Wait for Next Years 2018 MacBook Pro Update if You Can

[EugW]

I waited and waited for a 12" MacBook with 1152x720 screen and full-sized keyboard, like the old days with the 12" PowerBook. Then Retina came out, and so I changed my desire to a 2304x1440 12" screen.

Then in 2015, Apple released it! That was much to my surprise to all of my friends who tried to convince me it wouldn't happen. Unfortunately, it only had one port, and it was slow. And although the keyboard was full-sized, it sucked. Then I discovered that HEVC was coming and the MacBook didn't support it in hardware. So I waited some more. And that stuff didn't come in 2016 either. So I waited yet some more.

But then in 2017, it came. They fixed almost everything I was complaining about, and it had that 12" Retina screen I had been lusting after for many years even before 2015. The one main complaint I still have is the fact it only has one USB port, but the changes were big enough that I finally bought in 2017. By waiting, I got:

1) 12" Retina screen (although that had come out in 2015).
2) Vastly improved keyboard.
3) Vastly improved speed.
4) Hardware 10-bit HDR 4K HEVC decode support (plus hardware encode support).
5) Hardware support for 4K DRM (although that hasn't been implement in macOS... yet).
6) 16 GB RAM.

I am so glad I waited. After I have it in hand, there are three things I would fix with this, but overall it's a great little machine, and so, so much better than the 2015 version. The three things I want to see are:

1) Two USB-C ports
2) Thunderbolt 3, along with 10 Gbps USB.
3) Better Touchpad click.

IIRC, the Thunderbolt 3 / 10 Gbps USB part may come in 2019.

---

So yeah, for those of you MacBook Pro types who might benefit from 32 GB RAM, wait for 2018.

 

[biofloat]

I initially wrote that from the perspective another MBP would be ready by March, but with the delay of Coffee Lake until 2018, we probably won't see the new MBP until fall 2018. Which means, macOS 10.14 would be out by then.

Cannon Lake delayed to end of 2018. That's not good. So Coffee Lake appears to be the processor for the next Macbook Pro refresh, right? And Coffee Lake won't offer 32 GB of RAM....which is pretty sad, as my mid-2012 13" Macbook Pro upon which I write this reply has 16 GB of RAM. Six years....really?

Intel reportedly delays Cannon Lake to end of 2018, raising questions about next year’s MacBook Pro

"Intel has reportedly delayed the launch of its Cannon Lake laptop processors until the end of 2018, putting the CPU architecture a full 18 months behind its original target of mid-2017."

"If the report is correct, that would force Apple to opt for less-efficient Coffee Lake CPUs for next year’s MacBook Pro. This would also mean sticking with LPDDR 3 RAM, which limits maximum memory to 16GB."

https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/20/2018-macbook-pro-cpu/​

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Maybe next year can be the “price reduction update” then.

 

[kiranmk2]

Is Cannon Lake for MBP actually planned anyway? The way it's looking is that '8th generation Core CPUs' will comprise Kaby Lake R, Coffee Lake and Cannon Lake and then the '9th generation' will be the mysterious Ice Lake. I was under the assumption that Cannon Lake was only going to come for the rMB whilst Coffee Lake is for the MBP and both will then be replaced by Ice Lake. Thus, this delay news will affect the rMB more than the MBP.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Is High Sierra affected in any way with today's Kabylake? I'm still considering a 2017 MBPtb and may possible making a purchase tomorrow. Thanks for your or anyone's input on this.

 

[smallcoffee]

Always wait for the latest update if you can.
[doublepost=1507383121][/doublepost]

Is High Sierra affected in any way with today's Kabylake? I'm still considering a 2017 MBPtb and may possible making a purchase tomorrow. Thanks for your or anyone's input on this.

I don't understand your question?

 

[spacebro]

There may never be a 32gb MacBook with intel cpus. It is beyond ridiculous since the first MacBook that could go to 16gb came out in 2008. Just release a power hog MacBook in the 2012 body with 32/64gb options. People want to spend a lot of money on this. I used to be a fanboy but am becoming ok with the idea of my next laptop being a pc.

