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I will play with predictions.

March: Not redesigned MBP, just updated, to latest hardware, and with USB-C and TB3.

13 inch, and 15 inch. No dGPU model on 15 inch, that will be later in the year.
13 inch will start at 1299$ with base CPU with 2.9 GHz with HD550, 8 GB of DDR4 2133 MHz and 256 GB of SSD.
15 inch: 1799$ 2.6 GHz, 16 GB of RAM DDR4 2133 MHz, and 256 GB of SSD.

Later in the year we will see new Macbook Pros, with new design, with same hardware, but 15 inch will have dGPU from AMD Polaris lineup.
13 and 15 inch will be offered alongside the new Macbook Pros for quite some time.

The 15" definitely needs a price drop regardless, especially since they don't even offer a dGPU in the base model.
 
Intel HD540 is on par with GT750M. And it is in 15W CPUs that are Macbook Air-class CPUs.
So HD 580 should be at least 50-60% faster than GT750M.
Is this real world performance or just in synthetic benchmarks? I have a hard time believing an integrated chipping headed for MBAs will out-perform a discrete chip from a couple of years ago.
 
Is this real world performance or just in synthetic benchmarks? I have a hard time believing an integrated chipping headed for MBAs will out-perform a discrete chip from a couple of years ago.
Well It is worth watching at real world performance that already has been shown by gaming benchmarks ;). Notebookcheck.com and on previous page of this thread a test of NUC with 15W CPU with HD540.

http://nucblog.net/2016/01/skylake-i5-nuc-review-nuc6i5syh-nuc6i5syk/
Heroes of the Storm completely playable in 1080p on Medium.
 
Are we confident that the 580 won't make an appearance in the 13" refresh?
In theory it would be possible if Apple would let the quad core CPU with HD580 on lower cTDP profile all the time.
There is also a lot of room to play with power when we consider that the CPU has 45W, and the power supply has 60W.

The MBP15 has much less room to play with in terms of power. Because of both CPU and GPU, and screen, larger battery, etc, etc. Of course we do not count into the TDP the power of chipset which is 6W for all CPUs. Think about it. 45W + 6+ 30 makes 81W. From 85W of total power of PSU.

28W + 6W is 34W. From 60.

Cheers. That would make the decision easier of buying the 2015 model for me if the refresh is in June. The 540 performance is definitely nicer than the 6100 currently but probably not high enough for me to warrant waiting until June.

Fingers crossed either way for March!
In 13 inch there will not be HD540. It will be 550 which should be 15% faster than 540.
 
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Yes, the power requirements for the chips w/ 580 are too high for the 13".
Cheers. That would make the decision easier of buying the 2015 model for me if the refresh is in June. The 540 performance is definitely nicer than the 6100 currently but probably not high enough for me to warrant waiting until June.

Fingers crossed either way for March!
 
I was on the verge of buying the current 13' but I just know I would regret it in a few months time.

Thunderbolt 3, wigig, latest graphics, new keyboard, new graphics and processor power, new form factor and colors, it's going to be the biggest update in 4 years, it would be silly not to wait for it.
[doublepost=1453768785][/doublepost]Especially considering thunderbolt is going to be consumer class now it has usb-C and apple doesn't have that stupid license agreement with Intel now.

Thunderbolt accessories will finally be affordable I'm guessing, plus the external gpu's will change the game.

I will be able to carry a light weight laptop, plug it in and have and desktop class graphics machine for my 3D models.
 
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I will play with predictions.

March: Not redesigned MBP, just updated, to latest hardware, and with USB-C and TB3.

13 inch, and 15 inch. No dGPU model on 15 inch, that will be later in the year.
13 inch will start at 1299$ with base CPU with 2.9 GHz with HD550, 8 GB of DDR4 2133 MHz and 256 GB of SSD.
15 inch: 1799$ 2.6 GHz, 16 GB of RAM DDR4 2133 MHz, and 256 GB of SSD.

Later in the year we will see new Macbook Pros, with new design, with same hardware, but 15 inch will have dGPU from AMD Polaris lineup.
13 and 15 inch will be offered alongside the new Macbook Pros for quite some time.

