Waiting for Skylake MBP thread

[jennyp]

I did that and am underwhelmed by the improvements between 2012 and 2015. I mostly needed a ram upgrade, kind of mad that its almost 4 years later and I still can't get more than 16gb unless I get a pc. Just running parallels and having 10 tabs open in firefox uses 9gb ram.

Where is apple's performance laptop that can handle anything you might want to do with a laptop? I half expect them to come out with a slimmer laptop with barely any speed or graphics upgrade and no ram upgrade

I completely agree with you there. I know Apple is all "stock flow profit" and all that since Cook but they should realise that there are people out there who need much more power in a notebook, today. I find 16GB to be too little in my mid-2011 iMac (apparently it can take 32GB according to Crucial, but I can't find out it would actually address that RAM, and anyway, the CPU is ageing now).

I did have the impression however that, notebook-wise, the jump to Skylake would be of a different order - a real increase in specs, but .. who knows.. one could wait forever..

As for my laptop upgrade, if I go out there today and buy a new, maxed-out rMBP 15-inch, it would be replacing a 2009 MBP, so hopefully I'll see a noticeable difference.

 

[intelligence]

For the time being I'm rocking my third 2011 2.2 i7 with ATI 6750M Logicboard so I'm set for another 4-6months of heavy use! I just hope it's enough .

I'm on an early 2011 myself. It works, but could really benefit from a SSD instead of spinner, but I'm in no mood to throw an upgrade at it at this point.

 

[robE89]

Seriously guys, you think they would have launched el capitan on 30 and launch new macs after 20-30 days? Doesn't make sense.

I really hope they will release them Q1 next year.

 

[Made In Machines]

I'm on an early 2011 myself. It works, but could really benefit from a SSD instead of spinner, but I'm in no mood to throw an upgrade at it at this point.

I'm facing the same dilemma

 

[NJPT]

Seriously guys, you think they would have launched el capitan on 30 and launch new macs after 20-30 days? Doesn't make sense.

I really hope they will release them Q1 next year.

Apple is launching new iMacs in this time frame, so nothing inherently nonsensical about doing that soon after El Capitan.
Source: https://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/03/apple-4k-21-5-inch-imac-october-launch/

That being said, at this point there still don't seem to be any appropriate U class Skylake chips with Iris or HQ Skylake chips with Iris Pro, so I would agree I'm not sure why people are giving any credence to rumors form clickbait websites of a late October MBP update.

 

[sixstringedmatt]

sixstringedmatt - I'd go with the base model as performance increases are pretty minimal for the price you pay and really over the years its all going to incomparable to new tech whichever model you went for. 8GB of ram should be fine but that is probably where i'd upgrade if you feel you'd need it (although i haven't used a machine with more than 4gb) - It sounds like you could get away with macbook or air for what you want to do. My 7 year old macbook pro will do that and produce electronic music and the current range is 5x more powerful according to geekbench. I think we've got to a stage where unless your into your heavy video editing, music producing or intensive gaming any mac would be more than capable.

Thank you! I still prefer the pro in case I want to grow my gaming expectations. I know it won't be ridiculously high powered but I want to be prepared in case I get excited. Unless you think even the Air/MB new iGPUs will still beat current Iris Pro. I'm not opposed to a lower price point for something better than what's out now.

 

[NJPT]

All the media seem to think something has changed. Can't we have the Skylake without iris pro and then later a silent iris pro update?

"All the media" really just means clickbait websites with zero track record of accuracy on Apple rumors... and as you mentioned yourself in an earlier post, they're all going off of pure speculation. Actual reputable sources with an established track record for inside info, like Mark Gurman or Ming-Chi Kuo, have not said a word about an October MBP update.

 

[Patrick-Photo]

I'm on an early 2011 myself. It works, but could really benefit from a SSD instead of spinner, but I'm in no mood to throw an upgrade at it at this point.

I'm facing the same dilemma

Seriously? A 250GB Samsung 850 Evo is around €100,00 at the moment. In the worst case scenario you end up having a 250GB External drive that's "bloody fast", if you put it in an USB3 case (which is around €15,00). So you end up spending €125,00 (roughly) to give your MacBook Pro a second life and lengthening it's lifespan by at least a year or so.

