Waiting for the 2018 MBP

[SteveJUAE]

Never bought Apple care, had one problem in 25 years, Apple gave me a refund. Well worth paying this apparent extra cost, which actually doesn’t exist. But if you don’t see the value, there are plenty of other manufacturers making ‘similar’ machines for a lot less apparently. Go buy them, no need to have a go at those who see the Apple value for what it is.

Sorry but you are misguided if you think all the support, shops, try before you buy etc etc is free, it's simple included in the price of an Apple product, well some of it is for the first 90 days

Like you I have never had any issues with any of my Apple or other OEM's devices in the first 3 years and have never bought AppleCare

If you are like myself and bought many Apple laptops over the years for my family I have certainly paid enough and never claimed or used support, so it's nice to hear some got something back

 

[Falhófnir]

Was just having a nose and there is a very limited selection of MBPs in the U.K. refurbished store (both 13 and 15) - just the base models of 2015 and 2017 15” and a couple of varieties of nTB 13” - is it similar in other countries’ stores? A sign of imminent refresh or just depleted stock? Previously there have been piles of configurations of both for months on end.

 

[SteveJUAE]

That's a bit of an odd statement since you're responding to someone who just told an anecdote about how he, despite the higher initial cost of his MacBook, got off much cheaper than a friend of is a couple years down the road because his machine remained thoroughly usable and reliable without any issues. Where in his post did he even mention any additional costs later down the line that you're talking about?

Personally, I've only ever once purchased AppleCare with a product (on my first Apple Watch, and in retrospect that felt like a wasted purchase as I didn't even need it) and I can't remember a single situation where I would have needed AppleCare or any additional warranty on an Apple device. I had pretty much zero of these "additional costs" from failures and failed warranty claims that you're describing. The one time I do had to bring in a product way past its 1-year-warranty was a MacBook Pro that suffered from the Staingate issue, but that was fixed completely for free and I'm not sure how many other manufacturers would have done that 2-3 years after the end of warranty.

Now of course, there are exceptions, and it's a shame that the current MBP line with its keyboard issues is such an exception for a number of people. But overall, I share a pretty similar experience to AdamA9 in that I've had pretty much zero additional costs with Apple products for maintaining/repairing them later down the line. Neither do I expect my Apple devices "to go wrong" nor do they usually do that. AppleCare is always an option for additional safety in case that something does go wrong, but in my experience it's not something that you really need to buy with an Apple product.

Not really how often do we read how someone thinks its good they got their moneys worth out of AC
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It's not chugging along at all, not sure where I said that. It works perfectly fine. No chugging at all. Come take a look, it's a darn sight quicker than my work laptop that I've been given. Sure my friend has newer hardware, and someone who buys a laptop next week will have newer hardware still. The fact is he is on his third machine and close to £5k down on hardware.

I've not had any additional costs (not sure where I said I had), and I'm not trying to justify anything. As said in my post, I moved from Windows based machines to Apple 9 years ago. The first problem I had was a sticky keyboard that was sorted out for free in store with no question that it would be a problem for them to do. The fact you can only see a negative in that says a lot.

I''m not really sure on the point of your post, but you're trying to tell me I have a problem that doesn't exist, that my premium products should be more reliable... Well, if my first problem in 9 years is a bit of dust or dirt under a keyboard that was cleaned for free is a sign of unreliability, then damn, your standards are too high.

My apologies if you took my "you" to literal in some parts of my post, it was not intended that way. If your happy with your old laptop and it meets your needs good for you

 

[afir93]

Not really how often do we read how someone thinks its good they got their moneys worth out of AC

Eh, I think these posts tell us more about the quality of the AC/AC+ warranty than about the quantity of people who actually used it in retrospect, because the people who post about how worth AC was to them are mostly those who actually needed it and not so much those who didn't.

