What to expect in the second Gen Retina MacBook (Merged)

[joscejrod]

As a result, this forum is besieged by the misinformed triggered by the wrongfully hopeful. It would be nice if this could just become a place for RMB enthusiasts to talk about their machines without the distractions of these other groups, most of whom are ill-willed and clinically depressed.

BJ

This thread is called "what to expect in the second gen retina macbook? (merged)" So people here are only talking about right that...there're lot of other threads in Macbook Forum, and you can create one too (for example about loving broadwell or first gen macbook).
Please, if you're not interested in macbook incoming update, do us a favor, and choose other thread to share your great apple knowledge.

 

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

As a result, this forum is besieged by the misinformed triggered by the wrongfully hopeful. It would be nice if this could just become a place for RMB enthusiasts to talk about their machines without the distractions of these other groups, most of whom are ill-willed and clinically depressed

BJ

well, you've come to the wrong website. This is a place where "ill-willed and clinically depressed" people discuss rumors about future hardware. Besides, nothing stops you from starting a thread where you express your positive feelings about your laptop, have you actually done it?

 

[boltjames]

This thread is called "what to expect in the second gen retina macbook? (merged)" So people here are only talking about right that...there're lot of other threads in Macbook Forum, and you can create one too (for example about loving broadwell or first gen macbook).
Please, if you're not interested in macbook incoming update, do us a favor, and choose other thread to share your great apple knowledge.

As the biggest 2015 Apple 12" Retina MacBook For Windows fan I too enjoy speculating about the features of the next-gen model and therefore enjoy these threads immensely.

I, for one, want a thinner design, lighter weight, non-protruding HD camera, a 14" screen, and fewer ports.

Where things get contentious is that invariably these threads turn into a whinefest about timing. We all know that Apple will update the processor and will eventually get to other elements that increase performance and decrease form size. But we ultimately get interrupted and overwhelmed by people who want these features now, today, and that's just not realistic. And then they dump on our machines as if they are a "mistake" and as if they are are deeply "flawed" and as if Apple is "late" somehow, it hurts owners feelings. So let's talk about future features and not the dates that these future features may appear, makes everyone happy.

BJ

 

[Wowereit]

You are arguing way to much about a notebook refresh for being a Rolex wearing millionaire sitting in your beach house

 

[Dyl_jdg]

Have there been any concrete rumors about a 14" rMB? Im currently using a 2010 15" MBP and its on its last leg. I don't need much horsepower (only use word, excel, and Internet for research and Netflix), so I was thinking the rMB would be a good fit. However, after three years of law school my eyesight went down the ******* and I need extra real estate to be able to effectively have two windows open side by side and see what I'm doing.

I realize that having a larger display would put some extra strain on the system. With the skylake update, could the new core m chips power a 14" screen? Further, if my only real need is to have a large enough screen, yet I still would like to avoid getting a pro or air (simply because both lines are ripe for an update or merger into one line), should I jump on the oportunity to maybe get whatever comes out of those lines or hold out for a larger sized rMB?

 

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

And then they dump on our machines as if they are a "mistake" and as if they are are deeply "flawed" and as if Apple is "late" somehow, it hurts owners feelings.

Why do the said owners care about the opinion of the "ill-willed and clinically depressed" people???

 

[navaira]

It would make everybody's life easier to put the millionaire on ignore.

 

[8692574]

It would make everybody's life easier to put the millionaire on ignore.

Just did, thanks for the suggestion I don't need another millionaire telling me what i want, especially when he is not willing to put his money where his mouth is.

Bragging about what you have in a forum is low enought

Now back on topic, where's the new rMB with Skylake and 2 usb ports??

 

[Serban]

so on topic...since the rumours says that the next macbook will be "earlier 2016" i guess next month will get a silent update and no 14" Macbook
so +1h battery usage
+15% cpu more performance
+40-50% Gpu performance boost
+usb-c gen 2
+maybe rose gold colour
did i miss something ?

 

[8692574]

so on topic...since the rumours says that the next macbook will be "earlier 2016" i guess next month will get a silent update and no 14" Macbook
so +1h battery usage
+15% cpu more performance
+40-50% Gpu performance boost
+usb-c gen 2
+maybe rose gold colour
did i miss something ?

I suspect before the end of April, and may be even next week (but it is a wild guess), we might indeed see a rose gold, the only thing i am not sure is the + battery life.

Sure Skylake reduces consumption but i expect them to add another usb port hece making the battery smaller, all in all should compensate anche get the same battery life we get now.

 

[MacRazySwe]

I doubt they will add another USB-C port. Would be happy if they did, however.

