Phil Schiller Says 32GB RAM on New MacBook Pro Would Have Required Battery Compromising Design

[citysnaps]

No thanks. Do not want a thicker, heavier MBP. Considering their overall customer base, and the goal of maximizing positive user experience for that base, Apple made the correct set of of engineering trades.

For people who really need 32 GB or more memory in a laptop I'm sure there are loads of other manufacturers out there that can handle that, but with corresponding negative consequences in the trade matrix.

 

[noraa]

This excuse is just that, an excuse. Give the pro users a choice. These machines should have been released as updated MacBook Airs, alongside a real MacBook Pro release. With the news that Apple has shutdown its Airport decision I am truly worried about the future of the Mac line. Tim Cook needs to go.

 

[tubeexperience]

You know these machines get hot, right? What's more, LiIon and LiPoly batteries can get hot with high-wattage use. That space is the space between having a laptop and a hot potato bomb.

Oh really?

Well, how come the 2012 to 2016 models not have this problem?

 

[jmgregory1]

What I want to know is how many people out there actually need 30 days of standby time? Really, who doesn't use their computer at least once a day, unless you're leaving on an extended vacation, not bringing your MacBook with you (which you would then leave plugged in anyway)?

It's just a spec that Apple promoted, because it was something that most PC laptops couldn't offer. What's really sad is that for lots of people working on laptops, there is little need for long standby time or even battery life, as they sit at the same desk plugged in.

 

[Shanpdx]

People just don't understand: The goal is thinness...

goal is money, why the low end has 2 USB-C ports and the next model has 4 USB-C ports?
[doublepost=1479741984][/doublepost]

What I want to know is how many people out there actually need 30 days of standby time? Really, who doesn't use their computer at least once a day, unless you're leaving on an extended vacation, not bringing your MacBook with you (which you would then leave plugged in anyway)?

It's just a spec that Apple promoted, because it was something that most PC laptops couldn't offer. What's really sad is that for lots of people working on laptops, there is little need for long standby time or even battery life, as they sit at the same desk plugged in.

Pro users need that feature, they do not use their machine that often

 

[high3r]

Or just make the damn thing a bit thicker?
Thickness has never been an issue with my current MBP. It operates on my desk with the top down 90% of the time, and the times I do need it for the road, an extra pound wouldn't kill me.

Indeed. They should have kept the thickness with a new design and it could have been much much better. There would be no need to remove MagSafe and some of the ports. They could have used the more powerful i7 6970hq in the 15 inch which includes Intel HD 580 iGPU. It is on par with the Radeon 450 dGPU but battery life would be a lot better without the stutter of the current HD 530. They could have made the keyboard quieter.

 

[MallardDuck]

If they'd left the case last year's thickness this wouldn't be an issue. It's because they're pursuing thin at the expense of any and all performance improvements.

Who the hell cares if it only has 7 days standby time instead of 30?

I had a lightbulb on the 'pro' debate: Apple's not necessarily abandoning the pro users. But the power users? Yep. We're on the ash heap of history.

 

[otternonsense]

YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE IT THAT THIN, PHIL

Pardon the caps lock. The ca. 2012 retina MacBook Pro design was hardly what you'd call chunky. Exactly NOBODY wanted a disposable wafer-thin "Pro" machine with nerfed expandability and heat profiles guaranteed to destroy the chipsets in a matter of a couple of years.

 

[maflynn]

Do I care if I get 30 days of standby on my computer? No.
Could Apple alleviate the issue (to some degree) by NOT shrinking the battery? Yes.

I understand the higher power demands, but all I've heard so far are excuses, perhaps in this instance Apple actually providing choice and replaceable ram would have been the best move. That way if we need more ram, we can upgrade it, with the understanding that battery life will be impacted, if not, then all is good and we don't upgrade.

 

[HappyIntro]

This is just a sad failure of design - something Apple is supposed to be the best at. These lame excuses that Phil Schiller dishes out just make Apple lose credibility. Obviously, the've lost their way design-wise; I'm sure they have all the engineering talent they need, the engineers just need to be a bit less constrained by aesthetics. I'm hoping they can get back on track next year.

 

[merkinmuffley]

This 30 day standby claim is Shiller spin at it's best. He might as well have said "32gb in our laptop would have taken away all the magic, and what's more important - magic? or memory?

 

[pally]

Not if you made the laptop bigger. This kind of product discussion is so linear. Are they so limited in their scope that they cannot acknowledge consumer desires and incorporate this into their product development???

 

[trifid]

Jar Jar Phil needs to go, fast.

 

[BeSweeet]

I absolutely love all of the hate that Apple has been getting recently. They've really earned it all. Nothing but excuses and compromises. Not that it matters, since people will still hand them all their money.

 

[Ries]

http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-2015/

The 2015 model uses DDR3L and has

• Up to 30 days of standby time

And intel supports 32GB RAM for DDR3L.

