Waiting for the 2018 MBP

[The Mercurian]

And this will only become more true as more and more software is updated to take more advantage of multi core setups. I understand in a lot of cases only so much parallelisation can be done, but I wouldn't be surprised if we are entering a period where multi core is developed out to it's full potential, however much that is.

If you do work in statistics, data, science, biosciences etc - you don't need to wait for others to write code - its quite easy now to write code to take advantage of more cores yourself - or else thrid party code already has that built in. Alot of statistical code is already capable of running on a desktop or a multicore server so to me and many others, extra cores have a day 1 payoff

 

[The Reasonable One]

I know this might not be popular, but I’m hoping for a surface book style MacBook Pro but done Apple’s way (without all the trade offs and without the detachable bit). That would be my dream. I hate carrying an iPad Pro for pencil support along with my MacBook Pro.
[doublepost=1514710015][/doublepost]Also, I think we’re going to see a touch screen Mac sometime next year. With Apple wanting to make universal iOS/macOS apps, I think they will need touch support to function properly. Imagine navigating iOS apps that have swiping using your mouse. It’s way too clunky. Either Max’s will get a touchscreen or iOS apps are going to get simpler and lose gesture support. Just my opinion

Edit: also trackpad gestures aren’t a real replacement for swiping on the screen.

 

[Falhófnir]

I know this might not be popular, but I’m hoping for a surface book style MacBook Pro but done Apple’s way (without all the trade offs and without the detachable bit). That would be my dream. I hate carrying an iPad Pro for pencil support along with my MacBook Pro.

So you just want a mbp with gtx 1050/1060 and (in the case of the 15”) a lower wattage gpu?

 

[The Reasonable One]

So you just want a mbp with gtx 1050/1060 and (in the case of the 15”) a lower wattage gpu?

Not entirely. I want it be a 2 in 1, just no detaching. Detaching is what makes the surface book so unbearable. Any app needing the gpu must be closed in order to detach and flip into “studio mode”. Kind of ridiculous really

Edit: so I guess surface book comparison wasn’t the correct one to make

 

[TheralSadurns]

I know this might not be popular, but I’m hoping for a surface book style MacBook Pro but done Apple’s way (without all the trade offs and without the detachable bit). That would be my dream. I hate carrying an iPad Pro for pencil support along with my MacBook Pro.
[doublepost=1514710015][/doublepost]Also, I think we’re going to see a touch screen Mac sometime next year. With Apple wanting to make universal iOS/macOS apps, I think they will need touch support to function properly. Imagine navigating iOS apps that have swiping using your mouse. It’s way too clunky. Either Max’s will get a touchscreen or iOS apps are going to get simpler and lose gesture support. Just my opinion

Edit: also trackpad gestures aren’t a real replacement for swiping on the screen.

That you can use the Surface Book as a tablet is the only real additional appeal though. If you REMOVE this ability... you end up with a MacBook Pro style computer with a low power CPU and a useless touchscreen (as it is upright).

What Apple really MEANS with the universal Apps... we shall see. Nobody knows this yet.
How is it currently? You have an iPhone and buy a universal app. The app is like a large zip file that contains both the iPhone and the iPad parts. Depending on your device the app is generally thinned and the parts you don't need are removed. But technically they are more or less 2 different apps that just share most of their resources.
Add macOS applications in the equation and nobody knows what Apple will do... will for example, Apple Pages just pack the iOS and the macOS binaries in one container? They cannot be the same... as they are developed for different CPU architectures. x86 and ARM are NOT compatible... unless you run some emulation (like Rosetta for PowerPC Code). So unless we see that... or ARM based Macs... or Macs with both x86 and ARM CPUs we won't have truly universal binaries... just bundled Apps that are packed together...

That then means... we will NOT run iOS apps on the Mac... and hence don't need a touchscreen. Which... in that orientation is utterly useless anyways.
What I thinnk might (not will) work is what I said in my post #1380.
And that was before Apple taked about this. With a concept like this... I could see actual "universal" binaries... and why you would bundle the different app versions.

 

[HerbertDerb]

Also, I think we’re going to see a touch screen Mac sometime next year.

Highly doubt it. Steve Jobs said that touchscreens are not natural for laptop usage. Also Federighi stated that they have had working prototypes of this concept, and didn't see that it was necessary or useful.

