Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What to Expect in the Third Generation MacBook
- Thread starter Hellhammer
- WikiPost WikiPost
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Interesting idea. My thinking (and hope
) is that they will decrease the price instead. I feel that the situation is different from the Mac Pro because the Pro is meant as a high-end machine. If (and it is a big IF right now) Apple drops the 13" Macbook air the 12" Macbook would be the least expensive and supposedly entry level notebook.Yeah, I think Apple is definitely trying to "reposition" their product line-up. It's clear with the new iPad that was just introduced, that is simply called "iPad" instead of "iPad Air 3" or something crazy like that. I'd expect "iPad Mini" to simply be the smaller version now, and "iPad Pro" to be the one with pen support and some more "pro features". It's pretty straightforward.
So "MacBook" as a line up may follow suit soon, and eventually become just "MacBook" for casual users versus "MacBook Pro" for more heavy-duty workloads. "Air" is definitely counting days now.
I don't think Apple will want to bundle any high-end GPU with the MacBook any time soon (if ever), nor will the next update be "amazing". You have to see that the MacBook is meant to be a casual word/excel/powerpoint computer, and not a gaming powerhouse. The MacBook Pro 15 has always been the go-to for that if you wanted a MacBook with enough horsepower for gaming. This situation isn't really subject to change any time soon.
But perhaps a Thunderbolt 3 docking station for all MacBooks with a built-in GPU for desktop use is in the cards. We never know. If that's true, then it reinforces Apple waiting until they can do a Thunderbolt 3 MacBook even more.
So "MacBook" as a line up may follow suit soon, and eventually become just "MacBook" for casual users versus "MacBook Pro" for more heavy-duty workloads. "Air" is definitely counting days now.
I don't think Apple will want to bundle any high-end GPU with the MacBook any time soon (if ever), nor will the next update be "amazing". You have to see that the MacBook is meant to be a casual word/excel/powerpoint computer, and not a gaming powerhouse. The MacBook Pro 15 has always been the go-to for that if you wanted a MacBook with enough horsepower for gaming. This situation isn't really subject to change any time soon.
But perhaps a Thunderbolt 3 docking station for all MacBooks with a built-in GPU for desktop use is in the cards. We never know. If that's true, then it reinforces Apple waiting until they can do a Thunderbolt 3 MacBook even more.
Interesting idea. My thinking (and hope
That would be one way to do it, but just looking at what they did to the SE -- they upgraded the memory, seemingly so they didn't have to drop the price, and indeed raised the price on the upgraded model. So Apple seems to have a baseline target they want to hit. Given that, I don't see them dropping the price on the base MB until they have a model they can charge more for -- that could be screen size, it could be TouchBar, maybe even a second port. So I would expect them to do a perfunctory CPU upgrade if available so they can keep the price the same until they are ready to roll out the new model and drop this one in price. That's when they drop the Air for good.
getting a little impatient
same here especially since I just snagged a $1,000 apple gift card for $750 on CL... so I am ready to buy this thing already.
Hi all,
As a normal daily user with upgraded and muscled up 2011 MBP, I believe the time is coming for me to change.
I shifted many times to buy or not to buy the new MBP, where I decided not to because cons are much more than pros.
But, I always kept my eye on the Macbook because of portability and being compact, but never sold myself that it can haul me for at least 4 years.
I see myself a normal daily user with no video, image editing or any other kind that can put too much heat on the CPU or RAM. But, as every single software becoming heavier, I would like the idea of having a faster CPU and 16 GB of ram which will squeeze out few more years on the upcoming software and updates.
According to the Buyers Guide, we should be seeing a new upgrade in Macbook. What do you guys think we will get ?
Thanx.
As a normal daily user with upgraded and muscled up 2011 MBP, I believe the time is coming for me to change.
I shifted many times to buy or not to buy the new MBP, where I decided not to because cons are much more than pros.
But, I always kept my eye on the Macbook because of portability and being compact, but never sold myself that it can haul me for at least 4 years.
I see myself a normal daily user with no video, image editing or any other kind that can put too much heat on the CPU or RAM. But, as every single software becoming heavier, I would like the idea of having a faster CPU and 16 GB of ram which will squeeze out few more years on the upcoming software and updates.
