So there is much more to the 2017 MBP

[fokmik]

The biggest advantage of the 2016/2017 MBP is how the TB3 lanes are connected to the CPU. They are connected directly to the CPU instead of going through a TB3 chip and then to the CPU. This removes as much of a bottleneck as possible for connecting nvme drives to eGPU's to the laptop. The only other laptop on the market that does the same TB3 to CPU connection is the Alienware with its proprietary connection. Every other laptop that advertises TB3 ports are passing through some chip before hitting the CPU.

 

[Patcell]

I did read something about needing an extra Thunderbolt 3 controller with the Skylake CPUs... are we sure that was resolved by the Kaby Lake update?

 

[Penlocky]

What does that mean to the 2016 MBP? Insufficient of doing eGPU setup?
What advantage does this have over the 2016 models?


Oh I think the DRM HDCP 2.2 might come into play here as the TB3 port will be free from a chip that will break the HDCP 2.2 chain. Might, this is just pure speculation.

 

[killawat]

Yes most other vendors choose to route through the PCH. Apple is serving up this configuration so they can dish out dual 5k displays amongst other things.

 

[littlepud]

The biggest advantage of the 2016/2017 MBP is how the TB3 lanes are connected to the CPU. They are connected directly to the CPU instead of going through a TB3 chip and then to the CPU. This removes as much of a bottleneck as possible for connecting nvme drives to eGPU's to the laptop. The only other laptop on the market that does the same TB3 to CPU connection is the Alienware with its proprietary connection. Every other laptop that advertises TB3 ports are passing through some chip before hitting the CPU.

This is incorrect. Both the 2016 and 2017 MBP uses an Intel Apline Ridge Thunderbolt 3 chip between the CPU and the TB3 ports. This chip can be seen in tear down photos (see iFixit).