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.
Why no rMBP 15 GPU bump?
- Thread starter dexterbell
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No clue how you got it to $1300. I'm at $1,555: $1,655 open box, less 10% and $50, I'm at $1,440 plus 8% tax gives me my $1,555. Given that BH photo is $1800 makes it seem like it's only a mall discount for a used item.
Hieveryone
macrumors 603
yjchua95 nailed it. This is exactly why Apple didn't upgrade it.
It really wouldn't make any sense to release a 1/2 updated MBPr.
I, personally, if I was you wouldn't mind the wait b/c you know when Apple DOES update you will not be disappointed!!!
I'm hoping that Apple skips Broadwell-H and skip to Skylake-H straight away (like what Dell did), bringing DDR4, TB3 (and henceforth DP1.3) plus NVIDIA Maxwell (assuming that they don't do away the dGPU entirely).
But it makes sense to release a new rMBP six months after a previous model with the same Haswell processor and a pathetic .2Ghz clock speed bump with the same GPU as the previous model? 🙄 A two year old GPU that was middle of thee road to begin with being offered in a "new" laptop in 2015 for $2500 is just sad.
Hieveryone
macrumors 603
That's not an update in the truest sense of an Apple update I'm talking about.
I got the 2.6/8/256 in late 2013.
Also, these minor spec updates are just tweaking the existing architecture.
Changing out the graphics card would require more than a speed bump of the processor.
Right, then 6 months later they released the exact same computer with a tiny clock speed bump. That makes sense but updating a 2 year old GPU doesn't?
Hieveryone
macrumors 603
Not if that's the only update. They shouldn't have to change the artitechture for a 1/2 update.
I would like to see CPU and Graphics together...
Yes. Because it makes sense to maintain the architectures of both components rather than just updating one component's architecture and not update the other.
Haswell and Kepler go together. Having Haswell and Maxwell makes it like a half-baked product. Broadwell/Skylake with Maxwell is the complete update.
Every other manufacturer has been releasing laptops with the 800 and 900 series GPUs just fine. I have no idea why the top of the line Mac still sports a two year old 700 series GPU in 2015 and why it's still the same price it was a year ago. At least drop the price, it's outdated tech.
dusk007
macrumors 68040
Maxwell works just as well with Haswell as with Broadwell. There is nothing half-baked about it. Broadwell is entirely unnecessary to realize the performance benefits of Maxwell. Maxwell also has been out for almost a year now. Like Q2 last year it was I think.
I don't get this urge to justify Apple's decisions. They are lazy and since they don't seem to feel any pressure I am guessing people still buy the 750M models, because they don't know better.
For pure performance delivering the Maxwell update in time would do much more than Broadwell, they could take their time with Broadwell.
The tame Apple press just doesn't call them out. If they didn't deliver a Broadwell update for such a long time, things would be different.
Maybe they will kill the dGPU and just go iGPU only in which case it makes sense as the new Iris Pro 6200 will look much better when compare to the 750M than the 850M. I feel like they should be a small redesign to come along with such a move.
I don't get this urge to justify Apple's decisions. They are lazy and since they don't seem to feel any pressure I am guessing people still buy the 750M models, because they don't know better.
For pure performance delivering the Maxwell update in time would do much more than Broadwell, they could take their time with Broadwell.
The tame Apple press just doesn't call them out. If they didn't deliver a Broadwell update for such a long time, things would be different.
Maybe they will kill the dGPU and just go iGPU only in which case it makes sense as the new Iris Pro 6200 will look much better when compare to the 750M than the 850M. I feel like they should be a small redesign to come along with such a move.
Hieveryone
macrumors 603
Actually nope. But it just feels a bit more whole if Maxwell were to be complemented by Broadwell 😀
dusk007
macrumors 68040
No not at all. The quad core Haswell in the MBP could even power some much much faster desktop class GPU without becoming a bottleneck. A 850M or 950M does not need Broadwell. Broadwell is also not really significantly faster at least in not in a way that an existing bottleneck (if there were one) would disappear. CPU speed increases over different generations are relatively small compared to GPUs.
Yep, as I said, there are plenty of Windows laptops coming with Haswell CPUs but 800 or 900 series GPUs and they work just fine. Apple could have easily released a new rMBP 15 with a GPU bump for early 15 and then a late 15 with Broadwell. As you said, Apple has gotten lazy. They prefer to cater to the web browsing and email crowd by releasing an absurd new MacBook. Its clear they couldn't care less anymore about us working pros who need laptops with powerful GPUs. I am probably selling my rMBP 15 and getting a Windows laptop with a 900 series GPU really soon. I just know Apple is going to either drop discrete GPUs altogether on the next rMBP 15, or its only going to carry an 800 series update. Its a shame.
Hieveryone
macrumors 603
Well, when Apple released the iPhone 3G S and added video recording then a video recording app for the iPhone 3G after everyone updated to the 3G S for video recording....we knew they like to milk the cow for all its worth. So yes I would guess 800 series update. Then 900, etc.