Waiting for the 2020 MBP

[ascender]

I guess last year they updated the 15" and then released the 16" later in the year, so I wouldn't rule anything out.

The rumours about Micro LED (recent and the ones from last year) seem to be suggesting its going to be towards the end of 2020 or start of 2021, so I would fully expect a 16" spec bump and a 13" with a scissor keyboard. Its just a matter of when.

 

[PeterJP]

Is there any precedent for Apple releasing 2 updates in a year for a given model? For example, a 13" MBP in the Spring, but then a 14" MBP in the Fall/Winter?

Yes, there was the MBP early 2013 (Februari) and the MBP late 2013 (October). One of the differences is that the late could be bought with 16GB RAM whereas the early topped out at 8GB.

But such a spec update is a big difference from doing a spec update in March, then dropping the line entirely for a 14" model half a year later. If I would be one who got the last 13" model, I would be pretty mad.

 

[MakeAppleAwesomeAgain]

Yes, there was the MBP early 2013 (Februari) and the MBP late 2013 (October). One of the differences is that the late could be bought with 16GB RAM whereas the early topped out at 8GB.

But such a spec update is a big difference from doing a spec update in March, then dropping the line entirely for a 14" model half a year later. If I would be one who got the last 13" model, I would be pretty mad.

The March update cannot come soon enough for those who need a MBP that is smaller than the 16". At this point I don't even care what it will cost, I just don't want to spend money on a butterfly keyboard.

 

[ascender]

Yes, there was the MBP early 2013 (Februari) and the MBP late 2013 (October). One of the differences is that the late could be bought with 16GB RAM whereas the early topped out at 8GB.

But such a spec update is a big difference from doing a spec update in March, then dropping the line entirely for a 14" model half a year later. If I would be one who got the last 13" model, I would be pretty mad.

That's pretty much what happened last year with the 15" though.

 

[Falhófnir]

Yes, Macbook air uses the 7W Amber lake cpu....so, lets hope for the next macbook air to use the 15W cpu

Would that make it too close to the 15W MacBook Pro, though?

Is there any precedent for Apple releasing 2 updates in a year for a given model? For example, a 13" MBP in the Spring, but then a 14" MBP in the Fall/Winter?

The Mini-LED speculation along with the 14" is throwing me off. Will this be released in the Spring/Summer still, or are we going to be stuck waiting until Fall/Winter?

I just can't see Apple releasing both an updated 13" AND a 14" in the same year.

I noted earlier in the thread, this is not only not unprecedented, it actually happens quite a lot:

I mean, they did do just that with the Mid 2019 15" followed by the November 2019 16"... probably not a habit they want to get into, but a March 13" followed by an October 14" is about a 7 month gap, which has quite a lot of precedent (October 2016 to June 2017; February 2013 to October 2013; February 2011 to October 2011).

If the 13" is an update for the 15W model and the 14" succeeds the 28W model (the latter at least is likely?) then it makes sense, I'd guess the 28W model would disappear once the first update happens, and would be reintroduced as the larger model later in the year.

I think the takeaway is that Apple won't be precious about releasing an update now if new chips are available but the new mini LED tech isn't, and then releasing again before the Christmas shopping season with the new display tech. Particularly as the 13" Pro line is bifurcated into high and low end models currently, giving them more flexibility to get something up to date out, while holding back the bigger update for later in the year.

 

[livetofail]

EU here as well. Where can you order those specs for 2400 euros?

Mactrade.de

 

[AKS3003]

With the outbreak of coronavirus, I don't expect any new laptop releases from Apple in March. Even if it's a press release, apple probably won't announce until manufacturing can ramp back up.

 

[ascender]

With the outbreak of coronavirus, I don't expect any new laptop releases from Apple in March. Even if it's a press release, apple probably won't announce until manufacturing can ramp back up.

And that's the other big unknown in all of this. Although what I would say is that in the lead-up to the 16" MBP being released, there were some rumours saying it would be x months delayed for production to be ramped-up, but then they just announced it.

With the numbers of laptops being much, much lower than iPhones, I don't think the supply chain is anywhere near as complex, so they could already have them stacked up and good to go if March was the plan.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

If you get that configuration, plus an extra $300 or so for tax, you're looking at it being about $4300k (i'm using California tax for this). You could shave $200 off of your listed configuration (and thus lessen the tax a little) if you do the 2.3GHz CPU instead and with tax come out to just about right at $4k instead of $350 or so over. The 0.3GHz difference isn't going to be any drastic performance increase. Also, be aware that if you spend the extra $1200ish not including tax to go with a base Mac Pro, your RAM options top out at 768GB, you have to get the 24 or 28 core Mac Pro to be able to put in 1.5TB of RAM. And then you still have to buy all your upgrades on your own (though you get to spread that out over time). Most reviewers i've seen say the 12 or 16 core is the sweet spot unless you need it maxed out for high end work. Though it sounds like if you were considering a MBP initially, a base Mac Pro is probably going to be way more than you need anyway. I guess it just depends on what you think will be best for your needs and for your wallet.