If someone brings in his machine and has it replaced/serviced for free during warranty and made a good experience with the Apple support that way, then sure, that's something many people find worth posting about. They made a good experience with the support so they feel inclined to share that online. But if you make it through warranty without ever needing it, then there's not much appeal in posting it online. What would you even be posting about? "Hurray everyone, today my MacBook made it through the AC warranty period without... breaking... so let's all come together and please congratulate me?" I don't think many people even think about posting something mundane as that, let alone go through with it.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Eh, I think these posts tell us more about the quality of the AC/AC+ warranty than about the quantity of people who actually used it in retrospect, because the people who post about how worth AC was to them are mostly those who actually needed it and not so much those who didn't.

If someone brings in his machine and has it replaced/serviced for free during warranty and made a good experience with the Apple support that way, then sure, that's something many people find worth posting about. They made a good experience with the support so they feel inclined to share that online. But if you make it through warranty without ever needing it, then there's not much appeal in posting it online. What would you even be posting about? "Hurray everyone, today my MacBook made it through the AC warranty period without... breaking... so let's all come together and please congratulate me?" I don't think many people even think about posting something mundane as that, let alone go through with it.

Not really it's just a form of insurance and many are posting their claim was successful and missing the point that their product failed, which is nothing to celebrate

The only positive may simply be they got an easy and less stressful outcome with Apple, but then again they paid for that level of service in the first instance

I agree that for many Apple live up to their reputation and are second to none for service and so they should as it's part of the package price.

 

[haydn!]

Looking at the new 2018 Dell XPS 15, Apple really need to pull it out of the bag with their 2018 offering. There is pretty much a £1k premium now for a MacBook Pro compared to an XPS and I’m not convinced Mac OS and the build differences are worth that anymore.

 

[2018Ram]

Hello everyone. My hopes for the Macbook Pro 2018 Base model are the following:

Starting with 16GB of Ram
256GB ssd
quad core coffee lake processor
better keyboard
and maybe magsafe charging

do you believe it's possible?

 

[Poki]

Hello everyone. My hopes for the Macbook Pro 2018 Base model are the following:

Starting with 16GB of Ram
256GB ssd
quad core coffee lake processor
better keyboard
and maybe magsafe charging

do you believe it's possible?

The 13" MBP will definitely offer 16GB RAM, but I doubt it will be standard across all configurations. Keyboard improvements are possible, depending on the actual failure rates. Magsafe is pretty unlikely.

 

[2018Ram]

The 13" MBP will definitely offer 16GB RAM, but I doubt it will be standard across all configurations. Keyboard improvements are possible, depending on the actual failure rates. Magsafe is pretty unlikely.

Thank you for the reply! To be honest, in my opinion 8GB of ram are just not enough for a 2018 machine (especially a "pro" machine), also it costs a lot more to upgrade the ram from 8 to 16 and to upgrade from 128GB ssd to 256, if the base model start's with 128GB again (about $2000 where I live!). So that's why I'm hoping for 16GB base model!

 

[Poki]

Thank you for the reply! To be honest, in my opinion 8GB of ram are just not enough for a 2018 machine (especially a "pro" machine), also it costs a lot more to upgrade the ram from 8 to 16 and to upgrade from 128GB ssd to 256, if the base model start's with 128GB again (about $2000 where I live!). So that's why I'm hoping for 16GB base model!

I agree that 8 GB is probably not enough for most professional use cases. But then again, being cheap isn't a huge factor for most professionals either, so I think Apple will continue to offer a lower end SKU. RAM and SSD prices are a little bit lower than last year, so I'd at least expect a small price drop compared to the current models.

 

[richinaus]

The 13" MBP will definitely offer 16GB RAM, but I doubt it will be standard across all configurations. Keyboard improvements are possible, depending on the actual failure rates. Magsafe is pretty unlikely.

Poki is right.

I am still unsure whether to get a 13" again or 15". It will all depend on the specs, but a quad core 13" is very tempting indeed. Portability with some power - I use all cores in a lot of apps I use so will benefit a lot on this upcoming upgrade.
Love the design and portability of the 13".
May have to get a MacBook and a 15" to remove the compromises .

 

[PensiveDeepThought]

I think it depends on how you are going to use it. For macbook, people tend to bbuy 13'' becuz you can carry it around to anywhere you want and it's not that heavy. For 15'' it is a lot bigger and heavier. If you don't need to portability of macbook, you might as well build a desktop on our own without having to pay that much money. So I think 13'' is better IMO.

