Just curious to know why, if the Macbook Pro is the top laptop for most developers, Apple doesn't make one with a Xeon CPU?
Wouldn't this be better for developers?
Wouldn't this be better for developers?
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Macbook Pro with Xeon?
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No. There are a finite number of mobile Xeons — if at all even a mobile version any more — which are considerably more expensive than the more common i7s. This would mean a much higher component and production cost before you even begin, plus less choice of processor and an even slower update cycle due to the comparatively low demand.
Furthermore the per core performance of Xeons are either the same or less than an i7. In a portable machine where performance per watt is highly important, the Xeons just don’t hold up. The heat they put out would also be a concern.
Also it used to be the case (not sure how it is currently) that the Xeons were basically the leading multicore i7 as evidenced by the identical benchmarks, except they were three times the price and supported dual socket (two processors on the same motherboard).
Finally, why would a Xeon be better for developers? Xeons excel for multicore applications which want 8+ processors before hyperthreading. Developers or creatives get far more benefit from a quad core with a higher per-core score. Unless it’s a very niche or extremely resource intensive application utilising many cores, the i7 will outperform the Xeon.
Furthermore the per core performance of Xeons are either the same or less than an i7. In a portable machine where performance per watt is highly important, the Xeons just don’t hold up. The heat they put out would also be a concern.
Also it used to be the case (not sure how it is currently) that the Xeons were basically the leading multicore i7 as evidenced by the identical benchmarks, except they were three times the price and supported dual socket (two processors on the same motherboard).
Finally, why would a Xeon be better for developers? Xeons excel for multicore applications which want 8+ processors before hyperthreading. Developers or creatives get far more benefit from a quad core with a higher per-core score. Unless it’s a very niche or extremely resource intensive application utilising many cores, the i7 will outperform the Xeon.
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First of all, Xeon is just a name. Different Xeon CPUs have different capabilities and features. Most commonly, these are particularly well-tests chips that are expected to be more reliable in the long run, and another common feature is support for error correcting RAM. As keysofanxiety points out, desktop Xeons were traditionally designed for scalability (multiprocessor designs), although this has changed. For example, iMac Pro uses new Xeons that give up the multi-socket support for better performance (and are this better suited for small workstations).
In mobile, Xeons are tricky. If I am not mistaken, using error-correcting RAM has consequences for the battery life so maybe you don’t really want it in a laptop. Also, Xeons are much rarer, which creates an obvious supply bottleneck. Apple’s market share is small compared to other players, but Apple only uses high-tier components. Wow of intel be able to ship millions ofobike Xeons every year? Probably not, unless they simply rebrand their consumer CPU as Xeon. That said, there are some new mobile Xeons announced as part of Coffee Lake line, so who knows...
In mobile, Xeons are tricky. If I am not mistaken, using error-correcting RAM has consequences for the battery life so maybe you don’t really want it in a laptop. Also, Xeons are much rarer, which creates an obvious supply bottleneck. Apple’s market share is small compared to other players, but Apple only uses high-tier components. Wow of intel be able to ship millions ofobike Xeons every year? Probably not, unless they simply rebrand their consumer CPU as Xeon. That said, there are some new mobile Xeons announced as part of Coffee Lake line, so who knows...