Why would they put out a redesign with the same hardware on the inside (minus the potential dGPU)?

That seems very unlikely.
 
Why would they put out a redesign with the same hardware on the inside (minus the potential dGPU)?

That seems very unlikely.
Macbook Pro and Macbook With retina display. Remember what happened there? ;)
I think they will secure themselves. Not everyone would like changing the form factor of MBP13 - count me on that ship as well.
 
That's like my partner as well but he gets the hand me downs so too bad for him. When Apple announced the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, they didn't update the old version but kept it available with no revisions for a ridiculous price.

I'm not attacking you but the idea seems highly unlikely since Kaby Lake won't be released until who knows when. No processor update, no redesign.
 
I will play with predictions.

March: Not redesigned MBP, just updated, to latest hardware, and with USB-C and TB3.

13 inch, and 15 inch. No dGPU model on 15 inch, that will be later in the year.
13 inch will start at 1299$ with base CPU with 2.9 GHz with HD550, 8 GB of DDR4 2133 MHz and 256 GB of SSD.
15 inch: 1799$ 2.6 GHz, 16 GB of RAM DDR4 2133 MHz, and 256 GB of SSD.

Later in the year we will see new Macbook Pros, with new design, with same hardware, but 15 inch will have dGPU from AMD Polaris lineup.
13 and 15 inch will be offered alongside the new Macbook Pros for quite some time.

It's a sloppy release schedule, but it feels very plausible to me for some reason.
 
I'm at a point of needing/wanting a MBP. Would like the 15". Will Skylark really make that much difference? I'm not in a hurry to buy, but there are some good deals in the Refurb store.
My main concern is that when new MBP's come out that Apple will once again, in their desire to go paper thin, will remove some of the ports/features that the current models have.
I really like the quad cores as my current 2012 Mac Mini does well with that and I have 16gb ram. It's been a good machine, but I also thought that by getting a 2015 machine that that would help future proof for any upcoming software updates and I would replace my mini with the MBP and use my external 27" Thunderbolt display. I would also prefer a dGPU, so wonder if there is an opinion about the AMD against nvidia.
I believe I could sell my mini for a fair price (2.3 i7). Sorry to kinda ramble, but I'm sure their are others that may be in the boat. $$ amount is not really an issue.
 
I'm at a point of needing/wanting a MBP. Would like the 15". Will Skylark really make that much difference? I'm not in a hurry to buy, but there are some good deals in the Refurb store.
My main concern is that when new MBP's come out that Apple will once again, in their desire to go paper thin, will remove some of the ports/features that the current models have.
I really like the quad cores as my current 2012 Mac Mini does well with that and I have 16gb ram. It's been a good machine, but I also thought that by getting a 2015 machine that that would help future proof for any upcoming software updates and I would replace my mini with the MBP and use my external 27" Thunderbolt display. I would also prefer a dGPU, so wonder if there is an opinion about the AMD against nvidia.
I believe I could sell my mini for a fair price (2.3 i7). Sorry to kinda ramble, but I'm sure their are others that may be in the boat. $$ amount is not really an issue.
I'm sure the prices of 2015 MBPs will go down even more once the 2016 ones come out. So it may work in your favor either way and you'll be able to make a better decision on whether the 2016 versions are worth it. I purchased the entry level 2015 13" rMBP in October for $1099 not including tax but I figured I'd regret it once the new ones came out so I returned it. Hopefully it's worth the wait lol
 
I'm sure the prices of 2015 MBPs will go down even more once the 2016 ones come out. So it may work in your favor either way and you'll be able to make a better decision on whether the 2016 versions are worth it. I purchased the entry level 2015 13" rMBP in October for $1099 not including tax but I figured I'd regret it once the new ones came out so I returned it. Hopefully it's worth the wait lol
I just sold a 2015 mbpr 15" entry for $1,625. I bought it for $1528 at best buy after taxes. I don't regret selling it for a second I made $97. Although if the new 15" mbpr's are crap I am going to be mad that I didn't sell it for a little bit more. GREED!?!
 