From my personal experience, i can back this up. I have Windows Asus laptop that does have touchscreen. But really never ever use it. The screen wobbles and really it is not precise enough. Also for this you have to move your hands up from the touchpad and keyboard. It isn't really a move that you want to do 500x a day.

Also the fact that Apple's touchpads are almost perfect in terms of precision compared to Windows laptops. I don't think that any time soon we will see touchscreens in Macbook/Macbook Pros. And to me, it's a good thing that way.

 

[cool11]

I wish someday, that I will see a macbook pro with dust repellent screen...

 

[HerbertDerb]

I wish someday, that I will see a macbook pro with dust repellent screen...

https://www.amazon.com/Endust-Electronics-Anti-Static-Screen-Cleaner/dp/B0002KXVM2 (I personally wouldn't put that can any closer than 100 meters at minimum of my AG-coated MBP screen...)

 

[Populus]

I wish someday, that I will see a macbook pro with dust repellent screen...

Hey thats a brilliant idea that no one else mentioned before on this thread.
[doublepost=1514730843][/doublepost]

https://www.amazon.com/Endust-Electronics-Anti-Static-Screen-Cleaner/dp/B0002KXVM2 (I personally wouldn't put that can any closer than 100 meters at minimum of my AG-coated MBP screen...)

Me neither, but maybe a matte film would do its work.
Like this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6C04TM/

 

[sevvere]

Highly doubt it. Steve Jobs said that touchscreens are not natural for laptop usage.

He’s not making decisions for Apple anymore. He dead

 

[The Mercurian]

He’s not making decisions for Apple anymore. He dead

Yeah...but he is still right!

 

[whg]

Highly doubt it. Steve Jobs said that touchscreens are not natural for laptop usage. Also Federighi stated that they have had working prototypes of this concept, and didn't see that it was necessary or useful.

From my personal experience, i can back this up. I have Windows Asus laptop that does have touchscreen. But really never ever use it. The screen wobbles and really it is not precise enough. Also for this you have to move your hands up from the touchpad and keyboard. It isn't really a move that you want to do 500x a day.

Also the fact that Apple's touchpads are almost perfect in terms of precision compared to Windows laptops. I don't think that any time soon we will see touchscreens in Macbook/Macbook Pros. And to me, it's a good thing that way.

Frustrated with the late 2016 Macbook Pros, I tried a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 early this year for a couple of months. I hoped it would replace a Macbook and an iPad in one handy unit. This is my experience:

As a notebook the Surface Pro is OK if used on a table, but not so much on the lap, e.g. while travelling in a train. As a notebook I practically never used the touch screen functionality.

As an iPad replacement (without the keyboard), I had a hard time to find a book reader that matches iBooks on the iPad where I can look up a word in a foreign language easily. All book readers that could do that require a keyboard for page advancing (not funny!).

The ability to use full blown applications in tablet mode resulted in the same frustration: doesn't work well without a keyboard.

Today I'm back to Macbook Pro (15" 2017 model) and iPad Pro 10.5". Both are well optimised for their intended use. I also have the larger iPad Pro 12.9" with keyboard and Citrix mouse, that allows me to remote to my work PC with Jump Desktop. This is the best single device compromise I ever used, but for book reading I prefer the smaller iPad. For real work on the go, nothing beats the Macbook Pro, in my opinion.

After using the 2017 Macbook Pro 15" for a couple of weeks now, I start to really like it. I never made heavy use of the function keys before, so that the Touch Bar doesn't bother me, but it is also not too useful for me. The keyboard is OK for me, even if I still prefer the 2015 variant. The 4 Thunderbolt ports have also grown on me (after some additional investment in adapters).

 

[HerbertDerb]

He’s not making decisions for Apple anymore. He dead

You are right, he doen't. But because of Steve, Apple is where it is right now. And in most cases he was right. (I agree with Steve that touchscreen isn't necessary nor that useful in laptops)

 

[richinaus]

Highly doubt it. Steve Jobs said that touchscreens are not natural for laptop usage. Also Federighi stated that they have had working prototypes of this concept, and didn't see that it was necessary or useful.