 

[smallcoffee]

There may never be a 32gb MacBook with intel cpus. It is beyond ridiculous since the first MacBook that could go to 16gb came out in 2008. Just release a power hog MacBook in the 2012 body with 32/64gb options. People want to spend a lot of money on this. I used to be a fanboy but am becoming ok with the idea of my next laptop being a pc.

What are some example laptops with 32gb of ram comparable to the MacBook Pro?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

There may never be a 32gb MacBook with intel cpus. It is beyond ridiculous since the first MacBook that could go to 16gb came out in 2008. Just release a power hog MacBook in the 2012 body with 32/64gb options. People want to spend a lot of money on this. I used to be a fanboy but am becoming ok with the idea of my next laptop being a pc.

Which MacBook went to 16GB in 2008? My late 2008 MBP maxes out at 8GB and originally maxed out at 6GB before some firmware update made 8GB RAM a possibility.

 

[Queen6]

There may never be a 32gb MacBook with intel cpus. It is beyond ridiculous since the first MacBook that could go to 16gb came out in 2008. Just release a power hog MacBook in the 2012 body with 32/64gb options. People want to spend a lot of money on this. I used to be a fanboy but am becoming ok with the idea of my next laptop being a pc.

Problem is not enough people. Apple's target audience is the average consumer with money to spend or willing to take on dept. The minority that really need 32Gb or more are simply not enough including Apple's own Dev's.

My own 15" class notebook will run rings round the MBP, equally it's physically larger, heavier and has little compassion for saving energy

If your waiting for Apple to produce a "Heavy Lifter" in a portable format it's already over. Apple may release a 32Gb MBP, equally more likely due to negative tech press comments than any need to serve a minority within a minority of its customers. If people need such specifications in a notebook they will switch to a provider who can deliver...

Q-6
[doublepost=1507403083][/doublepost]

What are some example laptops with 32gb of ram comparable to the MacBook Pro?

Dell's XPS 15 spring's to mind, has some positives and negatives in comparison to the MBP. ThinkPad's, Precision and EliteBook's admittedly in a different class, and price point.

Some of the latest MaxQ gaming notebooks might also give the MBP a run for it's money. Being highly portable with very significant performance, equally at the cost of battery life.

Q-6

 

[tkermit]

I’m going to wait at least until
- There's a 32GB RAM option
- Magsafe reappears
- The coating has been improved to not so easily come off anymore
- The keyboard has been substantially improved with respect to noise level and key travel
- The trackpad’s size has decreased to make enough room for your palm to rest

Bonus points for:
- Sleep light / power indicator
- Hardware battery level indicator
- Removable battery
- Upgradable RAM
- Upgradable storage
- USB-A ports
- SD-card slot
- Optical digital audio out
- IR port

There used to be a time when MacBook Pros met all of these requirements, save for the 32GB RAM option.

 

[smallcoffee]

I’m going to wait at least until
- There's a 32GB RAM option
- Magsafe reappears
- The coating has been improved to not so easily come off anymore
- The keyboard has been substantially improved with respect to noise level and key travel
- The trackpad’s size has decreased to make enough room for your palm to rest

Bonus points for:
- Sleep light / power indicator
- Hardware battery level indicator
- Removable battery
- Upgradable RAM
- Upgradable storage
- USB-A ports
- SD-card slot
- Optical digital audio out
- IR port

There used to be a time when MacBook Pros met all of these requirements, save for the 32GB RAM option.

View attachment 724202

These are the only legitimate ones:

32GB Ram (100% will happen)
Coating (I guess?)
Upgradable RAM/SSD/Battery (won't happen but would be kind of cool if you could easily do it)

You are never going to get these legacy ports back - nor should you want it. They're old, and they're garbage. I understand the "but all mah stuff has legacy port" stuff, but for all of us not loaded up with gizmos the transition was completely painless. Not to mention, the future is wireless. I can't wait until there are no ports.

 

[tkermit]

You are never going to get these legacy ports back - nor should you want it. They're old, and they're garbage. I understand the "but all mah stuff has legacy port" stuff, but for all of us not loaded up with gizmos the transition was completely painless. Not to mention, the future is wireless. I can't wait until there are no ports.

I'm prepared to agree with you on that. Time will solve that issue.