 

[joscejrod]

so on topic...since the rumours says that the next macbook will be "earlier 2016" i guess next month will get a silent update and no 14" Macbook
so +1h battery usage
+15% cpu more performance
+40-50% Gpu performance boost
+usb-c gen 2
+maybe rose gold colour
did i miss something ?

Hd facetime camera, thunderbolt 3, Bluetooth 4.2 and maybe other surprises could be added ...

 

[boltjames]

Why do the said owners care about the opinion of the "ill-willed and clinically depressed" people???

Because for practically an entire year we can't have a positive conversation about our notebooks without someone jumping in and telling us why the RMB isn't for them and how we are fools for buying one.

The RMB satisfies it's owners needs perfectly. What the rest of you actually want is a revised MacBook Air. These conversations should take place over there for a change, would be nice.

BJ

 

[oneMadRssn]

Anandtech: "In many of our tests, Intel’s 40 percent estimates are actually conservative—both the Cinebench and GFXBench graphics tests suggest that the HD 515 in the new Zenbook can be up to twice as fast as the old HD 5300. That’s not universal, but in any case the improvements are significant and help compensate for the old Core M chip’s anemic graphics performance. The really nice thing about Skylake is that it provides those performance increases while also increasing battery life slightly—the new UX305 managed about half an hour of extra Web browsing compared to the old one, and it lasted an extra 20 minutes or so in the GPU-heavy WebGL test."
So... as experts say, a lot to like about incoming upgrade. And this is only about processor and graphics. We could see more updates like thunderbolt 3, hd facetime camera, higher speed ssd and ram, bluetooth 4.2. Who knows!

But BJ only uses his Macbook for facebook and powerpoint, so it is unimaginable that anyone else would use a Macbook for anything else, and thus no one should be able to use their Macbook for anything else. IF BJ CAN'T HAVE FUN, NO ONE CAN!

 

[joscejrod]

I almost forgot to include higher speed ssd flash storage and ram (maybe as fast as actual macbook pro storage speeds - key upgrades!). Skylake Y: "All chips have up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s ports, 10 lanes of PCI-Express interface, 6 USB2/USB3 ports and eMMC 5.0 interface. They support USB OTG and Rapid Storage Technology 14. The Core m microprocessors work with DDR3L-1600 and LPDDR3-1866 memory, and they are rated at 4.5 watt TDP and 3 watt SDP. They can also run at higher 7 watt TDP if needed."

 

[catalyst07]

It would make everybody's life easier to put the millionaire on ignore.

Just did, thanks for the suggestion I don't need another millionaire telling me what i want, especially when he is not willing to put his money where his mouth is.

Bragging about what you have in a forum is low enought

Now back on topic, where's the new rMB with Skylake and 2 usb ports??

Yes Boltjames errs to the side of troll most of the time, but these comments are way out of line and deeply disturbing to me.

People talk about the growing gap between the haves and have-nots, and making it closer, more equal. But reading these comments as you alienate another user makes be believe that you don't want equality at all.

Our quality of life is so high that we're all "millionaires" with Macbooks and internet connections compared to many people in poorer countries who can only dream of having an Apple Macbook one day.

BTW Rolex sells about 1.2 Million watches per year– by that rationale, that's a lot of "millionaires".

 

[kfscoll]

If Apple does a silent upgrade to the rMB all it will amount to is a processor bump and possibly slightly faster SSDs and/or memory. The addition of TB3 or a form-factor change would almost certainly cause Apple to make a formal announcement and that doesn't look likely.

The point is that the changes coming to the rMB are going to be incremental at best. Sure, you might notice very slightly smoother animations, but for the vast majority of use cases you'll notice no significant performance increase. You still won't be able do any serious 3D gaming on the machine and you certainly won't be running any fancy weather simulations or computational fluid dynamics models. Opening that Word Document or (as BJ likes to point out) accessing Facebook won't happen noticeably more quickly.

Incremental advances are important because after a few of them you get a performance leap that's pretty significant. But all the handwringing about the 2015 rMB vs. the 2016 rMB is pretty silly given how likely it is that this will be nothing more than a silent, spec bump-style update.

The deals that are out there right now and the likelihood of nothing more than a spec-bump in 2016 make it look like a pretty smart move to grab a cheaper 2015 rMB while they're still available.

 

[toddzrx]

Have there been any concrete rumors about a 14" rMB? Im currently using a 2010 15" MBP and its on its last leg. I don't need much horsepower (only use word, excel, and Internet for research and Netflix), so I was thinking the rMB would be a good fit. However, after three years of law school my eyesight went down the ******* and I need extra real estate to be able to effectively have two windows open side by side and see what I'm doing.