 

[AppleWarMachine]

that's why Apple sells chargers (Magsafeless )

 

[Macintosh_Original_LISA]

Dear Apple,
So the "PRO" world of designers, illustrators, photographer, video producers, etc. are more concerned about 10 days of standby, or 10 hours of use time? Have we met? I waited to update my Mac Book Pro for a year hoping to see something that would be for the PRO world and power users - I have gone to the Apple Store and tried to justify buying this machine. I can't. So I will be buying a new 2015 model and hope that some of the attention lavished on iPhones and emojis will be paid to computers. Where is the Mac Pro update? (I just don't think that Steve Jobs would have compromised - he would have demanded more.)
-Disappointed in a good company that has done better.

 

[JohnGrey]

Based on the tech info out there for the processors they use, this makes sense. That said, Had they come out with a desktop replacement (workstation class) Notebook that could exist in the outgoing Retina MBP case, support 32+ GB of RAM, and keep those legacy ports, I am sure many on here would be happy (despite it likely having a high price).

They used to offer a lot of options for their Laptop consumers, 17" models, Matte Screen options, and extra ports on their larger models.

Perhaps, there is one in the works....

There isn't. Apple doesn't offer choice any longer, and it doesn't offer compelling solutions. It offers an utterly vanilla, walled garden for would-be writers that sit in coffee shops and masturbate to their high-minded, socially-conscious choice of personal electronics.

Thirty bloody days of standby on what is supposed to be a mobile workstation class of notebook. A 'professional' that needs thirty days of standby is one that is, really and legally, known as 'unemployed'. Unfortunately, people like myself that do graphic design and other memory intensive tasks don't care about those thirty days. We care about the constant 'Out of memory' dialogues and having an actual GPU so that rendering isn't done at two frames per minutes. Sadly, if you want to work, you have to go to a Windows machine. To look upwardly mobile, yeah, you can just spend an absurd sum on the MBP that no one asked for.

 

[Spectrum]

Err...I'm confused...doesn't the RAM get copied to disk (hibernate mode) after prolonged time asleep anyway? And thus you have an essentially infinitely long Standby time. No need to keep the RAM powered at all regardless of high or low power once the RAM is copied to disk.

 

[0388631]

Has Phil lost his mind because he said this only a few weeks ago. Or has everyone at Apple lost their mind? Yes, yes, that's the ticket right there. Numpties.

Granting an extra 0.3mm to the case would be anathema.

Unique use. A point to you, Aaron. Nice to see you outside of the sparring ring for once.

 

[JohnGrey]

You would really be surprised. I've helped people who say they haven't actually powered down their MacBook in 6 months or more.

That's because they can't get anything productive accomplished on them. Why lug around a notebook to do email when you have your overpriced, courageous mobile phone?

 

[jadot]

Just read through this and I can see I'm not the first to come up with the ingenious idea of making a slightly thicker laptop.

Apple are so pushed to make the thinnest laptop in the market place, and while Schiller uses the word compromise (as in we didn't want to compromise battery power) apple are forgetting that it's their choice to force this compromise. A larger box would enable a bigger battery, more RAM, More SSD, whatever and it wouldn't have to be that much more volume in any case. Thinner isn't making the laptop more portable anyway, once you take into consideration all of the potential dongles necessary to get on the road.

This isn't compromise, it's choice, plain and simple. It's a bad judgement from Apple for a 'Pro' labelled laptop. Keep thin and compromised for the MacBook, and let the Pro user have the resources they need from a mobile laptop. i.e Put stuff in and stop taking stuff out!

 

[Hattig]

How about not making the laptop thinner next time and put a bigger battery, user swappable SSD and RAM in it?

This is the biggest issue with the 2016 MBP. There is empty space so Apple could meet a weight target rather than including a bit more battery, and then there is the fact they continued to chase thinness rather than create a marginally (we're talking about 1 or 2 mm) thicker device that deserves the title of Pro.

My advice - wait until 2018 when Intel comes out with Coffee Lake in a MBP suitable SKU, and at least there will be a couple more cores in the late 2018 MBP. Unless your current MBP dies, keep on using it. Maybe this coming year the iMacs will be more desirable as an upgrade.

 

[Mr. Bean]

yes, Phil is right. they chose a smaller, thinner case over the ability to create a true powerhouse of a computer. the same logic can be universally applied to so many types of machinery.
what Phil is not offering is their reasoning and principles behind the choices Apple has been making and how they view their designed limitations in regards to who they think their customers are.

I'm pretty sure Apple already know the majority of their customers or potential customers. Their first and foremost concern is to answer to their shareholders. So if they satisfy the majority of their customers, their shareholders would be happy. We ought to remember how big Apple really is, what sort of company it has become compared to what it was a decade ago, and who uses an Apple product these days compared to those using an Apple product a decade ago.

The majority of customers using an Apple computer nowadays are not photographers, video editors, nor designers. Of course if one is not happy with the product, they could always switch. If the unhappy customers are a part of the minority, then so be it.

 

[coolfactor]

People complaining about this don't even need the power that 32GB of RAM offers. 16GB is already a massive amount of memory!