According to the Buyers Guide, we should be seeing a new upgrade in Macbook. What do you guys think we will get ?
Thanx.
Current generation Kaby Lake processors offer very little performance improvement over the previous generation, and the only notable change is the name change from m5/m7 to i5/i7. Other than that, we are not getting much more.
So either Apple will do silent refresh in the upcoming month or so, or they may wait until the end of the year, or even possibly early next year, to introduce new MacBooks with substantial processor upgrades.
So either Apple will do silent refresh in the upcoming month or so, or they may wait until the end of the year, or even possibly early next year, to introduce new MacBooks with substantial processor upgrades.
Last edited by a moderator:
Then just go out and buy one already. Even if a silent refresh comes, it'll be a marginal upgrade.
And if there's no silent refresh, then we're waiting on Intel to release their next generation of processors, which may be very late into the year or possibly early next year.
This is one situation where waiting is sure to be a waste.
And if there's no silent refresh, then we're waiting on Intel to release their next generation of processors, which may be very late into the year or possibly early next year.
This is one situation where waiting is sure to be a waste.
I would be ok with a faster RAM and the new CPU's to be honest.
The problem is, the latest ones are not lok MBP without soldered ram and tamper evident screws for us to upgrade.
Last edited by a moderator:
Im in the waiting camp too... I agree that performance upgrades are probably marginal considering kaby lake, but what if a P3 display thats more efficient (better battery life) and butterfly keyboard gen 2 comes out with the 2017 macbook in 2 weeks! >.< the struggles haha
Faster RAM -> eats up battery -> they won't do it. DDR4 is what you're asking for, and Apple refuses to include it even in the MBP.
And all MacBooks starting from 2016 go with non-upgradable components anyway. Even the MacBook Pro has not been very upgradable since 2012.
P3 improves color space bandwidth and color accuracy, not power consumption. You're looking at probably the same power consumption either way. Even if it were to improve battery life, it won't be significant. The reason why the 2016 MacBook Pros got a screen with reduced battery consumption was due to the technology they tried out in the 2015 MacBook to begin with -> meaning the MacBook is already in a state where the only improvement would be in CPU, RAM, and etc... and not the display.
And butterfly gen 2 keyboard is just as horribad as gen 1. Both have very low amount of key travel and feel like touch keyboards rather than real keyboards. In fact, it's worse because it's louder to type with. I'm already annoyed enough with gen 1.
Buying this on the day it comes to the market. With all the hassles I have had with the 2016 MBP, two returns due to hardware, non-responsive black screen when disconnecting from external display), and one with a bent chassis, I am returning for the MacBook 12". The Touch Bar was fun for a week, it was different, but didn't change the way I used a computer intentionally. It changed the way I type, because I had to throw away 25 years of typing history to avoid performing involuntary actions while using the keyboard. I had to completely stop and rethink when I used number keys, afraid I may discard changes I have done or loose focus.
I got the third MBP 2016 15" refunded and is back on my trustworthy MacBook Gold 1.2GHz 512GB, which I got for 899 dollars. Best bargain ever and it doesn't have a Touch Bar. Can it be called change if you don't care about the difference?
I want thunderbolt 3 ports and two of them. You may kill the audio jack. I am one bluetooth for external sound anyways. At least 4K 60hz native support without third party dongles for external displays. My 2015 model is able to run 4K@60hz with the dongle linked at the bottom of my post, but I would like a smoother transition. No double or triple cabled bridging just to get basic stuff up and running.
4K 60hz MacBook compatible USB-C to DP adapter
http://club-3d.com/index.php/produc...b-3d-usb-31-type-c-to-displayport-12-uhd.html
I got the third MBP 2016 15" refunded and is back on my trustworthy MacBook Gold 1.2GHz 512GB, which I got for 899 dollars. Best bargain ever and it doesn't have a Touch Bar. Can it be called change if you don't care about the difference?
I want thunderbolt 3 ports and two of them. You may kill the audio jack. I am one bluetooth for external sound anyways. At least 4K 60hz native support without third party dongles for external displays. My 2015 model is able to run 4K@60hz with the dongle linked at the bottom of my post, but I would like a smoother transition. No double or triple cabled bridging just to get basic stuff up and running.
