Waiting for the 2018 MBP

[Populus]

Hey, what if Apple released a 13" MacBook, with a Cannonlake 5W TDP CPU, dual-core, with no active ventilation, in order to replace the MacBook Air? It'd be an insta-buy for me xD

Think about it, it would be quite more powerful than a 12" MacBook, because the new 10nm technology allows for a higher number of transistors per die. LPDDR4, because cannonlake is prepared for it. And the same gorgeous display as the MacBook Pro, at a starting point of 999$.

It would easily be lighter than the current nTB 13" MacBook Pro, because no fan or heatpipe would be necessary.

Heck... Apple, please hire me!! You need my ideas xD

 

[Poki]

Hey, what if Apple released a 13" MacBook, with a Cannonlake 5W TDP CPU, dual-core, with no active ventilation, in order to replace the MacBook Air? It'd be an insta-buy for me xD

Think about it, it would be quite more powerful than a 12" MacBook, because the new 10nm technology allows for a higher number of transistors per die. LPDDR4, because cannonlake is prepared for it. And the same gorgeous display as the MacBook Pro, at a starting point of 999$.

It would easily be lighter than the current nTB 13" MacBook Pro, because no fan or heatpipe would be necessary.

Heck... Apple, please hire me!! You need my ideas xD

You do realize that you're asking simply for a 13" variant of the current 12" MacBook, do you? And yeah, that will probably happen once they can reduce the bezel size enough to keep the current form factor while using the bigger screen. Getting the price down this low might take a little longer though ...

 

[Populus]

You do realize that you're asking simply for a 13" variant of the current 12" MacBook, do you? And yeah, that will probably happen once they can reduce the bezel size enough to keep the current form factor while using the bigger screen. Getting the price down this low might take a little longer though ...

Nope, I'm not asking a 14nm CoreM in the current 12" form factor with a bigger screen, please don't change my words, don't distort what I'm saying.

What I'm asking is exactly the same form factor as the current nTB 13" MacBook Pro, but with a new Cannonlake CoreM CPU (built on 10nm, thus, more powerful and power efficient than the current Kaby Lake CoreM, they are set to be released this first half of 2018). Of course it would be fanless.

 

[ackmondual]

That is rather unlikely. A decent 4K monitor (reasonable equivalent for 21.5" iMac) will cost at least $500, the 4K iMac CPU (i5-7400) is $190, so just these two components together already put you close to $700 or over 50% of the iMac's price. Put the components together, and you'll easily reach the $1300 price tag of the iMac. So I don't know what the said user did, but they probably took some sort of corner case and then made some budget options.

He indeed did NOT go through the specs. All he mentioned was he compared options for what he needed to get work done in a Windows environment, vs. OSX, and the Windows one came out on top in terms of value.

 

[leman]

He indeed did NOT go through the specs. All he mentioned was he compared options for what he needed to get work done in a Windows environment, vs. OSX, and the Windows one came out on top in terms of value.

Well, there you have it. Apple doesn't make low-end computers. If one is satisfied with lower-end components, then sure, one can get something cheaper. I find it a bit silly, really, if a person is not interested in having a high-quality machine with top-end components, why even look at a Mac? I could probably do my work on a crappy Lenovo if I didn't have a choice. Then again, that would most likely make me super frustrated.

 

[Poki]

Nope, I'm not asking a 14nm CoreM in the current 12" form factor with a bigger screen, please don't change my words, don't distort what I'm saying.

What I'm asking is exactly the same form factor as the current nTB 13" MacBook Pro, but with a new Cannonlake CoreM CPU (built on 10nm, thus, more powerful and power efficient than the current Kaby Lake CoreM, they are set to be released this first half of 2018). Of course it would be fanless.

I don't want to change your words, but why would you want it to be thicker than it needs to be? You could just easily replace the current 5W Kaby Lake with a 5W Cannon Lake in the current 12" MacBook and increase the screen size a bit - wouldn't this be a more desirable notebook?

 

[Populus]

I don't want to change your words, but why would you want it to be thicker than it needs to be? You could just easily replace the current 5W Kaby Lake with a 5W Cannon Lake in the current 12" MacBook and increase the screen size a bit - wouldn't this be a more desirable notebook?

