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"is up to Apple"
"if they ever release a good computer, we will do it"

Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey
1282735906_B978041974Z.1_20160306222431_000_G1B6BBLSN.1-0.jpg
 
I am on Haswell, and I don't think about the limits of the hardware. Great for reading Reddit and writing songs of sorrow in this thread. Still I can't wait for Skylake to gain a few milliseconds liking other peoples articles and images. I don't care about speed at the moment. I want a better layout, a more portable computer to be my companion on the road. I will have to buy a car then, so we can travel together.
 
I am on Haswell, and I don't think about the limits of the hardware. Great for reading Reddit and writing songs of sorrow in this thread. Still I can't wait for Skylake to gain a few milliseconds liking other peoples articles and images. I don't care about speed at the moment. I want a better layout, a more portable computer to be my companion on the road. I will have to buy a car then, so we can travel together.

The latest gen rMBP isn't bad, it's a great machine, however people like me who still are on a 2010/2011/2012 (r)MacBook Pro aren't buying a Haswell chip based computer when Intel has moved on 2 generations... Thunderbolt is also a generation further and has an entirely new plug, which (still) doesn't have a TB3-TB2 adapter yet. Also, iMacs have gotten a P3 screen which is better than the previous generation Retina screens. Additionally if the Iris 580 is roughly as good as an GTX950m and you can plug-in a eGPU via TB3 I won't need the more expensive and "fragile" dedicated GPU in the retina Macbook Pro, if history repeats itself I'd rather not have a dGPU in my next MacBook Pro.

It's like buying a car which is desperate need for maintenance (belts, bearings, brakes, clutch, tires) when you know one will be available soon for the same price but doesn't need the maintenance the former needs... If you have a car right now which still gets you from A to B safely and in decent comfort, why not wait for a few weeks? Or maybe a month or two if it saves you a lot of money in the end?
 
If Iris Pro 580 indeed surpasses 950M, it greatly reduces the need for dGPU. I think Apple will still offer a dGPU option with a 960M or equivalent.

I agree with your first comment (Iris Pro 580 reduces the need for dGPU), but I disagree with your second comment (option for a 960M).

Here's my reasoning: If the 580 matches the 950M, then there's no need for a 960M since the gap between 950M and 960M in terms of performance is less than 20%. In order to make the extra cost and heat worthy, they'd need to go for something super powerful like a 970M (or a next-gen Polaris equivalent), and that's just not a realistic expectation.

My conclusion: If Iris Pro 580 is as good as it's rumored to be, I would not be surprised if Apple ditches dGPU altogether from the next generation of Macbook Pros. And, quite frankly: I wouldn't mind.
 
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Do we know why they removed the name of the device from the bottom of the screen for the rMBP? Do you think they'll bring that back? I like the look of it on the other laptops.
 
"is up to Apple"
"if they ever release a good computer, we will do it"
Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey
Was surprised Palmer's comments haven't appeared in this thread yet. (maybe I missed them)

My reaction was - I hope that comment will sting enough to put some urgency on the next set of Retina MBP releases - and a priority on graphics ability.
 
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Was surprised Palmer's comments haven't appeared in this thread yet. (maybe I missed them)

My reaction was - I hope that comment will sting enough to put some urgency on the next set of Retina MBP releases - and a priority on graphics ability.

For what it's worth, i agree with your comments - and I hope the comments will have an impact as well.

But the problem with your comment implies that Apple are still somehow finalizing design details and trying to answer major design questions such as "should we stick a dGPU in that sucker or not?" potentially 3 weeks before a release.

That's not happening. This has all been fixed and signed off on a looooong time ago.
 
Here's my reasoning: If the 580 matches the 950M, then there's no need for a 960M since the gap between 950M and 960M in terms of performance is less than 20%.

According to this site http://www.notebookcheck.pl/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-950M.134977.0.html in new games(full hd, details high) like fallout4, assasins creed syndicate 960m is over 1.4x faster, in balck ops3 and starwars batlefront almost 1.5x. in far cry prima only 1.23x and new tomb raider 1.27x So the difference is bigger
Edit: 1.6x times faster in gta5 o_O
 
I have been waiting since 2013 to get a new MacBook Pro Retina and in that time, Apple has stagnated (partially due to Intel as we all know and partially because they are chasing the iPhone money train). While I am an Apple fan and appreciate them on so many levels, I am also a tech fan and taking a look at what Lenovo is offering is really tempting. Check out the Lenovo P70 notebook, Xeon Processor, 4K 17 inch screen, 64GB, up to 4 HDDs, endless ports. What a FRIGGIN workstation!