 

[Falhófnir]

Maybe next year can be the “price reduction update” then.

Don't think Apple works like that anymore, why would they reduce the price of the machines if they are selling ok -> well at their current price points? The pricing has probably gone up to accommodate the iPad pro as the new low end computing offer; once the MBA goes, the days of sub thousand (local currency unit) MacBooks has probably gone forever with it...

It would possibly be interesting if Apple used the iOS method for lower end machines though, recycling old shells with new innards - maybe using the legacy 13 & 15 inch MBP (2012-2015) designs with 15W cpus and branding them just 'MacBook' - the trade off being obviously a thicker, larger and heavier design, older spec (still retina though no P3) screen, maybe a single thunderbolt 3 to replace the two TB 2 and otherwise legacy ports only.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Always wait for the latest update if you can.
[doublepost=1507383121][/doublepost]

I don't understand your question?

I was just wondering if I bought a MBP-TB today with High Sierra as the OS, will their be any issues?

edit: I just bought the 2017 13" MBP-TB without Apple Care. It was a tough decision between the 13" and 15".

 

[spacebro]

I’m going to wait at least until
- There's a 32GB RAM option
- Magsafe reappears
- The coating has been improved to not so easily come off anymore
- The keyboard has been substantially improved with respect to noise level and key travel
- The trackpad’s size has decreased to make enough room for your palm to rest

Bonus points for:
- Sleep light / power indicator
- Hardware battery level indicator
- Removable battery
- Upgradable RAM
- Upgradable storage
- USB-A ports
- SD-card slot
- Optical digital audio out
- IR port

There used to be a time when MacBook Pros met all of these requirements, save for the 32GB RAM option.

View attachment 724202

Magsafe is gone. They're going to make the macs qi charge only like they're about to do to iPhones.
[doublepost=1507517674][/doublepost]

Problem is not enough people. Apple's target audience is the average consumer with money to spend or willing to take on dept. The minority that really need 32Gb or more are simply not enough including Apple's own Dev's.

My own 15" class notebook will run rings round the MBP, equally it's physically larger, heavier and has little compassion for saving energy

If your waiting for Apple to produce a "Heavy Lifter" in a portable format it's already over. Apple may release a 32Gb MBP, equally more likely due to negative tech press comments than any need to serve a minority within a minority of its customers. If people need such specifications in a notebook they will switch to a provider who can deliver...

Q-6
[doublepost=1507403083][/doublepost]

Dell's XPS 15 spring's to mind, has some positives and negatives in comparison to the MBP. ThinkPad's, Precision and EliteBook's admittedly in a different class, and price point.

Some of the latest MaxQ gaming notebooks might also give the MBP a run for it's money. Being highly portable with very significant performance, equally at the cost of battery life.

Q-6

I'd be fine with a 16gb pc, there are so many options even ones in the same form as a 2015 MacBook pro. It is because I have to run parallels that I need more ram in a mac than I do in a pc. People who need powerful computers used to be a core customer for apple, how are they now a minority within a minority?

 

[juri-han]

no reason to wait i doubt apple will even make a MBP with coffee lake, its basically kaby lake with 2 extra cores tacked on.... kaby already has heat issues as it is a 6 core will compound it even more , and macs one maybe weakness is thermal throttling so unless you acually would take advantage of those extras cores (at slower speeds) worth waiting a year?

now if you said wait for ice lake id agree if you can hold out that long, it will have a shrink down to 10nm 8 cores 16 threads and higher clocks speeds (4 ghz 4.5 turbo for desktop) right now intel and AMD are in a arms race, coffee lake is a drop in the bucket compared to whats coming

but if you actually need a laptop now just get it because if you play the waiting game after ice lake is tiger with stock clock speeds of 4.5 - 5ghz turbo lol

 

[vxh.viet]

What's the possibility of having a new keyboard on the 2018 model?

I see it's very unlikely Apple will come up with a new chassis as it will be too costly investment wise. Without increasing the thickness, I wont see how Apple can completely solve this issue given they have been testing this low travel bull **** keyboard since the Macbook is introduced (how many years is that)?
The more I look at the old style Macbook Pro/ Air keyboard, the more perfect it is.