I'm working on a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB and it's 99% as fast at daily-tasks compared to my friends 2013 15" rMBP. His only outpaces mine during heavy tasks. The only true reasons for me to upgrade are the improved screens, Thunderbolt 3 (in future), Graphics (for an occasional game). Otherwise this 2011 is fast, sturdy, light, good enough for me.

 

[OSX7]

"All the media" really just means clickbait websites with zero track record of accuracy on Apple rumors... and as you mentioned yourself in an earlier post, they're all going off of pure speculation. Actual reputable sources with an established track record for inside info, like Mark Gurman or Ming-Chi Kuo, have not said a word about an October MBP update.

There was even one of those sites who claimed that the next rMBP was going to feature a GTX 980M.....I died laughing. I hope he knows that "All the media" can be anyone (i.e. our friend a few pages back claiming he had a trusty *the source* working inside Apple )

 

[Ampidire]

I was searching earlier today just out of curiosity and couldn't find it: What is the TDP of the M370X that Apple uses in the rMBP? I was trying to infer myself based on the specs of other similarly classed chips but couldn't narrow it down enough.

 

[maclaw21]

I've been following this topic sporadically, as I have a late 2008 MB (unibody) that I'd like to replace (I've upgraded the HD and RAM, so it's a much better machine than OEM). Is there a consensus, or at least a plurality opinion as to when the MBP line-up will be refreshed with Skylake chips?

 

[OSX7]

I was searching earlier today just out of curiosity and couldn't find it: What is the TDP of the M370X that Apple uses in the rMBP? I was trying to infer myself based on the specs of other similarly classed chips but couldn't narrow it down enough.

Since the M370X is just a binned Cape Verde GPU a.k.a Radeon 7750, the M370X must have a TDP of around 50W.

 

[Ampidire]

Since the M370X is just a binned Cape Verde GPU a.k.a Radeon 7750, the M370X must have a TDP of around 50W.

Well if we look at the 7750M, it had a TDP of 36W, so is it safe to say these are most likely 30-50W range? more likely on the lower end to allow for more processor headroom (more time spent at turbo vs throttling)?

 

[Patrick-Photo]

Well if we look at the 7750M, it had a TDP of 36W, so is it safe to say these are most likely 30-50W range? more likely on the lower end to allow for more processor headroom (more time spent at turbo vs throttling)?

My guess it's a smaller version too, 28nm is what ATI is working with at the moment so the m370X might have a lower TDP (25-30W) which would leave around 20-30W for the CPU (with the IGP deactivated of course).

 

[n7g]

I've been following this topic sporadically, as I have a late 2008 MB (unibody) that I'd like to replace (I've upgraded the HD and RAM, so it's a much better machine than OEM). Is there a consensus, or at least a plurality opinion as to when the MBP line-up will be refreshed with Skylake chips?

I would say the camp is split some firmly believe there will be an update in October/November while many others believe March is a more realistic estimate.

The Intel processors that everyone has predicted for the 15" will not be available until early 2016. Therefore it's highly unlikely that a Skylake 15” rMBP will be seen this year.

It's possible we may see some other Skylake based hardware from Apple this year but I would estimate that in order of probability that will be the Mac mini, iMac and then possibly (remotely) a 13" rMBP.

If you can wait, then wait and see what happens. If you can't wait the current models are very good (despite some of the criticism in recent posts), you will not be making a huge mistake buying one. Considering some of the discounts currently available a current model may be a very attractive option.

 

[OSX7]

As of right now the ONLY mac capable of being updated this year with Skylake cpus is the Retina Macbook 12" since the direct Skylake successor to the current Core M is already out. The retina iMac 21" supposed to be released this month has Broadwell because of the Iris pro 6200 references found months ago. So yeah, no Skylake rMBPs this year. The only way they could release one this year is if they somehow convinced Intel to give them advanced production of some unreleased/unannounced chip which is highly unlikely.

 

[AtheistP3ace]

Sigh. I feel like I have been waiting forever. You know or since I first heard the skylake announcement.