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Nothing is wrong with the 2015 rMBP, its a fine machine and currently, the fastest MBP out there. But the reason we're waiting, and some have been waiting for several years (this thread was started back in 2013), we understand that there are a lot of nice things under the hood and stuff that make it worth the wait. Some of it may never materialize (64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSDs etc) but we know based on the capabilities of the chipset that we will see TB3, USB-C, USB 3.1 etc that is definitely worth the price of admission. Seeing other machines a la Dell XPS with nice TB3 ports, i wouldn't bother getting hardware with TB2 ports since TB3 -> TB2 converters will be pricy if we ever even see them. TB3 -> TB2 converters are available from Starch but they're around $80!
 
Nothing is wrong with the 2015 rMBP, its a fine machine and currently, the fastest MBP out there. But the reason we're waiting, and some have been waiting for several years (this thread was started back in 2013), we understand that there are a lot of nice things under the hood and stuff that make it worth the wait. Some of it may never materialize (64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSDs etc) but we know based on the capabilities of the chipset that we will see TB3, USB-C, USB 3.1 etc that is definitely worth the price of admission. Seeing other machines a la Dell XPS with nice TB3 ports, i wouldn't bother getting hardware with TB2 ports since TB3 -> TB2 converters will be pricy if we ever even see them. TB3 -> TB2 converters are available from Starch but they're around $80!
I wasn't saying at all that there is anything wrong with the current 2015 rMBP it's just that I know or feel like the 2016 ones are going to be an eye-opener and really worth the wait. *fingers crossed* I myself (my personal computer) have a 13" rMBP 2013 but the stupid trackpad keeps on acting up, they've fixed it numerous amounts of times and the next time I take it in they may replace it for a 2016 (if I wait for it lol). *fingers crossed* They did that before for my 2010 or 2011 macbook pro (non retina) where they replaced the old one with a new 2013 rMBP.
 
I'm sure the prices of 2015 MBPs will go down even more once the 2016 ones come out. So it may work in your favor either way and you'll be able to make a better decision on whether the 2016 versions are worth it. I purchased the entry level 2015 13" rMBP in October for $1099 not including tax but I figured I'd regret it once the new ones came out so I returned it. Hopefully it's worth the wait lol

Thanks for your input, however there is quite a bit of difference between the 13" and 15". I want quad core, which the 13" doesn't have. My concern being that once the new MBP are announced and that the specs aren't as good as current models because of going to (too) thin, that the refurbs (or current) will just be sucked up by people that don't want the new model.
As I have been a long time Apple user, I am getting to the point where I don't trust current management to offer true pro equipment anymore in any of the lines.It's all about profit, margins and how much they can sell. The BOD seems only to be concerned with $$$ instead of stepping up the game with really great machines (non- soldered) that would, I believe, make more sense for the pro market.
[doublepost=1453786677][/doublepost]

OK, is just a lark...HA! Never considered myself an expert typist..or maybe it was just that other glass of wine....
 
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I'm at a point of needing/wanting a MBP. Would like the 15". Will Skylark really make that much difference? I'm not in a hurry to buy, but there are some good deals in the Refurb store.
My main concern is that when new MBP's come out that Apple will once again, in their desire to go paper thin, will remove some of the ports/features that the current models have.
I really like the quad cores as my current 2012 Mac Mini does well with that and I have 16gb ram. It's been a good machine, but I also thought that by getting a 2015 machine that that would help future proof for any upcoming software updates and I would replace my mini with the MBP and use my external 27" Thunderbolt display. I would also prefer a dGPU, so wonder if there is an opinion about the AMD against nvidia.
I believe I could sell my mini for a fair price (2.3 i7). Sorry to kinda ramble, but I'm sure their are others that may be in the boat. $$ amount is not really an issue.

ThunderBolt 3 will give the opportunity to plug an external GPU and use things like Oculus and impress your friends
 
Has Apple made something like changing the model if the new comes out within a month since you've bought? Haha :p
 
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