Can you imagine Apple offering options like that? 17 inch 4K screen, up to 4 HDDs, 64GB of Ram, Xeon Processor, so on and so on.. isn't the MacBook Pro supposed to be for professionals? I have 6K to slap down, lets see if Apple is ready to take it from me. Hopefully the new MBP isn't some single port, stripped down whipy mac .. kinda like what they did to disk utility RIP.

I have waited this long, ill wait it out till the rMBP skylake comes out... but if it's not what it could be, then ill prob get the Lenovo. Still would like to get the Skylake MacBook for travel, got one of my gal and she loves it.
 
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According to this site http://www.notebookcheck.pl/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-960M.134976.0.html in new games(full hd, details high) like fallout4, assasins creed syndicate 960m is over 1.4x faster, in balck ops3 and starwars batlefront almost 1.5x. in far cry prima only 1.23x and new tomb raider 1.27x So the difference is bigger
If GTX 950M has DDR3 memory - yes the gap of performance will be bigger. But we are talking about performance compared to GDDR5 version. Which is 10-15% slower than GTX960M.

My personal view. Polaris GPU will be faster than GTX960M. It is hard at this point to predict the performance of it, but from all of what we know it should be somewhere between desktop GTX960 and mobile GTX970M, if we follow simple doubling on performance with smaller process node, and reducing the bottlenecks in new version of AMD architecture, that has been discussed on technology forums lately.

However, I much more prefer simplicity over complexity. I am a fan of powerful SoC's and for my needs: full HD, Medium to high settings, Blizzard games HD580 with 2.6 GHz CPU and 16 GB of RAM will be more than enough. For others - it may be not enough, and that is completely understandable. Thats why I am sure Apple will offer BTO option, or like today, even higher priced MBP with dGPU from Polaris line.

If you would ask me: I think putting 2048 GCN4 core GPU on 0.8V and 850 MHz like it was on Polaris presentation is possible, and locking it within 25-30W of power. But those are only my absolutely hit/miss predictions. I can be wrong here :). Take it with Mountain of Salt :).
 
A DGPU - any DGPU - on the MBP, has to share the thermal envelope within the chassis with the processor. The processor is always running and consuming a finite amount of power and generating corresponding heat. The DGPU uses whatever thermal headroom is left. On the other hand, an iGPU, whether the Iris 550 for the 13" or the Iris Pro 580 for the 15" , utilizes the overall thermal envelope of the processor.

As a result, any DGPU will either throttle regularly under sustained load, or will be run at a potentially lower clock, in order to utilize the remaining thermal headroom available to it. The IGPU is not similarly constrained.

Therefore, I'm skeptical whether comparative GPU numbers make sense, because it's not clear whether they account for the fact that in the slimline MBP chassis, the DGPU will be more constrained than its design maximum clock rate. In other words, the real world performance of the same DGPU within a MBP chassis will probably be less than any published numbers on account of throttling, whereas IGPU numbers are more reliable.
 
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For what it's worth, i agree with your comments - and I hope the comments will have an impact as well.

But the problem with your comment implies that Apple are still somehow finalizing design details and trying to answer major design questions such as "should we stick a dGPU in that sucker or not?" potentially 3 weeks before a release.

That's not happening. This has all been fixed and signed off on a looooong time ago.
Very true...
 
Or maybe a month or two if it saves you a lot of money in the end?

Great post. It doesn't save you money, but it will give you a better computer for your money. Dropping the dGPU, which is prone for error, is a great choice. The rumoured improvements in the new generation of Iris Pro is great. I had a Haswell rMBP 2015 with AMD for two weeks. Fan noise completely killed my desire. It didn't handle an external monitor running 2560x1600 without ramping up with a few Safari tabs.

It would be great to get a more refined product. The issues with GPU, fans and power has been what has kept me away from the Pro line. I have owned about five in the last seven years. The GPU was either slow or blacked out whenever I gave it a game to run. Even simple games like FIFA 14 was enough to get it throttling or rebooting.
 
Thanks!

Did you happen to have Diablo 3 installed? Or Tomb Raider or the sequel?

Wow thanks for the data!!
Could you possibly test the following: Heroes of the Storm, Black Desert Online, civilization beyond Earth, battlefield 4?

Thanks in advance!!


I got Diablo 3, Heroes, Beyond Earth, BF4 installed. And will post results by the end of the day
 
Mid-2010 MBP 15"...waiting >_<
I wouldn't mind the 13" only upgrade.
Better portability for sure. To what extent I am appreciating the current larger screen real estate, I am not entirely sure. If it turns out that I really appreciate a bigger screen guess I will wait till June.
 
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