Waiting for Skylake MBP thread

[doitdada]

Now that we talk about 4k... Lately I've been wondering if the next thunderbolt display would stay at 4k instead of going 5k so all the upcoming Skylake devices could use target display mode with thunderbolt 3. What do you think?

If you can use the new Iris Pro to power a 5K monitor through a single cable, and there are machines in the current Mac line up that supports it, it also makes sense for a thunderbolt screen with 5K to be released. Otherwise its better to leave the display market for third parties. It such a small market now that laptops and phones dominate.

 

[AirdanMR]

If you can use the new Iris Pro to power a 5K monitor through a single cable, and there are machines in the current Mac line up that supports it, it also makes sense for a thunderbolt screen with 5K to be released. Otherwise its better to leave the display market for third parties. It such a small market now that laptops and phones dominate.

I agree with you, the problem is that you can't go 5k with a single TB3 cable that's why I wonder if they'll go 4k rather than wait 2-3 years for TB4

 

[ooans]

I agree with you, the problem is that you can't go 5k with a single TB3 cable that's why I wonder if they'll go 4k rather than wait 2-3 years for TB4

But Thunderbolt 3 can support one 5K screen at 60hertz.

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/02/intel-thunderbolt-3-usb-c-displayport-1-2/

 

[AirdanMR]

But Thunderbolt 3 can support one 5K screen at 60hertz.

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/02/intel-thunderbolt-3-usb-c-displayport-1-2/

Yes but that's not official support. Check intel's picture in the article, it only supports dual 4k.

Since TB3 doesn't support DP 1.3 but it has x2 DP 1.2 The only thing they could do for 5k is:

One single cable which conects the TB3 device port, and splits itself in to 2 display conectors to plug in x2 DP1.2 ports at the 5k monitor. And then internally split and join the 4k images in to one 5k.

Not sure if that is something which goes along with minimalistic and clean Apple philosophy, and that could lead to latency/lag and tearing issues. That's why I wonder about 4k.

 

[jk73]

I'm sure this has been discussed to death here but I don't have time to read through the thread: Is there a best-guess as to the ship date of the Skylake rMBP? Thanks.

 

[doitdada]

I'm sure this has been discussed to death here but I don't have time to read through the thread: Is there a best-guess as to the ship date of the Skylake rMBP? Thanks.

Most people hope for march-april 2016, but more and more people in this thread are leaning towards WWDC 2016. The rMBP is mainly a developers/production machine, makes sense to drop it at a developers conference. It's getting close to christmas without any real rumours for a compatible Skylake CPU or any changes to the current design.

This will take some time for sure. It's not like ordering pizza.

 

[jk73]

Okay, thanks. A while back, it seemed like people were expecting Feb./March. Did the availability of Skylake slip, as has happened in the past, or was Feb./March always wrong or unlikely?

 

[doitdada]

Intel has made it habit to delay CPUs for laptops and desktops for the last three years. This has a lot do with the 2012 switch to more portable solutions for computing. Anything with a keyboard and a mouse is no longer the main priority.

 

[senthor]

@doitdada
I have to oppose — lately, there seems to be a consensus that the 10th anniversary of the MacBook Pro on January the 10th would be a pretty good date for an announcement, with devices probably shipping after Chinese new year in early February.

And now for something completely different — have we seen a launch of the Alpine Ridge controller yet? As this might be an additional reason why we don't see new rMBPs in 2015. We can actually find some interesting tidbits in the controller specification, which allows for some conclusions: Alpine Ridge (Thunderbolt 3) will utilize USB-C as the connector, and will offer all USB-C advantages. The bigger controller, which Apple usually uses in the 15'' rMBP, offers two ports. So, most probably, we will see the current Thunderbolt-Mini-Display-Ports replaced with Thunderbolt-USB-C-ports, which offer USB 3.1 Superspeed+. And maybe some additional USB-A ports with USB 3.0.

For the Cinema Display, this would mean we might finally get an all-in-one-cable setup. Imagine a rMBP connected to an ACD via Thunderbolt 3, offering all current signals plus charging for the rMBP. And Apple might include a proprietary solution to combine the two Displayport 1.2 streams into one 5k-stream, without any flimsy Y-cable-setups needed as with Dual Link DVI.

 

[doitdada]

I have to oppose — lately, there seems to be a consensus that the 10th anniversary of the MacBook Pro on January the 10th would be a pretty good date for an announcement, with devices probably shipping after Chinese new year in early February.

