Waiting for the 2018 MBP

[CB98]

Well, having waited since January through March and then WWDC for an upgrade, I’ve decided to go for a 15 incher now. I don’t really have a choice because my credit card interest free period expires in 8 months, and Apple financing is unavailable with education pricing (at least in the UK...). In other words, I can’t wait to buy one (because I want/have to pay in instalments).

I guess, as one previous user said, it’s still a powerful laptop and a good device, and I’m getting AppleCare so if I do have any issues I’ll be covered.

Thoughts?

 

[EugW]

Well, having waited since January through March and then WWDC for an upgrade, I’ve decided to go for a 15 incher now. I don’t really have a choice because my credit card interest free period expires in 8 months, and Apple financing is unavailable with education pricing (at least in the UK...). In other words, I can’t wait to buy one (because I want/have to pay in instalments).

I guess, as one previous user said, it’s still a powerful laptop and a good device, and I’m getting AppleCare so if I do have any issues I’ll be covered.

Thoughts?

Get a refurb on that credit card to save some more money.

And / or

Get a credit card with extended warranty to save having to get Apple Care, although that only covers one extra year usually.

 

[A_ardvark]

Get a refurb on that credit card to save some more money.

And / or

Get a credit card with extended warranty to save having to get Apple Care, although that only covers one extra year usually.

Good advice, although I'm pretty sure credit card warranties won't apply to a refurb. At least that's the case with my credit card in Canada. They'll double my warranty for new products only and to a max of 1 year. So YMMV.

 

[CB98]

Get a refurb on that credit card to save some more money.

And / or

Get a credit card with extended warranty to save having to get Apple Care, although that only covers one extra year usually.

I would, but then you pay full price AppleCare (don’t have it on my CC). It’s half price with an education discount.

 

[Gata]

At computex, AMD mentioned that 7nm Vega products are being sampled to partners now, and are on track for release later this year.

Here's hoping that Apple is one of said companies that they're sampling to.

 

[Poki]

At computex, AMD mentioned that 7nm Vega products are being sampled to partners now, and are on track for release later this year.

Here's hoping that Apple is one of said companies that they're sampling to.

Would be interesting to see if there's any part suitable for the 13" model, although I doubt they would use 15W CPUs just to be able to use a more powerful GPU.

 

[limo79]

The problem with Macbooks is that they use case as a heatsink so all heat is transferred to user. Current Macbook Pro are so thin now so that releasing new MBPs with hexacore H chips will generate a lot of customer complaints. In other words such generation of Macbooks will not be a good product so Apple need to do it wisely. However under domination of Tim Cook there is a high risk that they release anything no matter if it is good or bad. Year by year we observe total lack of interest in great hardware. People like Jobs understood it well.

 

[EugW]

Good advice, although I'm pretty sure credit card warranties won't apply to a refurb. At least that's the case with my credit card in Canada. They'll double my warranty for new products only and to a max of 1 year. So YMMV.

Depends on the company. In Canada often CIBC and RBC credit card cards will cover refurbs.

In contrast, my TD/MBNA Rewards World Elite will not cover refurbs.

For me it's moot though, since for iPhones, refurbs in Canada from Apple aren't even available, and I buy my Macs using the edu discount new.

I would, but then you pay full price AppleCare (don’t have it on my CC). It’s half price with an education discount.

Dunno about the UK, but I'm not sure why you say that. You can buy Apple Care any time in the first year in Canada, and with your education discount. Or at least you used to be able to. I haven't checked recently because I don't usually buy Apple Care at least for cheaper Mac laptops. I might for an iMac because Apple Care costs less than Apple Care for a laptop, and the iMacs I buy tend to be more expensive, so the incremental cost isn't so much percentage-wise.

 

[A_ardvark]

Depends on the company. In Canada often CIBC and RBC credit card cards will cover refurbs.

In contrast, my TD/MBNA Rewards World Elite will not cover refurbs.

For me it's moot though, since for iPhones, refurbs in Canada from Apple aren't even available, and I buy my Macs using the edu discount new.


Dunno about the UK, but I'm not sure why you say that. You can buy Apple Care any time in the first year in Canada, and with your education discount. Or at least you used to be able to. I haven't checked recently because I don't usually buy Apple Care at least for cheaper desktops. I might for an iMac because Apple Care costs less, and the iMacs I buy tend to be more expensive, so the incremental cost isn't so much percentage-wise.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm with TD, mostly cause green is my favourite color. I guess I should be a little more savvy!

