Waiting for Skylake MBP thread

[AirdanMR]

Try and post one yourself!

Ok... here we go.

Macbook Retina 12 is going to be updated at March event + New models 14 and 16 inches.

CPU: Graphene Octa-core at 40 GHz
GPU: New Iris Pro equivalent to a Nvidia GTX TITAN X
RAM: 64GB HBM2 base model up to 256GB
HDD: dual PCI-e up to 4 TB (2 + 2)
Screen: OLED with holographic technology.
Battery: 24 hours with 5 minutes full-charge.

No more need for Pros or Airs.

BOOM.

Sorry I forgot to mention the year : )

 

[killawat]

I think the new Iris Pro 580 is perfect for Apple to make a redesign with lower thermal envelope and leave the dGPU out altogether. A slight improvement over the current model, a lot slimmer chassis, larger profit margin and better battery life.

Exactly. This is a very real possibility that we need to (em?)brace for. HP is betting on Xeon P580 graphics for their workstation class notebook (while also offering plenty of dGPU) apple can leave us with the good enough (?) GT4e and bake in eGPU functionality. Basically everyone saying that Apple will hold back 13" and 15" to tie the release together, just so a single high end model 15" can have dGPU is crazy talk. They will just stuff in whatever is available off the shelf, today, and update it later, just like when they skipped Haswell.

 

[cmChimera]

If Polaris comes out in June, Apple should incorporate in the MacBook Pro around 3-6 months from then. There never the quickest in implementing new tech.

Retina screens, USB-C, Thunderbolt, PCI-E based flash, and intelligent graphics switching all disagree with you.

 

[Dcfc1884]

If they don't come out with new rMBP I am going to buy a 3tb Chromebook.

Now you're just being silly

 

[PTLove]

Exactly. This is a very real possibility that we need to (em?)brace for. HP is betting on Xeon P580 graphics for their workstation class notebook (while also offering plenty of dGPU) apple can leave us with the good enough (?) GT4e and bake in eGPU functionality. Basically everyone saying that Apple will hold back 13" and 15" to tie the release together, just so a single high end model 15" can have dGPU is crazy talk. They will just stuff in whatever is available off the shelf, today, and update it later, just like when they skipped Haswell.

Maybe. Depends on how much Apple values that dGPU.

 

[TechZeke]

The thing is, from Apples Perspective, waiting on the 15" makes sense.

The CPU upgrade for the 15" (even though its behind a gen and still on Broadwell) isn't that large. And since it has a discrete GPU, there is little point in refreshing the 15" now. They could give a slightly better CPU (and a much better GPU on the base model) but no better discrete options really exist. So what would be the point of upgrading the 15" now? Id argue they SHOULD wait until Polaris is ready. If there wasnt a better discrete option coming they might as well go ahead now, but there is. And they would def want to offer it.

The 13" doesnt have that problem. It doesnt use discrete GPU's, and its updated chips are good to go. They cant really do much more with the 13" by waiting till June.

So I guess the question is do they release the 13" first, and the 15" later, or hold both back for a redesign?

Apple just needs to quick BSing around put a 950M in there. 6870HQ, Iris Pro 580, 950M, 16GB DDR4, and replacing the current thunderbolt ports with USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 while keeping the standard USB-A ports would be an insta-buy for me.

Retina screens, USB-C, Thunderbolt, PCI-E based flash, and intelligent graphics switching all disagree with you.

USB-C and Apple is a joke right now though. Apple pulled a Samsung-move and released the rMB to get USB-C out first, but we haven't seen it on another Mac for a year now; not even the Skylake 5k iMac got it.

You KNOW it's weird when my coworker's XPS 13 has thunderbolt 3 and I can't even buy a Mac with it and Apple created thunderbolt in the first place.

 

[knassar]

USB-C and Apple is a joke right now though. Apple pulled a Samsung-move and released the rMB to get USB-C out first, but we haven't seen it on another Mac for a year now; not even the Skylake 5k iMac got it.

I interpret that as their "warning shot". As in, "you guys better prepare mentally for the eventuality that the next batch of MB/P/As will have USB-C". It would explain the timing (a year is plenty of time to get used to the idea) and the product which they chose to showcase the technology on: innovative, ground-breaking, and relatively low-volume - ergo, a Q1/Q2 product rather than a cash cow (MBP/A).

 

[volcomvenom]

Now you're just being silly

No doubt, because having any storage on a chromebook is pretty much worthless. It's like giving grandma a 160gb iPod classic when she only has 3gb's of music.

 

[Henkna]

Oh oh oh. What if the really not release until June?

 

[lvetesi]

View attachment 616797
Oh oh oh. What if the really not release until June?

This is mine

 

[fs454]

I made a little history of the rMBP. Sorry for the low-res; it's from Excel. Let me know if I got anything wrong. If either model is delayed until WWDC, those "days until last update" are pretty damn high. Even a double release in March would mean record delays between releases.