What you are saying implies a redesign of the 12" MacBook with a new screen. That's not going to happen this year or next one. Apple usually invests in a design, and keeps this design for 4-5 years (with the iPhone, iPad, and the Mac lineup as well) because is a way to get back the initial inversion on many parts manufactured.

So, it is more logical -for me at least- to keep the same design of the nTB MacBook Pro, same case, same screen, and replace the internals for a fanless CPU. Is it thicker than it needs? Well, there's always room for a slightly bigger battery.

This way, we would end up with a fanless nTB 13" MacBook, very similar to the current nTB 13" MacBook Pro, with more battery life and completely silent. But a new and improved keyboard is always welcome xD

 

[Poki]

What you are saying implies a redesign of the 12" MacBook with a new screen. That's not going to happen this year or next one. Apple usually invests in a design, and keeps this design for 4-5 years (with the iPhone, iPad, and the Mac lineup as well) because is a way to get back the initial inversion on many parts manufactured.

So, it is more logical -for me at least- to keep the same design of the nTB MacBook Pro, same case, same screen, and replace the internals for a fanless CPU. Is it thicker than it needs? Well, there's always room for a slightly bigger battery.

This way, we would end up with a fanless nTB 13" MacBook, very similar to the current nTB 13" MacBook Pro, with more battery life and completely silent. But a new and improved keyboard is always welcome xD

There are a lot of reasons why I doubt such a notebook would make sense for Apple. The first and probably most important is that the 5W Core M chips the MacBook uses are actually more expensive than the Core i5 the nTB MacBook Pro uses. Batteries are also more expensive (and heavier) than fans. So you'd end up with a notebook that's less powerful (especially compared to the new quad-core nTB MBP which we might see) and more expensive. Sure, battery life would be great, but it makes a very confusing proposition to Apple's customers.

 

[Populus]

There are a lot of reasons why I doubt such a notebook would make sense for Apple. The first and probably most important is that the 5W Core M chips the MacBook uses are actually more expensive than the Core i5 the nTB MacBook Pro uses. Batteries are also more expensive (and heavier) than fans. So you'd end up with a notebook that's less powerful (especially compared to the new quad-core nTB MBP which we might see) and more expensive. Sure, battery life would be great, but it makes a very confusing proposition to Apple's customers.

Yes, it is a bit confusing, but it could be the piece they need to replace both the Air and the nTB MacBook Pro. That way they will have all MacBook pro with TouchBar, and all MacBook without a touch bar.

I know CoreM are expensive, and that's what makes me think this device would not be available at the cost of an Air. In this scenario, an Apple AX SoC would fit perfectly, but that is another topic I don't want to get into. The future is ARM but I don't know if we are ready for it yet.

 

[meme1255]

Populus: I am far from being as sure as you are about the future - making a desktop-class chip is not as simple as linearly scaling a mobile-class chip in order to make it faster.
ARM and x86_64 have both their specific advantages and disadvantages.
Even if that is no longer true (i.e. the ARM is as good or better as/than x86_64 arch under all circumstances), you NEED to have at least SOME additional performance (case of both Motorola to PPC and PPC to Intel transitions) you can sacrifice in order to ensure x86_64 emulation, otherwise much of the current software would be unusable. I do not see that in ARM world, thus I do not see ARM-based Macs coming soon.

 

[Poki]

Yes, it is a bit confusing, but it could be the piece they need to replace both the Air and the nTB MacBook Pro. That way they will have all MacBook pro with TouchBar, and all MacBook without a touch bar.

And again, doing so in the body of the nTB MBP is not a good way of doing this. Apple did indeed redesign some products faster, like the original MacBook Air, which got a redesign just two years after its launch. Having one thin and light entry level notebook and one thicker and more powerful notebook is much easier to understand for consumers. Also, the MacBook manages to be cheaper than the MacBook Pro by skipping on Thunderbolt and using a cheaper screen, among other things – they could continue some of these cost saving measurements without making the proposition even more confusing.

The importance of having products which are not confusing can not be overstated. Remember the Wii U?

Apple will probably just update the CPU of the 12" MacBook, offer a model with just 128 GB of storage, and cut the price a little. This might be enough to discontinue the MacBook Air as an entry level notebook, and people who want a notebook with a little more power and ports can simply purchase the entry level MacBook Pro.