 

[Poki]

At least October or not at all are not the only options. Remember in 2014, when Apple updated the MacBook Pro at the end of July? It was a rather small update, but I still think something like this is at least possible. Maybe Apple needs just a few weeks more time to get new Vega GPUs or to get a new keyboard design production ready.

https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/29/updated-retina-macbook-pro-faster-haswell-more-ram/

 

[EugW]

At least October or not at all are not the only options. Remember in 2014, when Apple updated the MacBook Pro at the end of July? It was a rather small update, but I still think something like this is at least possible. Maybe Apple needs just a few weeks more time to get new Vega GPUs or to get a new keyboard design production ready.

https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/29/updated-retina-macbook-pro-faster-haswell-more-ram/

If it's being held up for Vega, then fall (or later) is more likely.

 

[Poki]

If it's being held up for Vega, then fall (or later) is more likely.

Not sure about that - AMD is already sampling Vega Mobile to customers, and it wouldn't be the first time for Apple to be the first one to get AMD chips. Then again, I'm not even sure if Apple cares at all about the performance of the MacBook Pro, so maybe they are just waiting for the negotiations with the screw manufacturers to save a few cents on the production of the next model.

 

[CodeJoy]

At least October or not at all are not the only options. Remember in 2014, when Apple updated the MacBook Pro at the end of July? ...

Come on, this is getting so silly. Let's look at which months MBP's have been launched from the start:

January x2
February x3
March x2
April x2
May
June x5
July
October x7
November x2

It's pretty clear at least to me that Apple does prefer to do launches in October, or around the (supposedly non-hardware) WWDC. Or somewhere around February. But also not a strict rule. They do refreshes at other times when there's a reason to do so. There are also a few months they generally avoid, for somewhat obvious reasons. May and July (with one exception each), August, September and December.

But the logic you're using, that it's impossible for Apple to do updates in a month if they haven't done so before, do you not see that it's flawed? Before they updated in July the first time, they had never done it. So shouldn't it have been impossible for that to happen? And yet it did? Does that defy the laws of physics? No. Is it a pattern in Apple land? No.

But this whole idea of seeing patterns where there aren't any, that's just creepy. They will release new products when they have something to release. They will try to cluster product updates when they can, but it's not a hard rule. There are just super obvious marketing reasons for that, I hope this is clear to anyone above the age of 5. And... guess what... it also strongly depends on their suppliers, like Intel and AMD currently, when they have new updates ready. Or other things, like keyboard class action lawsuits maybe. There can be all kinds of reasons for why Apple may not be able to perfectly control release schedules according to patterns invented in forum posts. Not saying they are defensible or honorable reasons, but I'm pretty sure that there are rational reasons.

And guess what.... Apple could end up making a surprise refresh in August even though it has never happened before. Not saying it's likely or something they would prefer, but it's certainly possible.

All of this makes it a completely futile exercise to try to guess when a particular update will happen based on past refresh timings. It made a lot of sense to expect an update at the WWDC. It makes a lot of sense to expect an update in October. But there have also been many Octobers when Apple haven't refreshed any MBP's. It's just silly to mislead people to think that there is another pattern when there so clearly isn't.

Now as a bonus quiz, try to figure out whether June and October are just chosen at random or whether there is some marketing reason for that.

 

[hajime]

Come on, this is getting so silly. Let's look at which months MBP's have been launched from the start:

January x2
February x3
March x2
April x2
May
June x5
July
October x7
November x2

It's pretty clear at least to me that Apple does prefer to do launches in October, or around the (supposedly non-hardware) WWDC. Or somewhere around February. But also not a strict rule. They do refreshes at other times when there's a reason to do so. There are also a few months they generally avoid, for somewhat obvious reasons. May and July (with one exception each), August, September and December.

But the logic you're using, that it's impossible for Apple to do updates in a month if they haven't done so before, do you not see that it's flawed? Before they updated in July the first time, they had never done it. So shouldn't it have been impossible for that to happen? And yet it did? Does that defy the laws of physics? No. Is it a pattern in Apple land? No.