 

[magnificentRuin]

Meanwhile, my early 2011 mbp runing el Cap takes its time. This is the machine that is NOT into the whole brevity thing... There's no stepping on it here, man... leave me alone. When I fire up a ios9.1 simulator, it takes exactly 3 min until i can see any icons in there.

 

[FrozenShivers]

Meanwhile, my early 2011 mbp runing el Cap takes its time. This is the machine that is NOT into the whole brevity thing... There's no stepping on it here, man... leave me alone. When I fire up a ios9.1 simulator, it takes exactly 3 min until i can see any icons in there.

Running a late 2011 13" MBP, fires up fast on El Capitan, I upgraded it with an SSD a long time ago, I suggest you do the same if you're not planning on changing to a newer revision

 

[Jetship]

gahhh I've started to spend my Macbook money haha cmon apple you better hurry up and announce it before all my monies is gone

 

[Nubcake]

So I stumbled upon the MacBook reveil earlier this year, for a summary you can start watching @ 16:15

.
And it got me thinking; why is there even doubt about a redesign when Skylake will be available?

To sum up the features the current MacBook has which the Pro hasn't:
- Thinner and improved display (30% more power efficient)
- Butterfly keyboard
- Single LED for each key
- Layered batteries
- Shrunken motherboard
- USB-C type
- Colors
- Aluminium hinge

I'm not saying a redesign would be obvious since the current design is actually still pretty damn nice. But it's not really that special anymore either. Certainly with the competition also improving on their designs, I can imagine Apple starts to feel some heat.

What concerns the redesign, most 'features' I summed up require a design change, so I could imagine Apple chooses to do them all at once as 1 redesign. And what better time would there be now Skylake will be available soon? The Broadwell release was obviously to soon to also redesign the MacBook Pro's and after releasing the MacBook they probably waited to see which way the wind blows.

So my guess is that Apple took the last couple of months to make a slight redesign and is combining it with the new Skylake processors. The fact that the 15" is still on Haswell makes it even more ideal to make a big deal of the new release. (The numbers will be more impressive e.g. '30% faster' since they will be comparing Haswell with Skylake)

Anyway just my two cents about the whole redesign/skylake hassle.

 

[Rigby]

To sum up the features the current MacBook has which the Pro hasn't:
- Thinner and improved display (30% more power efficient)

Yes, they should adopt the new display in the MPB.

- Butterfly keyboard

I sincerely hope the MPB does not get the Macbook's keyboard. I don't care if it's "Butterfly" or not, but the key travel is much too shallow.

- Single LED for each key

Nice, but not really important.

- Layered batteries

Perhaps they can use smaller batteries and thus reduce the weight, while maintaining the battery life due to the improved efficiencies of the CPU and display.

- USB-C type

Only if it doesn't come at the cost of other ports. A "pro" machine needs connectivity options. USB-C is pretty much useless right now. I also hope they'll keep Magsafe for the power connector.

Perhaps they could reduce the footprint by shrinking the display bezel a bit more (a la Dell XPS 13, but hopefully without moving the camera to the bottom).

 

[newellj]

I second the thought on the keyboard. I returned a rMB mostly because of that issue, and I bought my current rMBP because I want the longest service life out of a pre-zero travel keyboard. If I want to type on something that has the same travel as glass, I have iPads...

 

[Made In Machines]

It would be a real bitch if they come out in March. January might be tolerable.

I don't really like the new macbook keyboard that much but i'm sure I'll get used to it.

 

[Nubcake]

Yes, they should adopt the new display in the MPB.
I sincerely hope the MPB does not get the Macbook's keyboard. I don't care if it's "Butterfly" or not, but the key travel is much too shallow.

I second the thought on the keyboard. I returned a rMB mostly because of that issue, and I bought my current rMBP because I want the longest service life out of a pre-zero travel keyboard. If I want to type on something that has the same travel as glass, I have iPads...

It would be a real bitch if they come out in March. January might be tolerable.

I don't really like the new macbook keyboard that much but i'm sure I'll get used to it.

I wouldn't expect them to make the keyboard that thin either. But that doesn't mean they can't use the butterfly mechanism. Same mechanism but with more travel and all the problems are solved. It's the stability that makes me want to have it, not the reduced travel.