Will the next 12" MacBook have Thunderbolt 3?

[sergiobaschi]

As the title says. That would make it really interesting for me. I am currently on a iMac + dual MBP setup (one private MBP, one provided by my employer); however, in August I'll get a new MBP from my employer and I'm thinking of replacing the iMac with an eGPU and three external monitors and simply connect my work-machine whenever I need the pixels.

It would be awesome though to also have something teeny tiny, that also could benefit from the eGPU, such as a 12" MacBook. The Air – yes, but I had the 11" MBA and actually think the 13" is too big to be considered small 🙂

 

[Chidorin]

if it is 10nm cpus then yes as tb3 is built-in and should even have a decreased latency (idk how much of improvement for egpu it should be) though Y series can be a bottleneck for your gpu

 

[bill-p]

It may but I would say that's not very ideal for eGPU. Depending on the GPU, you'd want to have at least a quad-core mobile CPU to extract enough performance out of it, otherwise you will run into CPU bottleneck and it may not even be faster than your integrated graphics at driving multiple displays.

Another factor would be bandwidth. Thunderbolt 3 starves more powerful GPUs off of bandwidth, so anything more powerful than GeForce GTX 1070/2060 or 580 will be severely starved when running at higher resolutions, and especially when you try to drive multiple monitors. I know because I have tried it. You need at least a quad-core MacBook Pro (15") in order to have a half decent experience and not a slideshow.

So with that said, having TB3 in the MacBook 12" would be kinda pointless. The CPU is just not fast enough for any eGPU solution to make sense. On the other hand, if you are thinking MacBook Pro, then TB3 makes more sense there.

 

[Macalway]

Prediction:

Sept release. 12" (best seller) MacBook. 10nm 1.6ghz/3.2ghz (base), TB3 (left side), USB-C (right side), Micro LED?
Anyway, improved this and that and everyone is happy.

Or less angry, I should say 😀

 

[lambertjohn]

Prediction:

Sept release. 12" (best seller) MacBook. 10nm 1.6ghz/3.2ghz (base), TB3 (left side), USB-C (right side), Micro LED?
Anyway, improved this and that and everyone is happy.

Or less angry, I should say 😀

Who is "everyone"? It's going to have to be millions of people to make it worth Apple's while. And millions are already buying the 2018 Air instead. I'm just saying...

 

[Macalway]

Who is "everyone"? It's going to have to be millions of people to make it worth Apple's while. And millions are already buying the 2018 Air instead. I'm just saying...

Well....i'm not claiming millions, but there are a few. The chosen few 😀

 

[Chidorin]

Heard of tigerlake (after icelake) having an increased TDP from 5 to 9, may be because of increased core numbers from 2 to 4. And if it is 4 cores on 2+ Ghz then it is definitely enough for middle class gpu to boost casual work (mac work) up to desktop class on 1080p-1440p resolutions, but it is a big question whether there will be intel macbook 12 with 9W (throttling?) in 2020

 

[CPL593H]

Prediction:

Sept release. 12" (best seller) MacBook. 10nm 1.6ghz/3.2ghz (base), TB3 (left side), USB-C (right side), Micro LED?
Anyway, improved this and that and everyone is happy.

Or less angry, I should say 😀

Don’t need Micro LED but reduced bezels would be much appreciated. Bought the 2018 MBA and I like it, but really want the footprint of the MB. Update it and I’ll buy the second the store comes back online.