2018 Macbook Pro Lineup

[imationlh]

Bring back MagSafe or an updated, smaller version of it. I would also like a 15" Pro without the Touchbar. I'd like to continually upgrade my Apple hardware, but they are making that difficult with each release.

 

[oldtime]

Bring back MagSafe or an updated, smaller version of it. I would also like a 15" Pro without the Touchbar. I'd like to continually upgrade my Apple hardware, but they are making that difficult with each release.

Both of those things are on my wishlist.

I do think Apple will eventually introduce a breakaway/magsafe usb-c cable.

 

[ZapNZs]

I do think Apple will eventually introduce a breakaway/magsafe usb-c cable.

I'm still baffled by why they haven't already. USB-C is awesome. Why don't they take the awesomeness that is USB-C and combine it with the best part of MagSafe? As Apple has recently done things like FaceID and cramming all that power in the tiny iMac Pro, it doesn't seem like this would present Apple with a very substantial engineering challenge...

 

[HexEgg]

MacBook Pro 15

CPU: Intel i7 Quad-Core, i7 8709G
GPU: Dedicated, AMD Vega M GH 4GB VRAM (should be 8GB but HBM2 is expensive and intel didn't release it)
Ram: 32GB (Now possible as VRAM is integrated into CPU dye and its space can be used for DDR4?)
Storage: 2TB
ThunderBolt: 4x

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I hope they won't go with the Intel G chips and will use normal H family with 6 cores and recently announced at CES separate Mobile Vega chips with 4/8GB or vram. As of 32Gb of RAM I doubt it since the 8th gen Intel chips still don't support low voltage DDR4 memory thus Apple will yet again stick with DDR3LP this year. And there will be no Thunderbolt 4 for at least 2-3 years, so forget about it. I also hope they will make a new layered battery for Pro series as they do for 12" Macbooks which would give it more juice.

 

[Maxx Power]

I'm still baffled by why they haven't already. USB-C is awesome. Why don't they take the awesomeness that is USB-C and combine it with the best part of MagSafe? As Apple has recently done things like FaceID and cramming all that power in the tiny iMac Pro, it doesn't seem like this would present Apple with a very substantial engineering challenge...

I suspect it has to do with the high speed data transmission over USB-C, which requires small and delicate conductors. You can either engineer a USB-C-to-MagSafe adapter for power-only, or for power and data. With the small and delicate conductors for high-speed digital transmission, you probably can't build a MagSafe-style adapter for both power and data while preserving good transmission characteristics because the data pins over the magnetic coupling would necessitate very small contacts with low inductance and low resistance while the power transmission pins are much bigger. This is probably an engineering limitation for now, as there are magnetically-coupled USB-A 2.0 cables, where the transmission rates are much lower (so conductors and contacts can be bigger). You can theoretically build a MagSafe power-only adapter for USB-C, but I think it is unlikely for Apple to use a clunky work-around like this just to keep MagSafe alive for power-only.

 

[meteoreos]

They won’t bring back MagSafe as Apple doesn’t want a port with just one purpose. The USB-C breakaway thing is more realistic, and didn’t we see patents relating to this a few months ago?

I hope we see some new battery tech. Seriously, every other aspect of technology has been advanced somewhat, but batteries are still relatively the same in laptops anyway.

 

[ls1dreams]

Has intel announced any 28w equivalent that would work for 13" macbooks yet? (quad core + decent iris graphics?)

I've only seen leaks of the i5-8300H/i5-8400H, but those are 45w chips with a weak Intel HD 630 chip.
[doublepost=1516461746][/doublepost]

I think since many years ago, you could TDP-up or TDP-down on CPU packages. Apple typically has allowed higher maximal sustained TDP on their 13" Macbook Pros.

What I'm worried about with dynamic tuning of TDP values is that every architecture and process node has a sweet spot for performance per watt. If you push too much below or above, you might as well go for a different setup all together. That same 65 Watt chip, if ran at 45 Watts may not be competitive with a 15 Watt CPU + 30 Watt GPU combo, due to it operating way out of its sweet spot. That's a general principal, but conceivably, AMD and Intel could design a lower TDP chip from the ground-up for Apple's 13" Macbook Pros, but I have no idea how realistic this expectation is. Should this actually happen, I would love to have that in the Mac Mini as well.

Apple seems to have done a really good job handling a balance of thermal throttling and noise on their new imac pros. Hopefully whatever the figure out for quad core 13" mbp's will be similar, but obviously we have yet to see what intel will put out for this.

 

[Maxx Power]

Has intel announced any 28w equivalent that would work for 13" macbooks yet? (quad core + decent iris graphics?)

I've only seen leaks of the i5-8300H/i5-8400H, but those are 45w chips with a weak Intel HD 630 chip.
[doublepost=1516461746][/doublepost]

Apple seems to have done a really good job handling a balance of thermal throttling and noise on their new imac pros. Hopefully whatever the figure out for quad core 13" mbp's will be similar, but obviously we have yet to see what intel will put out for this.

Nothing as far as I know. Only rumours exist. It would seem that Intel is going to develop new GPUs, not sure how that affects decent iGPUs in their CPUs for 8000+ series onward.

 

[Queen6]

I'm still baffled by why they haven't already. USB-C is awesome. Why don't they take the awesomeness that is USB-C and combine it with the best part of MagSafe? As Apple has recently done things like FaceID and cramming all that power in the tiny iMac Pro, it doesn't seem like this would present Apple with a very substantial engineering challenge...

Simple USB C is a recognised standard inclusive of the provided cable, should Apple deviate beyond the standard it will have ramifications i.e. you cant sell and market USB C if the included hardware no longer meets the standard. Others get away with it as they are just selling a cable and highly likely are very carful with the wording,

Undoubtedly Apple could easily design & produce, equally Apple is answerable to many governing bodies and must comply to multiple standards to attain approval.

Q-6