Are you thinking here that the 15" won't have a discrete option, or that it's just undetermined?
[doublepost=1455660949][/doublepost]

This is mine

I don't see any real reason to believe they're not just going to axe the non-retina model entirely soon. It's a terribly outdated, impractical and heavy machine even if it did get a hardware refresh. Also, 1280x800.

 

[Dydegu]

Are you thinking here that the 15" won't have a discrete option, or that it's just undetermined?

I just included the information for the base models.

 

[destroyboredom]

People that think Apple will hold off the 15" release until June to wait for Polaris. Let me remind you the last update we got was a minor spec bump because Apple didn't want to wait another month or so for Broadwell CPUs.

I'm not trying to be a downer but adjust your expectations. For better or worse cutting edge dGPUs in machines has never seemed high priority for Apple.

At this point I would say a June release and no Polaris dGPU is more likely than one with.

Personally I firmly believe a March release will happen.

 

[doitdada]

With few Value-added Services for the MacBook line, there isn't any real reason to hasten the refresh cycle. The Mac App Store never took off. I would rather have a dSLR like camera in the iPhone 7 than to have a rMBP with Skylake.

 

[volcomvenom]

People that think Apple will hold off the 15" release until June to wait for Polaris. Let me remind you the last update we got was a minor spec bump because Apple didn't want to wait another month or so for Broadwell CPUs.

I'm not trying to be a downer but adjust your expectations. For better or worse cutting edge dGPUs in machines has never seemed high priority for Apple.

At this point I would say a June release and no Polaris dGPU is more likely than one with.

Personally I firmly believe a March release will happen.

March release for the 13" or 15" or both?

 

[bfid111]

March release for the 13" or 15" or both?

Remember how 13 inch was released in march and 15 inch was released in may? hopefully march

 

[destroyboredom]

Assuming availability of the processors, which Apple could very well have "dibs" on then I suspect both will come in March. May be the 15" ships later but I just can't see any reason that they hold off until WWDC.

March release for the 13" or 15" or both?

 

[volcomvenom]

Assuming availability of the processors, which Apple could very well have "dibs" on then I suspect both will come in March. May be the 15" ships later but I just can't see any reason that they hold off until WWDC.

I just peed a little.

 

[killawat]

If Apple waits until June they better have a damn good reason. I'm talking Earthquakes, global economic crisis, Complete anarchy in Cupertino or Shenzhen. The chips are there, we know about them, we've been tracking them for what seems like forever and we know others are getting them (Vaio Z Flip shipped to YOUR DOOR with the Iris Pro 550 in TEN DAYS). Waiting over a year to update the 2015 MBP, which is really the 2014 rMBPv2 (minus SSD) for the same price in 2016, absolutely ridiculous. It's almost as bad as the Mac Pro (but the Mac Pro situation is REALLY bad).

 

[guychicago]

I hope they make the 256Gb SSD standard for the 13" at the current price levels.

 

[volcomvenom]

I think that 256gb should be standard in 13" and 512gb in 15".

 

[PTLove]

I think that 256gb should be standard in 13" and 512gb in 15".

No reason for Apple to do that. It would cut into their margins. Apple will always provide the minimum amount of Ram/SSD space on entry level products to UPSELL at a huge profit. Take the iPhone 6s for example. There's only 1 reason the entry level is still 16gb - it makes a lot of people pay $100 more for a phone with 64gb when it only costs Apple dollars. That's all profit for Apple. Way to lucrative to give up.

The rMP is a bit of an exception with all models having 8gh of ram, but I suspect that's due to cost savings in volume purchasing and supply lines vs having a 4gb/8gb option.

 

[destroyboredom]

I think that 256gb should be standard in 13" and 512gb in 15".

My hope as well and drop the price to upgrade to 1TB to $2-300.

 

[guychicago]

No reason for Apple to do that. It would cut into their margins. Apple will always provide the minimum amount of Ram/SSD space on entry level products to UPSELL at a huge profit. Take the iPhone 6s for example. There's only 1 reason the entry level is still 16gb - it makes a lot of people pay $100 more for a phone with 64gb when it only costs Apple dollars. That's all profit for Apple. Way to lucrative to give up.

The rMP is a bit of an exception with all models having 8gh of ram, but I suspect that's due to cost savings in volume purchasing and supply lines vs having a 4gb/8gb option.

Normally that makes sense but SSD prices have really become cheap. So us mere mortals can only hope!!!!

 

[Dydegu]

No reason for Apple to do that. It would cut into their margins. Apple will always provide the minimum amount of Ram/SSD space on entry level products to UPSELL at a huge profit. Take the iPhone 6s for example. There's only 1 reason the entry level is still 16gb - it makes a lot of people pay $100 more for a phone with 64gb when it only costs Apple dollars. That's all profit for Apple. Way to lucrative to give up.

The rMP is a bit of an exception with all models having 8gh of ram, but I suspect that's due to cost savings in volume purchasing and supply lines vs having a 4gb/8gb option.

All standard MBP offerings naturally progress to new minimums with time. MacBook Pro base models aren't entry level products; lower offerings are for the MBA and MB.

If anything, the SSD upgrade costs will get cheaper. Optimistically, we'll get new minimums.