When will we see a quad core 13 MBP

[mashinhead]

I'm just curious about this. I know heat and battery are issues at this size, but one of the great things I think they did with the new iPads was keep the specs the same. It helps keep you device agnostic because the experiences are consistent between both devices, you just pick a screen size.

 

[durkkin]

I'm just curious about this. I know heat and battery are issues at this size, but one of the great things I think they did with the new iPads was keep the specs the same. It helps keep you device agnostic because the experiences are consistent between both devices, you just pick a screen size.

Most likely never unless they drop the clock speed down to MBA level. Biggest differentiating factor in the iPads is storage capacity and screen size. It's in Apple's favor to make their specs equal (for many reasons). With computers, it is in Apple's best interest to have multiple levels of specs. They do the same thing with the MBA and the iMac. It's doubtful they will ever put a quad core in a 13" MBP and leave that to the 15" MBP.

 

[simon48]

Not unless Intel changes the way they make their CPUs (maybe never) or Apple changes CPU architectures (not anytime soon if ever). Intel's quad cores just don't work with the 13 inches. Also for most things the dual cores they use now would be faster.

 

[Zyiros]

Never? It does actually really need quad-core, but the processor does actually virtually run as a quad-core.

 

[simonsi]

Not unless Intel changes the way they make their CPUs (maybe never) or Apple changes CPU architectures (not anytime soon if ever). Intel's quad cores just don't work with the 13 inches. Also for most things the dual cores they use now would be faster.

Sorry which physical aspect(s) rule out putting a quad-core in the 13" case other than speed/heat??

 

[simon48]

Never? It does actually really need quad-core, but the processor does actually virtually run as a quad-core.

What? Are you talking about hyper-threading? Yes, the dual cores have 4 threads, but the the quad cores have hyper-threading too so they have 8 threads.

Sorry which physical aspect(s) rule out putting a quad-core in the 13" case other than speed/heat??

None that I can think of. With today's CPUs, cost and heat are big ones. But the biggest one is that it would be a downgrade in performance for the main basic tasks for most people because of how slow the clock speed would need to be to keep the CPU cool. There really isn't an upside to trying to put a quad core in a 13" right now.

 

[Zyiros]

What? Are you talking about hyper-threading? Yes, the dual cores have 4 threads, but the the quad cores have hyper-threading too so they have 8 threads.

Yes. Although I've never heard of anybody having problems with a dual core 13" MBP.

 

[yjchua95]

Sorry which physical aspect(s) rule out putting a quad-core in the 13" case other than speed/heat??

None, unless you know how to break the laws of physics.

 

[dylin]

I'm just going to say when the Broadwell chips come out because intel said that those would be much more targeted towards tablets. with that said, if they can put a nice CPU in a tablet for good battery life, and no need for a fan.

 

[leman]

This is very easy to answer: the moment Intel will release sub 30W quad-core CPUs. This will most certainly happen with Skylake (late 2015/early 2016) and could also be a possibility with Broadwell later this year.