Do you have any sources?
I could only find very flimsy predictions from Ecumenical News and the Vine Report on a Google search.

The first portable from Apple got released September 1989.
The Powerbook debuted in October 1991.
The Macbook Pro was introduced January 2006.

The last time a Macbook Pro unveiled in January was 2009, the 17-inch Macbook Pro.

The only thing that could convince me about a new Macbook Pro in January is that it no longer is that important (revenue wise) and may only require a press release along with an Apple store update. Unless they redesign it

 

[Dydegu]

Possibly a stupid question... with the resolutions of retina screens already making pixels invisible to the naked eye, what benefit would a 4K screen on a rMBP serve?

 

[ooans]

Yes but that's not official support. Check intel's picture in the article, it only supports dual 4k.

Since TB3 doesn't support DP 1.3 but it has x2 DP 1.2 The only thing they could do for 5k is:

One single cable which conects the TB3 device port, and splits itself in to 2 display conectors to plug in x2 DP1.2 ports at the 5k monitor. And then internally split and join the 4k images in to one 5k.

Not sure if that is something which goes along with minimalistic and clean Apple philosophy, and that could lead to latency/lag and tearing issues. That's why I wonder about 4k.

I believe right now you can use the Dell 5K monitor with the latest dGPU MBP and at least Mac Pro using two TB2 cables. So much for looking clean. At least internal messiness is visibly unmessy.

 

[senthor]

Do you have any sources?
I could only find very flimsy predictions from Ecumenical News and the Vine Report on a Google search.

I meant a consensus among this forum. And this is speculation, of course, but as is your developer's machine and thus WWDC-statement. I just wanted to offer the other popular speculative variant. An anniversary event to introduce a redesigned model doesn't sound too unlikely, and redesigned (new) products often ship a few weeks after the announcement.

Possibly a stupid question... with the resolutions of retina screens already making pixels invisible to the naked eye, what benefit would a 4K screen on a rMBP serve?

This was intensively discussed on pages 80 to 82 on this forum.

I believe right now you can use the Dell 5K monitor with the latest dGPU MBP and at least Mac Pro using two TB2 cables. So much for looking clean. At least internal messiness is visibly unmessy.

As I wrote, Thunderbolt 3 can carry two DisplayPort 1.2 streams, making a single-cable-solution – even without DisplayPort 1.3 support – possible.

 

[AirdanMR]

I believe right now you can use the Dell 5K monitor with the latest dGPU MBP and at least Mac Pro using two TB2 cables. So much for looking clean. At least internal messiness is visibly unmessy.

Yep, the benefit against Dell's Monitor would be that TB3 just use one port from the laptop (Dell would require two) and it's one single cable which splits in two outputs (againts the dual cable from Dell). But I'm still worry about the quality...

That split and mix system doesn't sound good to me. I would prefer a high end 10-bit panel which runs natively at 4k with perfect input-lag no tearing rather than forcing 5k.

 

[OSX7]

The 10th anniversary thing is just speculation, nothing more. It may or may not happen, assuming they have to release it just because it's the Macbook's 10th anniversary is naive. It could happen in January as it could happen in March or at WWDC. We will know for sure when the voices and rumours (from sources that have been accurate in the past) that a release is near start spreading. Any possible date given in this thread is just speculation and thus every opinion is valid.

 

[doitdada]

One day the iPad Pro may replace the Macbook Pro...

 

[OSX7]

One day the iPad Pro may replace the Macbook Pro...

Shhhhhh don't speak such blasphemous thing here. The moment they hear iOS or ARM their thought process usually goes something like this: iOS = mobile, mobile=unproductive, unproductive=lets go to Macforums to declare the iPad Pro dead on arrival. Sophisticated and rather narrowed thought process indeed.
One funny thing is that I go to college (med student) with my iPad Air ONLY, meaning no multitasking like Air 2, and I do most of my work there and finish things up on my laptop at home IF required. But you know how it goes around here, if you don't run CAD you are not "Pro" enough *rolls eyes*.

 

[Ries]

Shhhhhh don't speak such blasphemous thing here. The moment they hear iOS or ARM their thought process usually goes something like this: iOS = mobile, mobile=unproductive, unproductive=lets go to Macforums to declare the iPad Pro dead on arrival. Sophisticated and rather narrowed thought process indeed.
One funny thing is that I go to college (med student) with my iPad Air ONLY, meaning no multitasking like Air 2, and I do most of my work there and finish things up on my laptop at home IF required. But you know how it goes around here, if you don't run CAD you are not "Pro" enough *rolls eyes*.

