What to Expect in the Third Generation MacBook

[C64]

Does anybody know what kind of difference HD 615 has vs 515?

About 20% faster I believe and it supports H.265/HEVC and VP9, so you have hardware accelerated encoding and decoding for those new codecs. Not sure how much encoding people will be doing on the MacBook, but at least it'll be good for 4K playback.

Also why do they call the processors i5 and i7 now? Seems unnecessarily confusing.

People started to associate the "m" line with low-end CPUs, which they are, but Intel feels like they're more on-par with the regular "i" series. So it's mostly marketing because it sounds a lot better, and the average consumer doesn't have a clue that there's an actual difference. Even in this CNET review Dan Ackerman doesn't seem to realize they're just the upgraded m5 and m7.

 

[Peter Abs]

The only thing I miss from this update is the lack of Thunderbolt 3 USB-C. I hope the next iteration has it!

Yea it'd be really useful for connecting an external display and using it as a hub with full speed USB peripherals rather than having them brought down to USB 2.0

Actually, now that I think about it, does it only go down to USB 2.0 when you connect to an external display at 4K resolution or would you have full speed USB if the display is at 1080p?

 

[Qu1ckset]

Yea it'd be really useful for connecting an external display and using it as a hub with full speed USB peripherals rather than having them brought down to USB 2.0

Actually, now that I think about it, does it only go down to USB 2.0 when you connect to an external display at 4K resolution or would you have full speed USB if the display is at 1080p?

If your using 1080p or 1440p displays you still get USB3.0 , if you connect to a 4K display you only get USB2.0

 

[Peter Abs]

If your using 1080p or 1440p displays you still get USB3.0 , if you connect to a 4K display you only get USB2.0

That's really helpful info, thanks!

 

[Appleaker]

Yea I haven't used my webcam a single time in the 14 months I have my MacBook!

The only thing I expected that didn't happen is the brighter p3 wide colour gamut display from the MacBook Pro.

Does anybody know what kind of difference HD 615 has vs 515?

Also why do they call the processors i5 and i7 now? Seems unnecessarily confusing.

Because Intel rebranded them. Part of the reason they rebranded them to avoid confusion and I think Apple could have helped this by not including the "m3" processor, and sticking to i5 and i7 like people are used to.
The m3 processor is now aimed at tablets primarily which is why it kept the "m" branding.

 

[C64]

Because Intel rebranded them. Part of the reason they rebranded them to avoid confusion and I think Apple could have helped this by not including the "m3" processor, and sticking to i5 and i7 like people are used to.
The m3 processor is now aimed with tablets or low power notebooks which is why it kept the "m" branding.

The MacBook is a low-power notebook. The confusion isn't the m3, it's that the i5 and i7 can now refer to the rebranded m5 and m7 (still 4.5W), or the more powerful i5 and i7 (15W). Omitting the m3 from the lineup doesn't change that, and would only take away a perfectly fine CPU.

 

[Ma2k5]

The only thing I miss from this update is the lack of Thunderbolt 3 USB-C. I hope the next iteration has it!

Very disappointing upgrade. Lack of thunderbolt and still no webcam upgrade. #480plife

Also very surprised at no P3 screen.

 

[Appleaker]

The MacBook is a low-power notebook. The confusion isn't the m3, it's that the i5 and i7 can now refer to the rebranded m5 and m7 (still 4.5W), or the more powerful i5 and i7 (15W). Omitting the m3 from the lineup doesn't change that, and would only take away a perfectly fine CPU.

I completely understand that, it was a separate point. Should have made that clear, sorry.

 

[KPOM]

Very disappointing upgrade. Lack of thunderbolt and still no webcam upgrade. #480plife

Also very surprised at no P3 screen.

The Kaby Lake chipset doesn't support TB3 natively. That is supposed to change with the next generation.

 

[navaira]

Very disappointing upgrade. Lack of thunderbolt and still no webcam upgrade. #480plife

Also very surprised at no P3 screen.

Well, somebody has to buy the 13" rMBP I guess?

I prefer the rMB simply because of weight and tapered edge (rMBP 2015 tried to slit my wrists all the time). Sure, screen and webcam could do with an upgrade. But look at Air 2017...

 

[fokmik]

This 2017 model is better than last gen :
1) better cpu with supporting latest codecs
2) better gpu
3) supports higher resolutions monitors
4) bluetooth from 4.0 to 4.2
5) better keyboard
6) better anti reflecting coating
7) better ssd

 

[C64]

6) better anti reflecting coating

Hmm.. haven't seen that one before. Do you have a link/source?

 

[Peter Abs]

Hmm.. haven't seen that one before. Do you have a link/source?

I think it's more speculation though.

 

[fokmik]

This 2017 model is better than last gen :
1) better cpu with supporting latest codecs
2) better gpu
3) supports higher resolutions monitors
4) bluetooth from 4.0 to 4.2
5) better keyboard
6) better anti reflecting coating
7) better ssd

8) Intel speed shift technology

 

[iliasp]

I think it's more speculation though.

Placebo mixed with some from the ipad improvements, chassis is the same, screen is the same, battery the same, many of the chips are the same

 

[trerep]

really disappointed me too

no p3 screen
no webcam upgrade

 

[C64]

I think it's more speculation though.

Not really definitive indeed. It could be, but I think it's more likely they didn't change anything to that whole screen and just kept it the same. It doesn't have the p3 from the MBP, so it's not like they're both coming off the (exact) same production line.

Those SSD speeds though... 683/996 vs. 1137/1312 (w/r). Awesome!