 

[navaira]

Apple will probably just update the CPU of the 12" MacBook, offer a model with just 128 GB of storage, and cut the price a little.

I don't understand why the base 2016 (or even 2015) model with m3 and 128GB storage didn't replace Air yet. I wonder if it's because people seem to actually like the idea of a laptop with a SD slot and without dongles?

 

[fuchsdh]

I don't understand why the base 2016 (or even 2015) model with m3 and 128GB storage didn't replace Air yet. I wonder if it's because people seem to actually like the idea of a laptop with a SD slot and without dongles?

Because it's still cheaper and Apple doesn't want to sacrifice their margins. Especially with education groups buying stuff in bulk, it's probably going to stick around for a year or two more, the same way the 2012 MBP stuck around.

It took the original Air more than three years to turn from the expensive, underpowered bleeding-edge thin machine to killing the old MacBook. That it's taking the rMB as long isn't surprising.

 

[oghowie]

So conflicted. I can get a used 2017 nTB MBP i5 8GB 256GB for around $1100 now or wait for the 2018 MBPs. My 2013 MBA is perfectly fine, so I can wait if the 2018 will be much better?

 

[TheralSadurns]

So conflicted. I can get a used 2017 nTB MBP i5 8GB 256GB for around $1100 now or wait for the 2018 MBPs. My 2013 MBA is perfectly fine, so I can wait if the 2018 will be much better?

Wait!

 

[djdeepv]

So conflicted. I can get a used 2017 nTB MBP i5 8GB 256GB for around $1100 now or wait for the 2018 MBPs. My 2013 MBA is perfectly fine, so I can wait if the 2018 will be much better?

$1100 for a used 2017 isn't anything incredible, so i would wait. At some point a new MBP at your same specs was going for around $1300.

 

[whateverest]

Hi, I got a simple question. Will the next MBP include a CPU with hardware fixes for Spectre & Meltdown? Like is this officially known?

 

[HexEgg]

Hi, I got a simple question. Will the next MBP include a CPU with Hardware fixed Spectre & Meltdown? Like is this officially known?

Simple answer: No

 

[The Mercurian]

Hi, I got a simple question. Will the next MBP include a CPU with hardware fixes for Spectre & Meltdown? Like is this officially known?

Some speculation about this online: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...-fixes-coming-2018-3d-xpoint-ram-not-so-much/

But its just that...speculation. Nobody outside intel knows. Personally I'd rather they just release they hex-core chips with the flaw rather than wait another 6 months to engineer it out. Too many delays

 

[Falhófnir]

Hi, I got a simple question. Will the next MBP include a CPU with hardware fixes for Spectre & Meltdown? Like is this officially known?

If it’s 8th gen, probably not as these were all in late stages of design or production when it came to light, I’m guessing 9th gen might be where Intel bakes it in finally rather than putting a sticking plaster on software wise afterwards.

 

[Populus]

I think a lot of us are going to be 'waiting for the 2019 MBP' mainly because we want a silicon fixed for the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities.

Oh, well, and for the 10nm technology as well.

 

[Nathan576]

I have 2 days left to return my base 13 inch non touch bar, I don't think I'm going to. I'm too attached to it and honestly I just don't want to wait until June. I know I should wait but unless a new one comes out in March, I'm happy having a laptop to use now and value having one for the next 4 months more then I will having a slight performance gain. Please though, someone tell me I'm a dumbass and I should return it if theres any chance a new MacBook Pro will be out before June. I will burn the apple store down if a new MacBook comes out as soon as my return period ends.

 

[aldenh]

Some new news
https://www.pcgamesn.com/intel-coffee-lake-mobile-specifications
I hope update is coming soon!

 

[ugru]

I'm a dumbass and I should return it

At this time in the year, we have a 50/50 possibility of a march MBP release, looking at the rumors and at what others OEMs are doing.
The successor of the 13" is going to be released and it could even be a quadcore, so it will be a fairly good improvement in performances.....

 

[whateverest]

Some new news
https://www.pcgamesn.com/intel-coffee-lake-mobile-specifications
I hope update is coming soon!

Certainly missing remarks on Spectre and Meltdown are no good news. Yes, I want a new MBP, but purchasing faulty hardware for quite some money being fixed with deeply intruding software fixes just is not acceptable. Intel knows about the issues since maybe half a year? They should have resources to address these issues fast.