Waiting for Skylake MBP thread

[OSX7]

They might as well take the "Pro" out of the MBP if they take out the dGPU. Even the 580 won't be able to hold a light against the next gen dGPUs coming out, and I highly doubt real world performance of the 580 will be anywhere close to the 370X.

Either way I will be quite disappointed if the new high end MBP has comparable graphics to my 4 year old 650M dGPU. The only way they can justify this is if they cut 500 bucks off the high end.

You know Apple's marketing department is doing an outstanding job when people take the names and denominations within their product lineup seriously/literally. There is nothing a photographer/architect can do on a XPS 15 Laptop, that a US$300 POS Dell notebook can't. They both run Windows, and thus run Photoshop/CAD/Production software, what varies is the speed in which the tasks are accomplished. I bolded that last fragment because their lineup is pretty much the same. The Macbook can run the same software as an rMBP. Both run Final Cut, Lightroom etc. But the Macbook will take a longer time to accomplished the same tasks. The "Pro" doesn't mean that the laptop is suitable for professionals, it just means that it is relatively better and faster than the one below it. The user makes the most of the laptop, not the other way around. You make the laptop as Pro or amateurish as you want to, the purchase doesn't define the user when it comes to notebooks. The plethora of rMBP i have seen in the wild are from people (teens mostly) sitting in Starbucks browsing the web/writing a word document. If we go by the typical definition and stigma the "Pro" name has, none of them should have bought it because a US$300 POS notebook can achieve the same thing that their luxury US$1299-1999 notebook can. My brother (16) made my parents buy him a 15" rMBP 2015. The reason?....just because it looked nice according to him.

Oh and remember that they killed the dGPU in the entry 15" Macbook "Pro". They decided back then that Iris Pro reached acceptable levels of performance, they didn't drop the name.

Macbook<Macbook Pro. Functionally the same, just faster. That's it. No over-complications. There is no international standard that regulates how many ports, cpu speed, or ssd capacity a "pro" machine should have to be called a "pro" notebook.

Sorry for the long post. The first part about marketing and such wasn't directed entirely to you, it was to the forum in general.

 

[eastamherstbias]

By the time we finally get a skylake macbook pro..... Kaby Lake will be in production.

 

[OSX7]

By the time we finally get a skylake macbook pro..... Kaby Lake will be in production.

The Kaby Lake roadmap leaked months ago and there was no mention of GT4e H parts. We may very well be stuck with Skylake for 2 long years, just like what happened with Haswell.

 

[cmChimera]

The Macbook can run the same software as an rMBP. Both run Final Cut, Lightroom etc. But the Macbook will take a longer time to accomplished the same tasks. The "Pro" doesn't mean that the laptop is suitable for professionals, it just means that it is relatively better and faster than the one below it.

To be fair, time can be very important in a professional setting.

 

[OSX7]

To be fair, time can be very important in a professional setting.

I absolutely agree with you. The thing that bugs me is that people take it far too literally when it comes to the rMB "Pro". At that point is where they start making up all of these standards as if they were some sort of international regulator where companies must register their products to see if it's compliant with THEIR made-up standards. Example: "It can't be named pro because it lacks an ethernet port yada yada yada"

 

[killawat]

Intel Live Stream link for tomorrow's keynote courtesy of the verge (6:30 pm pst?)

http://newsroom.intel.com/docs/DOC-6976

 

[nicovh]

Intel Live Stream link for tomorrow's keynote courtesy of the verge (6:30 pm pst?)

http://newsroom.intel.com/docs/DOC-6976

Dankjewel!

 

[cmChimera]

I absolutely agree with you. The thing that bugs me is that people take it far too literally when it comes to the rMB "Pro". At that point is where they start making up all of these standards as if they were some sort of international regulator where product companies must register their products to see if it compliant with THEIR made-up standards. Example: "It can't be named pro because it lacks an ethernet port yada yada yada"

Yeah I agree 100% on that.

 

[jsnuff1]

I absolutely agree with you. The thing that bugs me is that people take it far too literally when it comes to the rMB "Pro". At that point is where they start making up all of these standards as if they were some sort of international regulator where product companies must register their products to see if it compliant with THEIR made-up standards. Example: "It can't be named pro because it lacks an ethernet port yada yada yada"

I don't really care what its called, but like you mentioned I am a "Pro" user as you put it an not a teen playing in starbucks. Im a developer that uses GPU compute libraries, as well as plenty of GPU rendering programs (not to mention that I play games on my MBP).

Probably long before you can remember the "Pro" did actually mean something at Apple, since during the "Power" days most of Apple's Mac business was from professionals and Apple did cater to them.

Unfortunately the Mac has long been heading down the same iOS path of catering to the masses, so it would not be a surprise if they finally did kill the only feature that appealed to professionals.

Too bad no one will notice and the starbuck teens will still continue to buy them in droves.

 

[OSX7]

I don't really care what its called, but like you mentioned I am a "Pro" user as you put it an not a teen playing in starbucks. Im a developer that uses GPU compute libraries, as well as plenty of GPU rendering programs (not to mention that I play games on my MBP).

Probably long before you can remember the "Pro" did actually mean something at Apple, since during the "Power" days most of Apple's Mac business was from professionals and Apple did cater to them.

Unfortunately the Mac has long been heading down the same iOS path of catering to the masses, so it would not be a surprise if they finally did kill the only feature that appealed to professionals.

Too bad no one will notice and the starbuck teens will still continue to buy them in droves.

Sorry to hear that you actually require a dGPU. Fortunately there are other companies that can cater to your specific needs.

"Too bad no one will notice and the starbuck teens will still continue to buy them in droves."

