I doubt Apple will offer a discrete GPU option for the new MacBook Pros because of how thin they are and the power consumption.
The m470x is a rebrand of last years card meaning it is 28nm and will consume a lot of power (and is larger physically).
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New MacBook Pro thickness + GPU
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I doubt Apple will offer a discrete GPU option for the new MacBook Pros because of how thin they are and the power consumption.
The m470x is a rebrand of last years card meaning it is 28nm and will consume a lot of power (and is larger physically).
MS managed it in their Surface Pro. If Apple did 3 things in the rMBP refresh, I'd be really happy:
1) Keeping some form of MagSafe. (unlikely)
2) dGPU option, and a decent dGPU at that (quite unlikely)
3) Quad-core option for the 13" (very unlikely)
And hopefully a silent hardware upgrade cycle every 6-9 months. That might be too much to hope for though
Regardless, I'm going to stay optimistic and vote YES that Apple will keep a dGPU option!
1) Keeping some form of MagSafe. (unlikely)
2) dGPU option, and a decent dGPU at that (quite unlikely)
3) Quad-core option for the 13" (very unlikely)
And hopefully a silent hardware upgrade cycle every 6-9 months. That might be too much to hope for though
Regardless, I'm going to stay optimistic and vote YES that Apple will keep a dGPU option!
I feel exactly the same as the 13 inch is the best form factor in my opinion but it lacks power. Despite this, the redesign and new features will differentiate it from the Macbook and MacBook Air so I'm not sure Apple need to focus on power in their perspective.
The new MacBook Pro may not have MagSafe, but looking at leaked images, there is an unusually large gap there. I created a scaled diagram of the new MacBook and it turns out that adding a 3rd port on the left side fits perfectly and makes the ports symmetrical with the right side!
The new MacBook Pro may not have MagSafe, but looking at leaked images, there is an unusually large gap there. I created a scaled diagram of the new MacBook and it turns out that adding a 3rd port on the left side fits perfectly and makes the ports symmetrical with the right side!
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The 13 inch has never had a dGPU and it never will have they just don't fit within apples thermal design for that form factor, simple as that.
The only thin light 13 inch laptop to have dGPU option is the surface book and the 640m they used sits in the base not the tablet half they had to split the device to do it. It costs $2500 and the 640m is not much better than the graphics slated for the skylake rMBP with 64mb eDRAM.
The only thin light 13 inch laptop to have dGPU option is the surface book and the 640m they used sits in the base not the tablet half they had to split the device to do it. It costs $2500 and the 640m is not much better than the graphics slated for the skylake rMBP with 64mb eDRAM.
Yeah I know the 13" will never have a dGPU but it's what all pro users want. The one in the Surface Book is very underpowered and, as you say, not that much more powerful than the Iris 550. The area that needs improving in my opinion is the vRAM.
In terms of power measured in Teraflops, the Iris Pro 580 outperforms the current dedicated option on the 15" so they are likely to drop is in favour of thinness. However they may have a lower power, smaller alternative since they are announcing them later in the year when the true 14nm mobile AMD cards will be released. That being said, the only ones being released are ones suitable for the iMac.
I think they should go back to Nvidia.
DDR4 will be a bit of a game changer for vram on integrated graphics it will make dedicated vram less important, I just don't see any companies bothering with dGPU's at all for anything but gaming laptops after the next 3-4 years they just won't be necessary. Apple won't go back to NVIDIA in the foreseeable future if ever, they just don't want to support their proprietary nonsense (I know hypocritical).
Hmmm... I think it is possible for Apple to go back to Nvidia If/when AMD have a failed release or a rebrand that is massively behind Nvidia or if there are major delays with Nvidia. Otherwise, they look to be sticking with AMD.
I agree, DDR4 is going to be major and slowly, the gap is going to be closed between integrated and laptop dGPUs (although they will never be equal in performance per generation). I really worry that Apple is going to kill the dGPU on desktops. They already have on the Mac mini and iMac 21.5" and there is no real purpose to doing that. They should at least have 1 model with a dGPU. Another reason which makes me believe Apple will disregard dGPUs is because of the increase of external GPU enclosures. Dedicated GPUs will eventually become one of those things (with Macs anyway) where consumers will buy an external GPU if they need it but most won't because integrated will be more than sufficient. We are not there yet but it will happen soon.
Apple`s smart new we are on the brink of TB3 Apple will likely have an option for the new 5K TB display with builtin dGPU and drop the dPU in the rMBP as soon as it can. dGPU has always proved to be problematic in portable Mac`s, now they have a solution, less headache more profit.
Q-6
Q-6
According to every leak, Apple is using Polaris 11 for the new notebooks, so im not sure why you jump the conclusion they are reusing a rebrand. Literally every rumor.
And it just so happens one of the things AMD is really touting with Polaris is a low z profile.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10413/amd-teases-future-radeon-rx-470-radeon-rx-460-cards
So I wouldnt lose hope.
And it just so happens one of the things AMD is really touting with Polaris is a low z profile.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10413/amd-teases-future-radeon-rx-470-radeon-rx-460-cards
So I wouldnt lose hope.
I don't need or want a discrete GPU but I do want at least 3 USB ports if one is to be used for power.
Trust me, I am aware of every rumour (there have been no leaks). I did not jump to that conclusion, I did research. And if you had done research too, you would see that the r9 m470x (which would replace the current rMBP m370x) is a rebrand of a 300 series card (which was a rebrand of a 200 series card). While admittedly, it is a rebrand of the m385x (currently found in the iMac), that was not my point; the power consumption would be too high. That is why I said that I believe they would not have a dGPU, I didn't say they would use the rebrands. The m470x is 28nm and with the new body, there is simply not the space nor the battery capacity.
That being said, the battery capacity will not be too far off the current one due to better tech and smaller components. This means that, along with the much more power efficient cpu, a dGPU is still a possibility. If this were true, it may provide a reason why they were not introduced at WWDC; with the m470x being a rebrand of the m385x, they did not want a MacBook Pro that outperformed a 27" iMac (therefore they introduce the new models at the same time).
The links you mentioned are referring have to the respective desktop cards and mentioning actual Polaris 11 (14nm) cards. These cards will be used in the new iMacs.
These links may be helpful if you are confused:
http://www.amd.com/en-gb/products/graphics/notebook/r9-m200
http://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-m400-mobility-lineup-leak/
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I know but they aim to kill the dedicated GPU in order to save space and simplify components (as well as to decrease the cost). The Iris Pro 580 is actually a significant step up for integrated graphics and DDR4 will help a lot. Even then, I don't like the direction it is going since the professional laptops are supposed to be just that: portable machines that can do professional work on the go. Having to sit down at a desk and start plugging stuff in to get a GPU for work is not the best solution. I think it is good for other laptops though and it makes sense for a lot of users as long as the integrated is good.
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Hopefully it is 4 if my calculations are correct. But I hope the 3rd port (charging port) on the left side is MagSafe rather than USB. Unlikely given the new MacBooks and the fact that the size lines up with arrangement and equal distribution along the side.
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While I would love the 5k display to have a dGPU, I don't see it being beneficial to the user but rather simply to maintain performance while outputting 5K. Hopefully it is more than that.
I am more than sure that it will have a discrete GPU. The new AMD Polaris 11 chips are 35-40 Watt TDP while being twice as fast (at least) compared to the current m370x, not to mention that the chip package itself is smaller. So it will allow both a thinner and a MUCH faster laptop.