4K 60hz MacBook compatible USB-C to DP adapter
http://club-3d.com/index.php/produc...b-3d-usb-31-type-c-to-displayport-12-uhd.html
I'm always interested when posters suggest others should just buy products when even if the update is small. They'd still be wasting money.
The update for 2017 might be small but either way it's likely to bring 2016 and 2015 models down in price.
I don't know why anyone who is not in desperate need for a new MacBook would buy one immediately.
By that logic, the 2018 model will also bring down the 2017 model's price, and will only be 8-9 months away (probably the timeline we're looking at right now for the 2017 MacBook considering there is still no sign of a silent upgrade) and the 2019 model will also bring down the 2018's price, and so on...
You might as well wait forever for the best possible deal.
Well 2018 is a whole lot further than 2017. I don't think waiting a whole year for the next model is worth it, but waiting a month? I think totally worth it... especially considering how Sierra arbitrarily excluded 2009 Macs when 2010 Macs which were only tiny improvements over the older gen got Sierra.
Sierra's exclusion of anything before Late 2009 Mac is due to lack of SSE4.1 support on some older Mac computers. There is nothing that Kaby Lake offers that Skylake doesn't, so there are less chances of that happening here. Also, we're discussing a machine from 8 years ago in that sense.
And wait a month for what? Apple just did a silent update to the Mac Pro a short while ago (read: few days ago). If they had wanted a silent refresh of the MacBook, they would have done it back then as well.
As it is, I think if a refresh of the MacBook is to come at all, it'll be around WWDC time.
Late 2010 MBA here, the last model with a Core 2 Duo. Even though ancient by today's standards, even compared to the rMB, I'm still amazed the way it has held up over all these years.
I'm in exactly the same boat. The reasons why I'm waiting for an update to the rMB:
(1) The other two releases were around this time.
(2) Hoping for a price drop (no more MBA? 14" rMB model?)
(3) Hoping for a price drop (crappy USD to CAD exchange rate
(4) Gen. 2 butterfly keyboard (felt like deeper key travel to me)
I can most likely last the summer waiting, but in September I may get the current rMB because my MBA 11" reduced battery life is starting to be an inconvenience.
You're using your MB exactly the way Apple expects you to. However, I'm sure Apple is not ready to drop the audio port just yet, especially since they don't appear to be ready to support USB-C audio, or Lightning products on the Mac yet. And as others have pointed out, there's no guarantee that Apple would replace the port with anything, much less a second USB-C port. If the MB 3 ends up being a mere spec bump, it will be at least another year before Apple addresses the audio port. I feel like the MB is the prototype for changes to the Mac, and we'll see radical changes there first, just like the iPhone will see them first over the iPad. The MB is moving toward the iPad as a hardware platform, and for three years then, its customers will have been trained to use a single port, and increasingly rely on wireless.
The bottom line is that the MB is likely a consumer oriented ultra-portable, targeted at customers who came to Apple via the iPhone and iPad. It's meant to be used on the go, or at least on the couch, with wireless cloud support. If a customer wants or needs to use a hard-wired accessory, then there's a port for that. If a customer needs a full blown desktop, or "pro" experience, then Apple assumes you'll plug in a hub that allows that kind of expansion, or you'll upgrade, no need to provide additional ports. I originally expected to see Apple support Lightning audio across all platforms, but now that it's clear they aren't, and aren't supporting USB-C audio either, then it's clear they are focused on wireless audio despite the inherent quality compromise. With any luck, by maintaining the status quo for another year, wireless quality will improve, but in any event products like AirPods, and a jack-less iPhone will make customers more comfortable with wireless audio, as it becomes more affordable and ubiquitous. If anything the next gen MB will only get thinner and lighter, making the addition of extra ports even less likely, even if they remove the headphone jack, which is actually a major stumbling block to making the MB any thinner. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see the USB-C port go away altogether as high speed wireless comes to fruition, along with wireless charging; or maybe an entry level model without it, like the 2-port MBP. But that'll likely be a few more years away yet.
What about thermal throttling? The first gen was just bad and the second one is okayish but still lucklaster. I understand the MacBook is not supposed to sustained prolonged periods of high CPU utilization but wanted to know if kabylake will push its boundaries or just a minor performance increase with nothing else.