It is because you're a med student, the computer isn't your tool, you are using it for note taking and referencing. *rolls eyes*

 

[OSX7]

It is because you're a med student, the computer isn't your tool. *rolls eyes*

It's not my main tool, but a tool that I and my peers use every day nonetheless. That it doesn't satisfy a specific type of workload doesn't mean it's useless for everyone. It's obvious that a software engineer will find it limited (and if a SE actually buys without researching about this thing, expecting it to replace their machine, then shame on him/her) but there is a huge chunk of people that will find an iPad Pro useful. You buy a product knowing what is capable of, I know what the iPad Pro is capable of and what I can and can't expect from it. I won't argue with you because you may be one of those "If it doesn't work for me then it's irrelevant for others" type of person and I don't want to hijack the thread.

 

[doitdada]

The keyboard, mouse and monitor setup come from an age where most of the interaction came through coding, configuration and clicking. We no longer have to code to get functionality, we only configure layouts and clicking has been replaced with gestures. I'm taking baby steps in developing on a iOS device, but right now, it is more immediate comments for changes or on the run bug fixing (one-line, two-line, three-line).

The current Macbook combines the portability from an iPad, but keeps the functionality and flexibility from legacy computing. The MacBook Pro right now is a portable workstation, and is suited for tasks that usually requires a sit down. For note taking I still prefer to use pen and paper, maybe digitise with my iPhone camera.

 

[AirdanMR]

@OSX7 I think you are mixing up things here.

It's not about being productive or not. It's about each ones necesities and preferences and how the world works.

For example you aren't a pro/proffesional (yet). You are a student which uses a device to do what you could do perfectly with ink and paper => without it supposing you a big difference / effort (that it`s important). Or you could use any other tablet or even a mobile phone + bluetooth foldable keyboard and it would work.

So you choose to use an iPad because you want to, not because you need it.

Once you became a doctor you'll still need a computer with a specific software to print prescriptions, to comunicate with medical machines, etc... so unless at some moment in the future the iPad becames able to do that... it won't matter that you don't use CAD or high demanding software, the iPad won't be "pro".

I don't know if I explain it well, english it's not my native language.

 

[ooans]

One day the iPad Pro may replace the Macbook Pro...

Replace? I want both!

Can't wait to get my first iPad, 128GB Wifi iPad Pro.

And then next year: Skylake MBP

 

[doitdada]

The iPad can print prescriptions (in Norway they are sent digitally to the pharmacy) and communicate with other medical systems. You can take a picture of a symptom with the iPad and get other opinions instantly. All this is possible, but at the moment we are not yet there. iPads pose a great risk for existing industries within the medical field that would prosper a lot more on legacy hardware than break through software. Servicing dedicated medical hardware versus updating code on an iPad is something that would make a bunch of already established contractors go out of business overnight.

Medicine is conservative. Expect at least a couple of decades before "change" occurs. The iPad is only five years old.

 

[OSX7]

@OSX7 I think you are mixing up things here.

It's not about being productive or not. It's about each ones necesities and preferences and how the world works.

For example you aren't a pro/proffesional (yet). You are a student which uses a device to do what you could do perfectly with ink and paper => without it supposing you a big difference / effort (that it`s important). Or you could use any other tablet or even a mobile phone + bluetooth foldable keyboard and it would work.

So you choose to use an iPad because you want to, not because you need it.

Once you became a doctor you'll still need a computer with a specific software to print prescriptions, to comunicate with medical machines, etc... so unless at some moment in the future the iPad becames able to do that... it won't matter that you don't use CAD or high demanding software, the iPad won't be "pro".

I don't know if I explain it well, english it's not my native language.

English isn't my native language also but I completely understand and agree with you. The thing I have a gripe with is when people see the iPad Pro now and completely dismiss it without thinking about what it might be become in the future as you stated in your post. With this I hope we can get back to discussing skylake.

 

[AirdanMR]

English isn't my native language also but I completely understand and agree with you. One thing that i have a gripe with is that people see the iPad Pro now and completely dismiss it without thinking about what it might be become in the future as you stated in your post. With this I hope we can get back to discussing skylake.

There is no need to wait to see what happend in the future, right now it fits your needs... then don't care about what other people say.

Just don't fall into the generalizing: "ipad pro can replace your workstation" because not every pro has reached that point yet. Something more like "ipad pro could replace your workstation".