 

[ARK]

This 2017 model is better than last gen :
1) better cpu with supporting latest codecs
2) better gpu
3) supports higher resolutions monitors
4) bluetooth from 4.0 to 4.2
5) better keyboard
6) better anti reflecting coating
7) better ssd

These are all great but most people won't notice the differences.
1) Will light duty users even notice? They are still m5 and m7 processors just rebranded.
2) Will light duty users even notice a difference? People aren't gaming on this machine.
3) YES a big one!!! The 2016 model does 4K right? Will the 2017 do 5K?
4) Whats different about 4.2?
5) Could be nice for some people. I was ok with Gen 1.
6) Negligible.
7) Will light duty users even notice?
8) Intel Speed Shift Tech - what is this?
9) Up to 16gb Ram - as a light duty laptop would anyone make use of all 16gb?

To me a great deal on a 2016 model would be the way to go. If they had added an extra USB-C on the 2017 model then it might be different.

 

[C64]

These are all great but most people won't notice the differences.
1) Will light duty users even notice? They are still m5 and m7 processors just rebranded.
2) Will light duty users even notice a difference? People aren't gaming on this machine.
3) YES a big one!!! The 2016 model does 4K right? Will the 2017 do 5K?
4) Whats different about 4.2?
5) Could be nice for some people. I was ok with Gen 1.
6) Negligible.
7) Will light duty users even notice?
8) Intel Speed Shift Tech - what is this?
9) Up to 16gb Ram - as a light duty laptop would anyone make use of all 16gb?

To me a great deal on a 2016 model would be the way to go. If they had added an extra USB-C on the 2017 model then it might be different.

1) 4K video will be used more and more, and it's nice to play that without things heating up too much.
4) Pretty much the same things with each update: increased security, better connections, faster transfers, more power-efficient, etc. Whether anyone will notice that with day-to-day use.. doubtful.
7) According to this review the speed increase is quite significant. You'll definitely notice that with copying larger files (don't have to be a power user for that), overall system performance, and swapping in case you do run out of RAM.
9) Light users tend to not manage their tabs/apps that much, if at all, as many power users have learned to do. So I'd say that when you're just opening up new windows, a ton of power-hungry Chrome apps and more and more apps in general without a second thought, you'll run out of the default 8GB pretty quick and 16GB will actually make a noticeable difference.

If any of this is worth it when you can buy a 2016 model with a nice discount? Really depends on the person, how they use it, if they mind the keyboard, etc. Both are good models, and if you can spare the cash the 2017 is simply a slightly better version with small incremental improvements that'll last you just a bit longer.

 

[bill-p]

1. CPU and codec improvements will likely show up in FCP. Not gonna make much of a difference elsewhere.

2. GPU is much the same. Not better. Also the video processor is on the GPU. Specs say the 615 is exactly the 515 down to the numbers.

3. Higher resolution support is a slip-up on Apple's side, I think. Intel still lists 3840 x 2160 as maximum at 60Hz.

7. SSD improvement is nice but you're limited to USB 2.0 speed when a 4K display is connected. So it doesn't matter. Plus in day to day use, the CPU will still be the limiting factor in this case. It's in stark contrast to the other MacBooks where SSD improvements make a lot of difference.

8. Speedshift is also already there on Skylake. The 2016 models already have it. It manifests in the way the machine handles the CPU in order to more efficiently reduce power consumption.

9. I barely use more than 8GB of RAM with light photo editing work in Capture One and running simultaneous Linux and Windows VMs. Use Safari instead of Chrome. Chrome is a massive resource hog now after dropping Webkit, and even Firefox is lighter on resources.

 

[toddzrx]

This 2017 model is better than last gen :
1) better cpu with supporting latest codecs
2) better gpu
3) supports higher resolutions monitors
4) bluetooth from 4.0 to 4.2
5) better keyboard
6) better anti reflecting coating
7) better ssd

These are all great but most people won't notice the differences.
1) Will light duty users even notice? They are still m5 and m7 processors just rebranded.
2) Will light duty users even notice a difference? People aren't gaming on this machine.
3) YES a big one!!! The 2016 model does 4K right? Will the 2017 do 5K?
4) Whats different about 4.2?
5) Could be nice for some people. I was ok with Gen 1.
6) Negligible.
7) Will light duty users even notice?
8) Intel Speed Shift Tech - what is this?
9) Up to 16gb Ram - as a light duty laptop would anyone make use of all 16gb?

This 2017 spec bump is just that: it keeps the computer up to date but it's no game changer. I do think it was wise to offer 16GB RAM. For me, I won't be buying any computer with less than that. My current machine is a 2010 iMac that I bought used in late 2012. I did the SSD surgery on it, and promptly bought another 4GB of RAM. 4GB was fine 5 years ago, but now? Not so much. If you want to future-proof your purchase, I'd go with 16GB.

If they had added an extra USB-C on the 2017 model then it might be different.

Hopefully we'll see that in the next year or 2 when Intel integrates TB3 directly on the processor.

 

[fruitninja]

This 2017 model is better than last gen :
1) better cpu with supporting latest codecs
2) better gpu
3) supports higher resolutions monitors
4) bluetooth from 4.0 to 4.2
5) better keyboard
6) better anti reflecting coating
7) better ssd

Where can I find more info on 3) and 6)? I haven't found really, outside this thread.

 

[2457248]

from early benchmarks it seems that the new m3 kabylake scores higher than the previous m7 skylake, which is quite impressive.

 

[kiranmk2]

The benchmarks I've seen show the m3 just about matching the the i5 2015 13" MBP in single and multicore performance which is amazing. No doubt the i5 and i7 will push past them so I'm very interested to see how this years model squares up in real life.

 

[fokmik]

it is a nice addition, i dont think the 2016 users should update, but it is a difference from 2015 gen 1 that i have
It is a lot faster, snappier,thanks to intel speed shift Tech i guess
So who wants to upgrade from first gen it is a better machine that everybody will notice, but i dont think those who already has 2016 model should update.