From my personal experience, i can back this up. I have Windows Asus laptop that does have touchscreen. But really never ever use it. The screen wobbles and really it is not precise enough. Also for this you have to move your hands up from the touchpad and keyboard. It isn't really a move that you want to do 500x a day.

Also the fact that Apple's touchpads are almost perfect in terms of precision compared to Windows laptops. I don't think that any time soon we will see touchscreens in Macbook/Macbook Pros. And to me, it's a good thing that way.

Whilst I totally agree with what you say in using a touch screen like this, my personal usage would benefit from having a stylus enabled screen like the Surface Book. I wouldn't use it as a touch screen in laptop mode, but the benefit of the stylus for marking up documents and being able to sketch etc on the same computer is a big bonus to me.
I am very close to buying a SB2 15" for this very reason, instead of a MBP...... but I know I am in the minority.
[doublepost=1514750447][/doublepost]

Frustrated with the late 2016 Macbook Pros, I tried a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 early this year for a couple of months. I hoped it would replace a Macbook and an iPad in one handy unit. This is my experience:

As a notebook the Surface Pro is OK if used on a table, but not so much on the lap, e.g. while travelling in a train. As a notebook I practically never used the touch screen functionality.

As an iPad replacement (without the keyboard), I had a hard time to find a book reader that matches iBooks on the iPad where I can look up a word in a foreign language easily. All book readers that could do that require a keyboard for page advancing (not funny!).

The ability to use full blown applications in tablet mode resulted in the same frustration: doesn't work well without a keyboard.

Today I'm back to Macbook Pro (15" 2017 model) and iPad Pro 10.5". Both are well optimised for their intended use. I also have the larger iPad Pro 12.9" with keyboard and Citrix mouse, that allows me to remote to my work PC with Jump Desktop. This is the best single device compromise I ever used, but for book reading I prefer the smaller iPad. For real work on the go, nothing beats the Macbook Pro, in my opinion.

After using the 2017 Macbook Pro 15" for a couple of weeks now, I start to really like it. I never made heavy use of the function keys before, so that the Touch Bar doesn't bother me, but it is also not too useful for me. The keyboard is OK for me, even if I still prefer the 2015 variant. The 4 Thunderbolt ports have also grown on me (after some additional investment in adapters).

This is where I am at at present, as do believe an dedicated laptop and dedicated tablet are the best option, however having a mobile 15" drawing tablet in my laptop would be a big bonus to me. I found the 12" iPad too big when carrying the 15" MBP too. The 10.5 is a fantastic device but I feel limited by the screen sometimes.

As usual every user has their own specific needs and no devices is ever perfect.

 

[doitdada]

Kaby Lake Refresh is NOT a minor update. Even though there are only minimal architecture improvements, adding two more cores still results in much better performance in a lot of workloads.

For at least 95% there will be no noticeable difference in performance due to the very few actually pushing their computer to max.

 

[Poki]

For at least 95% there will be no noticeable difference in performance due to the very few actually pushing their computer to max.

Even for people who don't use much of the power the new chips provide, it should improve longevity since the faster chips shouldn't feel slow as soon as the older ones.

Also, I think "at least 95% will notice no difference" is a vast exaggeration. You don't need to actually do a lot to notice a difference when going from a dual core to a quad core CPU. If you actually only have a few browser tabs and a word processor at any given time, then the MacBook is arguably the better fit for you, rather than the MacBook Pro.

 

[unlogic]

Now it is already 2018! Happy New Year guys!

My cMBP 15 2012 is still running strongly but I need a new machine.

To be realistic, bump-up specs MBP 15 2018 with hexacore CPU and Vega GPU are enough for me. Hopefully we can get price reduction.

 

[doitdada]

Also, I think "at least 95% will notice no difference" is a vast exaggeration. You don't need to actually do a lot to notice a difference when going from a dual core to a quad core CPU.

Yes, it is easy to run Geekbench or export a movie, but few users do. iOS apps are more convenient and easier to use for most people to create content. Editing photos feels better on the iPhone than the import/edit/export cycle you have to go through on your computer.

Remember the rule of the Internet. 1% create, 9% comment or vote and 90% lurk. Only creators need to have power, and dual core is in most cases more than enough.

 

[haydn!]