 

[richinaus]

I think it depends on how you are going to use it. For macbook, people tend to bbuy 13'' becuz you can carry it around to anywhere you want and it's not that heavy. For 15'' it is a lot bigger and heavier. If you don't need to portability of macbook, you might as well build a desktop on our own without having to pay that much money. So I think 13'' is better IMO.

Should have qualified this with I have had them all.......and I really do mean them all.
These are all for my usage so everyone requirements will vary.

iPad Pro - great image browsing and for sketching ideas.
12" macbook - super portable and perfect for light work / screen small not super productive for me.
13" portable but not powerful enough, and screen a bit too small still [even at highest res]. quad core may tip me over though......
15" yes larger, but not really heavy. Isn't a desktop replacement still but screen a good size and works for 70% of my work flow.
iMac pro - perfect desktop for me and typing on it now - isn't portable though .

I know the best solution is a MacBook and a 15"..... just don't want to spend the $$ after dropping $7500 on this iMac

This is all for professional use btw so really cost isn't that big a deal. They all earn me cash - well maybe not a MacBook, thats for fun.

Most likely I will get a maxed 15" and see how I go. I wont be on here whinging about speed though as I have adjusted my requirements and expectations on what I think a laptop will deliver for me [not a desktop replacement with 32gb ram etc].

 

[MrGunnyPT]

The 13" MBP will definitely offer 16GB RAM, but I doubt it will be standard across all configurations. Keyboard improvements are possible, depending on the actual failure rates. Magsafe is pretty unlikely.

Jonny Ive said he was hearing the complaints, not sure if if it's gonna be in this next gen or next one

 

[The Reasonable One]

Jonny Ive said he was hearing the complaints, not sure if if it's gonna be in this next gen or next one

I know it's dumb to say this but I'm gonna be so pissed if this version isn't fixed because in my mind he made a false promise. Especially considering that if I was in his shoes I would choose my words extremely carefully to avoid disappointing people like me who are clinging to any clue as to the direction of Apple.

Plus I have some weird faith that we have somehow not heard the full extent of these new MBPs. I feel that they must be somehow "more pro" whatever that means. At least keyboard issues. The sad thing is I know I'm being ridiculous, but I just feel that Ive was making a promise. I think they heard the complaints after the 2016 model but couldn't change things with one year, which is why he said his comment shortly after the 2017 came out (if I'm not mistaken) because he knew they'd be ready for 2018. I don't think they can afford to wait til 2019 or 2020 because regular consumers often eat food while using their comps (i know this is different for techies) and they are going to be extremely upset when their keyboard stops working. Apple may be fine with ignoring pros but they won't ignore their core demographic: the average user.

 

[xRYD3Rx]

How much longer do we have to wait for 2018 macbook pro ?
I really need a new laptop but I can wait a little longer.

 

[AdamA9]

I know it's dumb to say this but I'm gonna be so pissed if this version isn't fixed because in my mind he made a false promise. Especially considering that if I was in his shoes I would choose my words extremely carefully to avoid disappointing people like me who are clinging to any clue as to the direction of Apple.

Plus I have some weird faith that we have somehow not heard the full extent of these new MBPs. I feel that they must be somehow "more pro" whatever that means. At least keyboard issues. The sad thing is I know I'm being ridiculous, but I just feel that Ive was making a promise. I think they heard the complaints after the 2016 model but couldn't change things with one year, which is why he said his comment shortly after the 2017 came out (if I'm not mistaken) because he knew they'd be ready for 2018. I don't think they can afford to wait til 2019 or 2020 because regular consumers often eat food while using their comps (i know this is different for techies) and they are going to be extremely upset when their keyboard stops working. Apple may be fine with ignoring pros but they won't ignore their core demographic: the average user.

I still have a strange feeling that they're really going to go pro, like the iMac Pro. They didn't really have much need to do the iMac, with the upcoming Mac Pro but they did. It looks like they're adding a real pro line to each of their offerings.

 

[Falhófnir]

How much longer do we have to wait for 2018 macbook pro ?
I really need a new laptop but I can wait a little longer.

