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Absolutely yes. And the current rMB can't even run an external GPU anyway.

 

[breadley]

Providing TB3 materialises, of course. So would a Core M and a Core M with a giant external general purpose GPU perform similarly?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Depends on what you do, but in general the GPU would be starving for data. You'd like see a small boost over the internal card, but nothing that would be worthwhile.

 

[breadley]

Neural networks with CUDA

 

[827538]

Might I probe the masses on a question:

Would the Core M CPU bottleneck a meaty external GPU to such an extent that it introduced minimal improvements?

Yes, the CPU in the Core-M would throttle down pretty hard after a short while.

It's a cool idea and on a laptop with active cooling it should work.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Neural networks with CUDA

How much data handling is actually done by the CPU? If it lifts of 95% of it to the GPU, it would actually work nicely I believe.

 

[breadley]

Yes, it all comes down to how frequently the GPU and CPU need to talk. The calculations on the data are certainly amenable to parallelisation. The proportion, I'm not sure.

This is certainly not the place to drop a link comparing a 16-core CPU with steaming GPU, however the fact that performance is different by around an order of magnitude suggests that the answer might be 'a good proportion'.
https://devblogs.nvidia.com/parallelforall/cudnn-v2-higher-performance-deep-learning-gpus/

Limiting factors might be:
1) Of the 10 PCIe lanes, would enough lanes be free for a civilised GPU-CPU conversation?
2) Will the baby 4.5W CPU warm up and trigger the clock multiplier to cut to something awful?

It would be great to Macgyver the two together for a little performance at the desk and mobility on the go.

 

[iManic]

Yes, the CPU in the Core-M would throttle down pretty hard after a short while.

It's a cool idea and on a laptop with active cooling it should work.

In this situation your not worried about "mobility" since you are probably hooking up a GPU enclosure bigger than the MacBook. Would putting the MacBook on a cooling pad and directing airflow directly at the motherboard location help with the throttling and keep the cpu singing? Maybe an ice pack haha

 

[breadley]

An excellent suggestion. Plus, if I buy it now it might cool me down and prevent the purchase of a computer that's underpowered for my needs

 

[April Knight]

So it seems that the consensus is that Skylake is going to bring TB3 via USB-C and better performance. If I'm just going to be using the MacBook for casual internet browsing, reviewing photos I took with a camera, listening to music, etc. does it really matter to me if I wait or not? Is Skylake bringing increased battery life or anything along those lines?

 

[oneMadRssn]

So it seems that the consensus is that Skylake is going to bring TB3 via USB-C and better performance. If I'm just going to be using the MacBook for casual internet browsing, reviewing photos I took with a camera, listening to music, etc. does it really matter to me if I wait or not? Is Skylake bringing increased battery life or anything along those lines?

Skylake likely will allow for increased battery life. For the tasks you list, there won't be much improvement. The next update will also likely bring other updates that aren't CPU-related.

For example, I expect the butterfly-mechanism in the keyboard to be revised slightly to become more robust, as many have complained there are some issues on this forum and Apple's. I also expect some revisions to the force-click touchpad, as there have also been a few issues with those. Likewise, I expect the battery itself to be improved a bit.

Basically, the force-touch trackpad, the keyboard, and the battery were all version1 designs. No matter how good they are and how right Apple got it, version1 designs always come with some unforeseen issues that are addressed in subsequent revisions.

 

[April Knight]

Skylake likely will allow for increased battery life. For the tasks you list, there won't be much improvement. The next update will also likely bring other updates that aren't CPU-related.

For example, I expect the butterfly-mechanism in the keyboard to be revised slightly to become more robust, as many have complained there are some issues on this forum and Apple's. I also expect some revisions to the force-click touchpad, as there have also been a few issues with those. Likewise, I expect the battery itself to be improved a bit.

Basically, the force-touch trackpad, the keyboard, and the battery were all version1 designs. No matter how good they are and how right Apple got it, version1 designs always come with some unforeseen issues that are addressed in subsequent revisions.

Gotcha, so basically I'd be looking at a somewhat increased battery life (possibly) and a few tweaks to the keyboard and trackpad. Not sure if the wait is worth it, especially if it ends up being June rather than March.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Gotcha, so basically I'd be looking at a somewhat increased battery life (possibly) and a few tweaks to the keyboard and trackpad. Not sure if the wait is worth it, especially if it ends up being June rather than March.

Yea. Whether it is worth the wait is entirely subjective and based on your current situation.

Personally, I would either (a) wait for the update, or (b) buy the current generation used but in good condition to save a few hundred bucks. Basically, I don't think it's wise to pay full price for the current generation model unless you really need something ASAP.

 

[April Knight]

Yea. Whether it is worth the wait is entirely subjective and based on your current situation.

Personally, I would either (a) wait for the update, or (b) buy the current generation used but in good condition to save a few hundred bucks. Basically, I don't think it's wise to pay full price for the current generation model unless you really need something ASAP.

I may have the ability to get a refurb directly from Apple for about $825, but only until I start traveling abroad again in early April. So that is why I am considering the current gen.

 

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

So it seems that the consensus is that Skylake is going to bring TB3 via USB-C and better performance. If I'm just going to be using the MacBook for casual internet browsing, reviewing photos I took with a camera, listening to music, etc. does it really matter to me if I wait or not? Is Skylake bringing increased battery life or anything along those lines?

You could make do with an iPad - mine works for 10 hours for a single charge. In today's world it's unknown why people want to demote their computers to tasks that a simple phone can perform. Maybe that's called lifestyle. In that case you certainly do not need to wait. When the next model comes out you throw away your macbook and buy the new one.

 

[April Knight]

You could make do with an iPad - mine works for 10 hours for a single charge. In today's world it's unknown why people want to demote their computers to tasks that a simple phone can perform. Maybe that's called lifestyle. In that case you certainly do not need to wait. When the next model comes out you throw away your macbook and buy the new one.

There are several applications that I use whose iOS equivalent doesn't offer the functionality I need/want. My use for a MacBook is to have OS X on the go, mainly.