I realize that having a larger display would put some extra strain on the system. With the skylake update, could the new core m chips power a 14" screen? Further, if my only real need is to have a large enough screen, yet I still would like to avoid getting a pro or air (simply because both lines are ripe for an update or merger into one line), should I jump on the oportunity to maybe get whatever comes out of those lines or hold out for a larger sized rMB?

There's been plenty of banter and hope for a 14" (me included), but no "official" rumors on it that I'm aware of (like Ming Chi Kuo or Digitimes). I'd also be interested in a 14" MacBook to replace my 2010 iMac, which while still running strong due to an SSD upgrade, will eventually need replacing. A 14" MacBook that docks into an external monitor with a single USB-C cable would be just the ticket for me; it'd spend most of its life docked, but be easy to take on the road when needed.

My advice would be to wait until WWDC to see what Apple introduces. The last 2 WWDC conferences have had no hardware releases, but this year could include them what with all of the laptop lines, plus the Mini and Pro, being well overdue for updates. Introduction of a 14" MacBook could easily happen then, so it might be worth waiting for. Skylake Core M chips will have no problem powering a 14" screen; the new Asus Zenbook UX305CA uses a screen which has significantly more pixels than the current rMB 12" screen. Heck, this would be nice: a 14", 4K resolution MacBook.

 

[Serban]

i hope they can make an update for the thunderbolt display too, for you to use with a single cable a macbook or next macbook pro

 

[navaira]

That Thunderbolt monitor is the worst thing in their entire line-up. As it is now, it should cost maybe $299 in 2016. I have no idea what stops them from using their own 5K screens.

Maybe Tim Cook forgot that they even sell it.

 

[Roller]

If Apple does a silent upgrade to the rMB all it will amount to is a processor bump and possibly slightly faster SSDs and/or memory. The addition of TB3 or a form-factor change would almost certainly cause Apple to make a formal announcement and that doesn't look likely.

The point is that the changes coming to the rMB are going to be incremental at best. Sure, you might notice very slightly smoother animations, but for the vast majority of use cases you'll notice no significant performance increase. You still won't be able do any serious 3D gaming on the machine and you certainly won't be running any fancy weather simulations or computational fluid dynamics models. Opening that Word Document or (as BJ likes to point out) accessing Facebook won't happen noticeably more quickly.

Incremental advances are important because after a few of them you get a performance leap that's pretty significant. But all the handwringing about the 2015 rMB vs. the 2016 rMB is pretty silly given how likely it is that this will be nothing more than a silent, spec bump-style update.

The deals that are out there right now and the likelihood of nothing more than a spec-bump in 2016 make it look like a pretty smart move to grab a cheaper 2015 rMB while they're still available.

I agree that a silent Skylake update, which I expect in the next few months, won't bring major enhancements to rMB performance. I'm holding off because I'd like to take advantage of any improvements, even if they're relatively minor and because I can afford to wait.

I'm even more interested to see what Apple does with the rest of their laptops. I have a 2011 MB Air - it mostly does the job, but is beginning to lag a bit, the SSD is too small, and battery life leaves a lot to be desired. I'd buy another MBA, but I really want (and need) a retina display.

 

[navaira]

I have to say that the idea of rMB at $891 (people mention that in the Best Buy thread) makes me slightly more interested. But then, I live in Europe and we're not getting any amazing prices here, €1365 (current best price in the Netherlands) is much less exciting.

I kind of expect them to keep the current model at $1099 and drop the Air completely. But who knows. Their line-up of everything right now is a complete mess. Maybe they'll keep Air 11, call it Air Pro Mini and increase the price.

 

[Keniutek]

All Apple lineups are a mess. Sooo many iPhones, iPads and notebooks. Names are effed up too .

 

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

Because for practically an entire year we can't have a positive conversation about our notebooks without someone jumping in and telling us why the RMB isn't for them and how we are fools for buying one.

For practically half an year we can't have a positive conversation about the future retina MacBook without you jumping in and telling us we are all wrong.

 

[boltjames]

For practically half an year we can't have a positive conversation about the future retina MacBook without you jumping in and telling us we are all wrong.

There is no 'positive conversation' possible because the future RMB is already in stores and what all of you want is truly impossible. The RMB is going to get thinner and lighter and more efficient and lose more ports. You all want varying degrees of the exact opposite.

Have you tried to have these conversations in the MacBook Air subforum? You know, tell everyone that their notebooks suck and that if they were only like the 12" RMB and were thinner and lighter and had a retina display all would be well with the world? Try it.