WWDC on the 4th June is now the most likely time for them to be announced, there’s an outside chance it could happen this month via press release too, but more likely WWDC.

 

[richinaus]

I still have a strange feeling that they're really going to go pro, like the iMac Pro. They didn't really have much need to do the iMac, with the upcoming Mac Pro but they did. It looks like they're adding a real pro line to each of their offerings.

I would be very interested to see this.
Look over at the iMac forums and see how many comment on the imacpro. Just my impression but I don’t think it is a big seller. When I got mine (in March) the store told me they had sold a couple !!! So much for all these pro users requiring more power - i was customer no. 3 and was asked to give detailed feedback (sounded like they didn’t have any from all the other 2 orders).

 

[Ma2k5]

I still have a strange feeling that they're really going to go pro, like the iMac Pro. They didn't really have much need to do the iMac, with the upcoming Mac Pro but they did. It looks like they're adding a real pro line to each of their offerings.

Well, with the MacBook having just had huge R&D before release in 2016, I would be surprised if anything drastic were to occur for it anytime earlier than mid-2019/2020. Perhaps a keyboard tweak and a battery lift? But don't see much more than that. I would be happy to be wrong though!

Maybe they'd rather wait for 10nm CPU availability before they make any big changes.

 

[The Reasonable One]

I still have a strange feeling that they're really going to go pro, like the iMac Pro. They didn't really have much need to do the iMac, with the upcoming Mac Pro but they did. It looks like they're adding a real pro line to each of their offerings.

I really hope so. Like you the iMac Pro made me think they understand the need for pro especially because they didn’t have to make it. And since 95% of users won’t buy one. You have to really need it or love the gray color to buy one so it serves a very small number of people. This gives me hope but I hwv doubts every day with no rumors coming out.
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Well, with the MacBook having just had huge R&D before release in 2016, I would be surprised if anything drastic were to occur for it anytime earlier than mid-2019/2020. Perhaps a keyboard tweak and a battery lift? But don't see much more than that. I would be happy to be wrong though!

Maybe they'd rather wait for 10nm CPU availability before they make any big changes.

Honestly better battery and keyboard are enough for me. I’m not into video editing so the ram isn’t a must but instead a want and I don’t really need the gpu for what I do I just want it for the few time I’m 3D modeling. So I could live without everything but the keyboard and battery, but if I’m honest I’ll take whatever Apple gives me since my old one is fried.

 

[fokmik]

Since at WWDC cant talk more than 30 min about software since there will be no real new big features...the rest of the show, at least 1 hour will be, i hope, about hardware

 

[AdamA9]

Well, with the MacBook having just had huge R&D before release in 2016, I would be surprised if anything drastic were to occur for it anytime earlier than mid-2019/2020. Perhaps a keyboard tweak and a battery lift? But don't see much more than that. I would be happy to be wrong though!

Maybe they'd rather wait for 10nm CPU availability before they make any big changes.

But the iMac Pro didn't change. They just popped in some badass components. I'm not expecting huge R&D, just top of the line components into the chassis.

 

[leman]

But the iMac Pro didn't change. They just popped in some badass components.

The iMac Pro is a dramatic change from the iMac... they have completely redesigned all the internals in order to enable decent thermal management, not to mention the complete change of how the computer actually operates (the T2 chip).

 

[richinaus]

But the iMac Pro didn't change. They just popped in some badass components. I'm not expecting huge R&D, just top of the line components into the chassis.

And an extremely clever cooling system.
I am actually in awe of how amazing the iMac pro is, and how quiet it is. I rarely hear the fan kicking in on rendering work, unlike my 2017 I7 iMac [maxed] which sounded like I was working on the runway at the airport [and it was vastly slower too at rendering, due to the cores].

I agree it would be nice if they can take the ideas and tech from the iMac pro and make a true MacBook Pro.

However, and I have said this lots of times, I doubt it. They really needed a pro desktop model, so took an easy way to do it. I am not too sure the same applies to laptops, as tbh now I have a iMac pro I really don’t need anything more than what the current machines offer [although 6 cores will be nice for the odd render on the go]. It’s about using the right tool for the right problem