But this whole idea of seeing patterns where there aren't any, that's just creepy. They will release new products when they have something to release. They will try to cluster product updates when they can, but it's not a hard rule. There are just super obvious marketing reasons for that, I hope this is clear to anyone above the age of 5. And... guess what... it also strongly depends on their suppliers, like Intel and AMD currently, when they have new updates ready. Or other things, like keyboard class action lawsuits maybe. There can be all kinds of reasons for why Apple may not be able to perfectly control release schedules according to patterns invented in forum posts. Not saying they are defensible or honorable reasons, but I'm pretty sure that there are rational reasons.

And guess what.... Apple could end up making a surprise refresh in August even though it has never happened before. Not saying it's likely or something they would prefer, but it's certainly possible.

All of this makes it a completely futile exercise to try to guess when a particular update will happen based on past refresh timings. It made a lot of sense to expect an update at the WWDC. It makes a lot of sense to expect an update in October. But there have also been many Octobers when Apple haven't refreshed any MBP's. It's just silly to mislead people to think that there is another pattern when there so clearly isn't.

Now as a bonus quiz, try to figure out whether June and October are just chosen at random or whether there is some marketing reason for that.

Shouldn't the analysis also take into account of who the CEO is/was? Steve was more on making the best and the latest while that guy only concerns about profits.

 

[CB98]

Dunno about the UK, but I'm not sure why you say that. You can buy Apple Care any time in the first year in Canada, and with your education discount. Or at least you used to be able to. I haven't checked recently because I don't usually buy Apple Care at least for cheaper Mac laptops. I might for an iMac because Apple Care costs less than Apple Care for a laptop, and the iMacs I buy tend to be more expensive, so the incremental cost isn't so much percentage-wise.

I wanted to do that, but AppleCare is only discounted if you buy it with the computer; in other words, if I bought it with the education discount, then I would have to pay full price if I decided to buy it later in the year.

Typing on it now; for all that the 2018 might be, the 2017 is still a very good (and expensive) computer that will surely do me well.

 

[jpep]

The thing is with this class action law suit and keyboard. It didn't make any news worthy, local or national: such as can, etc... iPhone 4 and antenna gate, bendgate, all made news, wondering when this will make the rounds soon.

 

[travod]

Now that we've still got a few months left is anyone else deathly afraid something is going to happen to their current laptop?

I'm like afraid to even use mine now even though it's fine. Some function keys have been...getting stuck in odd positions though....

 

[bykaraanne]

Well, having waited since January through March and then WWDC for an upgrade, I’ve decided to go for a 15 incher now. I don’t really have a choice because my credit card interest free period expires in 8 months, and Apple financing is unavailable with education pricing (at least in the UK...). In other words, I can’t wait to buy one (because I want/have to pay in instalments).

I guess, as one previous user said, it’s still a powerful laptop and a good device, and I’m getting AppleCare so if I do have any issues I’ll be covered.

Thoughts?

I did the same, got a 15” refurbished 2017 from Apple. It came today. I’m adjusting to it so far, cus I LOVED the 2015. I saved about S$600 and that goes towards AppleCare with a bit to spare I guess.

I got the 2.9 one for the graphics card.
[doublepost=1528340677][/doublepost]

I wanted to do that, but AppleCare is only discounted if you buy it with the computer; in other words, if I bought it with the education discount, then I would have to pay full price if I decided to buy it later in the year.

Typing on it now; for all that the 2018 might be, the 2017 is still a very good (and expensive) computer that will surely do me well.

I missed this. Congrats. I’m thinking the same. Hope this + AppleCare will tide me through to 2020.

 

[A_ardvark]

Now that we've still got a few months left is anyone else deathly afraid something is going to happen to their current laptop?

I'm like afraid to even use mine now even though it's fine. Some function keys have been...getting stuck in odd positions though....

Yep. I don't restart mine anymore unless I'm forced to. I had to rescue it from a bad update a few weeks back. Still can't believe it survived a cup of coffee being spilled on it about 5 months ago.