We've been using touch screen HP laptops are work for a year or so now. I've not seen anyone actually use the touch screen element once and in most cases, it's actually been a nuisance when they point at something on the screen and generate accidental clicks. Guess it doesn't help that a lot of people also just dock their laptop and work through a larger monitor though!

I think the Surface has been successful not because it's a touch-screen laptop, but because it combines the tablet/experience relatively well into one device - and has of course also been the focus of Microsoft's biggest marketing push ever. It's a good device no doubt, but I wonder how many people really fully utilise the touch screen when working in notebook mode. Pricing seems a little steep for me though personally, higher end models make MacBook Pro's look like bargains!

I don't think we'll see a touch-screen notebook from Apple any time soon. There was some concepts flying around where the entire keyboard/track-pack became a touch screen though. I think that concept could work, with custom keyboards/interfaces for apps on a much more useful scale than the Touch Bar allows but they really need to figure out how to effectively simulate the tactile experience of using a real keyboard - I'm not sure haptic feedback is enough right now?

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

Frustrated with the late 2016 Macbook Pros, I tried a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 early this year for a couple of months. I hoped it would replace a Macbook and an iPad in one handy unit. This is my experience:

As a notebook the Surface Pro is OK if used on a table, but not so much on the lap, e.g. while travelling in a train. As a notebook I practically never used the touch screen functionality.

As an iPad replacement (without the keyboard), I had a hard time to find a book reader that matches iBooks on the iPad where I can look up a word in a foreign language easily. All book readers that could do that require a keyboard for page advancing (not funny!).

The ability to use full blown applications in tablet mode resulted in the same frustration: doesn't work well without a keyboard.

Today I'm back to Macbook Pro (15" 2017 model) and iPad Pro 10.5". Both are well optimised for their intended use. I also have the larger iPad Pro 12.9" with keyboard and Citrix mouse, that allows me to remote to my work PC with Jump Desktop. This is the best single device compromise I ever used, but for book reading I prefer the smaller iPad. For real work on the go, nothing beats the Macbook Pro, in my opinion.

After using the 2017 Macbook Pro 15" for a couple of weeks now, I start to really like it. I never made heavy use of the function keys before, so that the Touch Bar doesn't bother me, but it is also not too useful for me. The keyboard is OK for me, even if I still prefer the 2015 variant. The 4 Thunderbolt ports have also grown on me (after some additional investment in adapters).

Exactly what I've been through. The Surface Pro I thought could replace a tablet and laptop, but it just wasn't there. I got an iPAd pro 10.5 and MBP 15" 2017.

 

[mehdijobs]

Yes, it is easy to run Geekbench or export a movie, but few users do. iOS apps are more convenient and easier to use for most people to create content. Editing photos feels better on the iPhone than the import/edit/export cycle you have to go through on your computer.

Remember the rule of the Internet. 1% create, 9% comment or vote and 90% lurk. Only creators need to have power, and dual core is in most cases more than enough.

.....
0.00000001% of the people went to space, so we shouldn’t make spaceships?

"Apps are more convenient to create content" ??? If sending a text message is what you call "creating content" then yes, otherwise, I really can’t see what you mean.

 

[audiomatt]

For at least 95% there will be no noticeable difference in performance due to the very few actually pushing their computer to max.

Anyone making music can use this. Audio people, whether they know it or not could benefit from processors hundreds or thousands of times faster than the current ones, same with anyone rendering photos, video or 3d. The issue is people are only designing software appropriate for today’s processors.

 

[thedomus]

Anyone making music can use this. Audio people, whether they know it or not could benefit from processors hundreds or thousands of times faster than the current ones, same with anyone rendering photos, video or 3d. The issue is people are only designing software appropriate for today’s processors.

Yes to this. I'm an audio professional, I run my own studio currently with a MacPro but I like to work away from home too & look forward to this years potential cpu & ram upgrades to the MacBook pro 15. We use large orchestral, synth, drum/percussion sample libraries that can quickly use 16GB plus of RAM, with multiple tracks of 30 plus being played back (calculated) in real time & at very low latency.... 6 core & 32GB ram anyone?

 

[TSE]

Best guess for when the hexa-core MacBook Pros come out?

 

[The Mercurian]

Best guess for when the hexa-core MacBook Pros come out?

I'm calling it for April. (fingers crossed )