That's pretty much what has happened (sadly). You would be surprised. The same one-port MacBook that everyone considered a failure, has apparently sold well. This is of course anecdotal evidence and may not be the case. I have seen that "failure" in the hands of many people, yet the "Pro" SP4s that everyone praises in the forum is MIA. It does give validity to the perception that everything with an Apple logo sells.

 

[tharwan]

Worst possible situation on my end: my Air just died (the SSD to be specific). So I am forced to buy now... *sigh*

 

[Mezzle]

Worst possible situation on my end: my Air just died (the SSD to be specific). So I am forced to buy now... *sigh*

Not an ideal solution, but what about buying an external drive, install OSX on it and use that as a boot disk until the new MBPs are out?

 

[dynestein]

Does anyone recall what happened during last year's CES? Did Apple officially announce the new Macbook, or was it leaked? I know people were talking about it way before release date.

 

[AirdanMR]

AMD next-gen Polaris FinFET at 14nm set for 2H 2016

With HDMI 2.0a and DisplayPort 3 and up to 40% less power consuption than nvidia 9xx equivalent at the same performance... see the end of the video

Edit: I know that's not skylake news, but people have previously asked when would the new AMD architecture will be available to know if it could potentially be inside the new rMBP or not.

 

[nicovh]

P

AMD next-gen Polaris FinFET at 14nm set for 2H 2016

With HDMI 2.0a and DisplayPort 3 and up to 40% less power consuption than nvidia 9xx equivalent at the same performance... see the end of the video

Edit: I know that's not skylake news, but people have previously asked when would the new AMD architecture will be available to know if it could potentially be inside the new rMBP or not.

Perhaps WWDC after all then...

 

[Intelmaster]

I think they will release the Macbook Pro Update in March and after that they will refresh the models in October again with the new AMD next gen Polaris architecture. Don't forget, that the first models are always available for desktop pc.

 

[tharwan]

Not an ideal solution, but what about buying an external drive, install OSX on it and use that as a boot disk until the new MBPs are out?

I have an external SSD here. So that is what I am going to have to do, in the short run anyway. But at this point I assume the new machines will only be out around March. Which is just too long for me to live with this solution.

 

[frosse]

Intel Live Stream link for tomorrow's keynote courtesy of the verge (6:30 pm pst?)

http://newsroom.intel.com/docs/DOC-6976

And here's the schedule. Doesn't really hint at anything "Iris Pro ish" unfortunately:



Jan. 5, 3:30-4:30 p.m.: The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence and cognitive computing have the potential to transform the way we work and live, but what are its commercial business applications, and how will it augment human work? Gayle Sheppard, general manager of Saffron Technology at Intel will join Deloitte’s Paul Sallomi for a panel discussion.



Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall, Room N258

Jan. 6, 10:30-11:15 a.m.: CES Cybersecurity Forum: How Smart is Your Device?
Gary Davis, Intel's cybersecurity evangelist, alongside other executives from the industry, will discuss the role that security will play as the Internet of Things continues to change the way we live and work.



Venetian, Level 4, Lando 4301

Jan. 6, 3:30-4:30 p.m.: Five Innovations to Watch
Intel's Genevieve Bell will join a talk moderated by Wilson Rothman, personal tech editor, The Wall Street Journal, to discuss the five technologies that will drive the $285 billion consumer technology industry.



Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall, N253

Jan. 6, 3:45-5:00 p.m.: Personalization and Big Data: Securing Consumer Privacy
Intel's cybersecurity evangelist Gary Davis will join the Parks Connections Summit at CES for a security panel, moderated by Brad Russell, research analyst, Parks Associates.



Venetian Hotel, Level 4, Room Marcello 4501

Jan. 8, 10:15-11:15 a.m.: Advanced Wearables for Sports
Steve Holmes, vice president, New Devices Group and general manager, Smart Device Innovation at Intel, along with industry leaders and moderator David Pogue, tech columnist, Yahoo Tech, will discuss the ways that technology is increasingly finding its way into sports.



Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall, N253

 

[Serban]

when is Intel presentation today at CES?
maybe Intel will announce HD580

 

[NJPT]

Does anyone recall what happened during last year's CES? Did Apple officially announce the new Macbook, or was it leaked? I know people were talking about it way before release date.

Apple didn't make any MB announcements during CES 2015; it announced the new MB at its own March event with the Apple Watch. The MB was leaked in January 2015 by Mark Gurman.

Source:
http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/06/macbook-air-12-inch-redesign/

 

[frosse]

Just to be clear for new (and old) readers wondering about CES. We don't expect Apple to release anything during this event.

Instead focus lies on Intel to release or provide information regarding appropriate chips for the 15" Macbook Pro.

 

[Serban]

if Intel release Iris Pro that means for 100% Apple will release the Macbook and Macbook Pro in March or silent update sooner

 

[killawat]

If Intel starts discussing this, it's the golden ticket we've been waiting on.

 

[hfletcher]

My thinking is that with the rumoured performance of GT4e being 50% faster than Broadwell's GT3e [source], the new MBP's could have graphical performance only slightly less than a current 950M.

Broadwell GT3e Sky Diver score ≈ 6440 [source]
50% improvement would be = 9660
GTX 950M ≈ 11000 [source - a reasonable average]

So GT4e could only be around 10% slower than a mid-end discrete GPU.

It would also seem, compared to the M370X (Score of 7824), about 20% faster.

From my post in December. If the rumours are vaguely accurate, it will outperform M370X even in graphics tasks.

Also, people getting excited about new dGPU's from AMD/Nvidia. The release timeframe will be for their flagship desktop cards most likely, and not mid-end mobile chips. Remember Skylake was 'released' in August 2015 but that was only their flagship desktop processor.

 

[Serban]

how many hours until Intel event?