 

[limo79]

I am not marketing specialist but September "Back to School" was a good occasion to present a new Macs. Now it is iPhone. Since WWDC is a conference for a software devs I do not have a problem that Apple did not present a new MacBooks. Assuming that Tim Cook loves to generate a money for Apple I suppose that Apple wanted to present a refreshed Macbook at WWDC but Intel ruined this plan. That is another reason why Apple wants to cut from Intel chips. It is not just a problem of keeping agreed schedule but Intel delayed a plans to generate more profits which is a problem even for such important customer like Apple. Also it is a problem to create a chip that satisfy Apple needs in case of performance vs TDP. We can assume that Apple want to go down with TDP for each next chip generation or stay at same level with higher performance. Kaby Lake G integrated chips with integrated AMD Vega GPU were not satisfied because they are about 85W TDP while possibly Apple expect around 45W TDP.

If they have a plan to show us a laptop with the similar parameters like Asus, Huawei, Xiaomi etc it is better to show nothing. Personally I would like to see finally MacBook Pro with matte screen but I realize that currently bloggers and kids are a target for Apple so they are fixated about emoji, animoji, memoji, Spotify and Insta.

 

[cool11]

I can no longer read opinions about the 'bad' Intel and the 'good' Apple.
No, it is not this way.

Once upon a time, the bad side was Motorola with powerpc cpus.
Now the history is repeated? Really?

No, the fault is definitely on Apple's side.
They choose to make it thinner, and thinner, whatever the cost is.
They have obsession with thinness. It is THEIR CHOICE AND RESPONSIBILITY, that they choose thinness SACRIFICING everything else.

No, we cannot blame everyone else, for not having more ram, or more powerful cpus etc.
The market options is out there for all other companies, including Apple.
Other manufacturers have their laptops a just a little bit thicker, and they offer even from yesterday, what Apple will not offer even tomorrow: ports, faster cpu, more ram, etc.

Stop blaming Intel and everyone else, except Apple.
It is all about CHOICES. And Apple make a choice, in favor of everything else.

It also reminds me the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen, "The Emperor's New Clothes". I guess in the very near future, they will try to sell an almost 'invisible' laptop, like the best one.
Professionals just need an elegant, but powerful laptop with full capabilities and of course the quality of Apple.

But once again, Apple make a CHOICE, a rather bad choice.

 

[The Reasonable One]

Now that we've still got a few months left is anyone else deathly afraid something is going to happen to their current laptop?

I'm like afraid to even use mine now even though it's fine. Some function keys have been...getting stuck in odd positions though....

I’m terrified. My computer is hanging on by a thread since it’s graphics failure in February. I’m just hoping it’s newfound life will let it survive til the refresh.

 

[OreoCookie123]

I’m off to America next week, this has been booked since November last year, was hoping to pick up the new MacBook Pro then! But I guess not!!

But now I’m so torn, do I just bite the bullet an get a 2017? With full processor spec, or wait it out... decisions...!!

 

[CodeJoy]

Shouldn't the analysis also take into account of who the CEO is/was? Steve was more on making the best and the latest while that guy only concerns about profits.

As powerful and mighty as both of them are and were, I doubt either of them would have the power to move the Christmas sale period to another time of the year.

 

[limo79]

cool11: Most of the companies have an obsession about thin laptops now. Check Gigabyte Aero or Razer gaming laptops with hexacore Intel CPU. The difference is that most of competitors still use a plastic cases so they do not conduct heat (insulator) and chassis is not working as a heatsink.

Of course this trend is changing and we have a many models with metal case like Dell XPS, HP Spectre or Huawei Matebook or Asus Zenbook. However if you compare most of them rely on large heatpipe and vents (take a look on Matebook heatpipe and compare to this from Macbook Pro). There are some thin old laptops with hybrid case (metal - plastic composite) like well known Samsung 530U3 Ultrabook series with very tiny and extremely light heatpipe like in Macbooks (or even tinner) and very similar vent hidden under LCD hinge but they solve the problem because metal case is covered by plastic so we have a good insulation against the heat.

Metal case looks fine and has typically less flex however it creates a problem for wireless signal, require electrical ground to be safe (when there is no ground we have tigling sensation touching case and palmrest when laptop) and in case of aluminium there is a high risk of skin contact allegry because aluminium and nickel are quite aggressive metals. Also there is an aluminium corrosion process called aluminium pitting (visible as dark spots close on palmrest) because skin sweat pH reacts with alu. So there more negatives than pros. Apple will not switch from aluminium cases because as I said it is part of heatsink and they can made a thin chassis. Also it generates a profit because heatpipe and vents can be smaller and possibly cheaper (however take in mind that unibody chassis can cost more than plastic).