Or if the rumor turns out to be true, apple would very likely come out with an all e-inkzzz keyboard and skip the fixing altogether. Slapping some fancy marketing on top and it's an easy 500$ extra to the price tag. All hail the wait.

 

[tkermit]

if the rumor turns out to be true, apple would very likely come out with an all e-inkzzz keyboard and skip the fixing altogether. Slapping some fancy marketing on top and it's an easy 500$ extra to the price tag. All hail the wait.

I hate that I can totally see this happening.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

What's the possibility of having a new keyboard on the 2018 model?

I see it's very unlikely Apple will come up with a new chassis as it will be too costly investment wise. Without increasing the thickness, I wont see how Apple can completely solve this issue given they have been testing this low travel bull **** keyboard since the Macbook is introduced (how many years is that)?
The more I look at the old style Macbook Pro/ Air keyboard, the more perfect it is.

Or if the rumor turns out to be true, apple would very likely come out with an all e-inkzzz keyboard and skip the fixing altogether. Slapping some fancy marketing on top and it's an easy 500$ extra to the price tag. All hail the wait.

Money has nothing to do with this. It is not costly. Those cost are peanuts for a company like Apple. They just used to keep their designs for 4 years or so. If it is true that they are getting to many returns than that’s what is costly. In that case I am pretty sure they are trying to solve this issue with the keyboard but for sure in a way that it looks more or less the same from the outside. It could even be they are introducing a better mechanism in the current version.

 

[vxh.viet]

Money has nothing to do with this. It is not costly. Those cost are peanuts for a company like Apple. They just used to keep their designs for 4 years or so. If it is true that they are getting to many returns than that’s what is costly. In that case I am pretty sure they are trying to solve this issue with the keyboard but for sure in a way that it looks more or less the same from the outside. It could even be they are introducing a better mechanism in the current version.

With all due respect, changing to a new design will require new R&D, new supply chain, new manufacturing procedure, new labor, etc... All of those are very costly. Does Apple have enough money to pull this off? Yes they do. Is Apple willing to do such a thing is a completely different story given the typical arrogance of Apple and Tim Cook being an all-profit man. 4 years is a perfect number to the milk the **** out of a design without being too obsolete.

Yes the failure rate of the current version is high but Apple has already foreseen this by getting a really high margin in profit. The cost of keep replacing faulty unit's parts will be substantially less then replacing the whole design, manufacture and supply chain. Let's go wild and assume a 50% failure rate (although I'm sure it's no where as high as this, maybe around 30% at most or else Apple has already been deep in law suit) versus a 100% loss when the whole chain is replaced.

Of course I generalize and assume a lot of thing but hopefully you can get the idea.

Peace,

 

[ibivibiv]

These are the only legitimate ones:

32GB Ram (100% will happen)
Coating (I guess?)
Upgradable RAM/SSD/Battery (won't happen but would be kind of cool if you could easily do it)

You are never going to get these legacy ports back - nor should you want it. They're old, and they're garbage. I understand the "but all mah stuff has legacy port" stuff, but for all of us not loaded up with gizmos the transition was completely painless. Not to mention, the future is wireless. I can't wait until there are no ports.

Every conference room I go into has this crazy hdmi cable for me to display. Not a USB C in sight or a plan for there to be one. This was the dumbest thing ever for Apple to remove it. Plain and simple, they jumped the gun on pulling the ports.

 

[smallcoffee]

Every conference room I go into has this crazy hdmi cable for me to display. Not a USB C in sight or a plan for there to be one. This was the dumbest thing ever for Apple to remove it. Plain and simple, they jumped the gun on pulling the ports.

For now. Even more is why are you using HDMI and not wireless?

 

[turbineseaplane]

For now. Even more is why are you using HDMI and not wireless?

He's going into conference rooms.
How is he supposed to control the technology stack they are offering in there?

 

[smallcoffee]

He's going into conference rooms.
How is he supposed to control the technology stack they are offering in there?

What will he do once they are all USB-C? What if they were just DVI? I give talks, lectures, and seminars at university and it never fails that I get dinged with not having DVI or VGA or something - even when using my 2015 15” Pro. It’s far superior for everybody to use the same best port or preferably wireless.