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Waiting for Skylake MBP thread
- Thread starter adildacoolset
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I wouldn't read too much into it. They run the education promo every year from late January until around the third week of March (a few weeks after Uni goes back). Last year it ended on the 19th, and the March event was on the 9th.
It's not going to be on March 14. Per info from last week, it's virtually certain that it will be the week of March 21 and actually March 21 itself.
Source:
http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/27/recod...-to-announce-4-inch-iphone-new-ipad-and-more/
I saw the same promotion back home when I visited for Christmas (south European country) in a very large retailer.
Thought this might be of interest to some people. A tweet yesterday by Dan Benjamin.
https://twitter.com/danbenjamin/status/704350488897060864
https://twitter.com/danbenjamin/status/704350488897060864
I'm definitely interested in seeing if the eGPU thing takes off, because companies are certainly pushing it and it would have an outsize impact on the Mac environment. I'd love an eGPU enclosure I could swap with my desktop or laptop depending on my use cases.
I'm very interested to see VR on an eGPU. VR is very sensitive to latency - it's not yet clear whether going through an eGPU adds noticeable latency, and what that will do to the VR experience.
Latency you will see on eDGPU if you have software scheduling. The only GPUs that have software scheduling are Nvidia cards.
AMD hardware from GCN 1.2(Tonga/Fiji) have proper hardware scheduling. Add to that the fact that Nvidia hardware is not able to execute Context Switching in Asynchronous Compute and you end with pretty big disaster for all Nvidia GPU users. And Context switching between Compute and Graphics is fundamental base for any VR application.
AMD hardware from GCN 1.2(Tonga/Fiji) have proper hardware scheduling. Add to that the fact that Nvidia hardware is not able to execute Context Switching in Asynchronous Compute and you end with pretty big disaster for all Nvidia GPU users. And Context switching between Compute and Graphics is fundamental base for any VR application.
Based on this and similar examples of silence, I'm thinking the new MBPs are going to be unveiled at WWDC. I hope to pleasantly surprised on March 21st, but I'm really doubtful.
What that article doesn't mention is timing - i'd guess GDC March 14th would be a decent time? If Apple is planning their event March 21st, it means AMD, Intel will be giving more info on eGPU, Polaris etc the week before.
So whilst we await the Apple event, we might see more on the Iris Pro 550, 580 CPUs, eGPU, TB3.
The Apple of a few years ago would announce a new MBP in March as a "one more thing" and blow everyone away with an unleaked product. The Tim Cook Apple will unveil new MBP's in March only if their data shows they will sell more in spring versus a summer launch. If anyone knows whether laptop sales will be more successful in April or June - we'll know when they are releasing them.
This is what's been missing in the laptop world (specifically Macbooks) for so long. FINALLY we will be able to game on Mac laptops!
Unfortunately there's still issues of OS X and developer support to consider, but it does mean that people who want to game but also keep a Mac can consider an eGPU enclosure for more power and forgo steps like building a PC only for gaming, and that those who boot into Windows can still increase their desktop or notebook's power. If it pans out it'll be awesome for pretty much everyone.
At this point then only thing i'm waiting for is the new machines to come out so I can get a better discount on the old ones.
Yep, this is the key right here for me:
"I also bet there’s a bunch of gamers out there who, as they get into their 30s and 40s, wouldn’t mind condensing their entire computing life down into one device that does it all."
This is what draws me to the Apple ecosystem. Wether on my desktop/tablet/phone/watch/tv, I'm able to access my entire digital world. The only other device I'm tied to is my Xbox. If a standardized eGPU were to be made available on OS X, that'd open up the gaming possibilities to consolidate even further.
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I don't know how big the discounts are when a new update comes... But why don't you try to find some brand-new from some ebay seller or "tech forums"? I bought my MBA there for 350€ less the original price just before the relase of the 2015 update. There are some business where they pay the "extra" salary as presents (Macs, iPhones, iPads...) to their workers, and that's that people who are usually selling that stuff for quite less the original price, since most of they already own one. The problem is they have what they have, I mean, it's hard to find there a Mac with custom specs (they are usually base line Macs).
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