Yeah - it's not an easy decision - I am stuck in a paralysis by analysis loop (especially wondering if there will be any spec updates announced for the MBP 16" during the March event

 

[lukesturr]

If you get that configuration, plus an extra $300 or so for tax, you're looking at it being about $4300k (i'm using California tax for this). You could shave $200 off of your listed configuration (and thus lessen the tax a little) if you do the 2.3GHz CPU instead and with tax come out to just about right at $4k instead of $350 or so over. The 0.3GHz difference isn't going to be any drastic performance increase. Also, be aware that if you spend the extra $1200ish not including tax to go with a base Mac Pro, your RAM options top out at 768GB, you have to get the 24 or 28 core Mac Pro to be able to put in 1.5TB of RAM. And then you still have to buy all your upgrades on your own (though you get to spread that out over time). Most reviewers i've seen say the 12 or 16 core is the sweet spot unless you need it maxed out for high end work. Though it sounds like if you were considering a MBP initially, a base Mac Pro is probably going to be way more than you need anyway. I guess it just depends on what you think will be best for your needs and for your wallet.

Going with the base CPU in the Mac Pro isn't a bad idea. Xeon W's are cheaper when you buy them separately and they'll continue to get cheaper down the road. Upgrading the CPU is just about as easy as with the old cheese grater Mac Pro.

 

[Falhófnir]

And that's the other big unknown in all of this. Although what I would say is that in the lead-up to the 16" MBP being released, there were some rumours saying it would be x months delayed for production to be ramped-up, but then they just announced it.

With the numbers of laptops being much, much lower than iPhones, I don't think the supply chain is anywhere near as complex, so they could already have them stacked up and good to go if March was the plan.

That is a good point, I believe even with iPhones they only start manufacturing in June for a ~late September release, so 4 months between production start and retail availability. If the MBP manufacturing timeline is similar it probably would have ground to a halt (or severely slowed) in January after about a month's production (manufacture starts Dec, shipping Feb-Mar, announcement in March with immediate availability). I guess we just have to wait and see on this one.

 

[azentropy]

Is there any precedent for Apple releasing 2 updates in a year for a given model? For example, a 13" MBP in the Spring, but then a 14" MBP in the Fall/Winter?

The Mini-LED speculation along with the 14" is throwing me off. Will this be released in the Spring/Summer still, or are we going to be stuck waiting until Fall/Winter?

I just can't see Apple releasing both an updated 13" AND a 14" in the same year.

Several. One of the biggest ones (which I think is parallel to this) was in 2012 when they released a spec bumped 13" MBP (Mid 2012) on June 11, 2012 and then turned around and introduced the all new 13" Retina MBP (Retina Late 2012) on October 23, 2012. I see them doing the same thing with a spec bumped 13" MBP in the next couple of months and then the all new 14" MBP at the end of the year. They will probably keep both products for a bit, like they did with the 2012 models, but then phase out the 13" next year.

 

[adamjackson]

I keep building a 16" on the Apple website:

2.4gHz
64GB RAM
Radeon 5500M with 8GB VRAM
1 TB SSD

it comes close to $4k and then I wonder if I should just spend the extra cash and get a Mac Pro that I can upgrade in the future

If you need power but don't need portability, the 2019 iMac is an incredible machine. I have a maxed out version for I think it was $4300 then I purchased 128GB of RAM for it and it's truly an insane machine. I can add an eGPU down the road if I want. It can drive an XDR if I wanted to go that route as well...and it's very quiet. not silent but way quieter than my 2018 MacBook Pro with a Core I9.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

If you need power but don't need portability, the 2019 iMac is an incredible machine. I have a maxed out version for I think it was $4300 then I purchased 128GB of RAM for it and it's truly an insane machine. I can add an eGPU down the road if I want. It can drive an XDR if I wanted to go that route as well...and it's very quiet. not silent but way quieter than my 2018 MacBook Pro with a Core I9.

Well I plan to use the Apple XDR Display with the MBP 16" as well as I want a bigger monitor than the 27" on my late-2015 iMac

 

[tothemoonsands]

Thank you all for your responses to my question. Sounds like I’ll be waiting for a bit until the 13”/14” is Micro-LED. I’ll be picking up a new iPad Pro instead, hopefully the rumors of the trackpad are true.

 

[adamjackson]

Well I plan to use the Apple XDR Display with the MBP 16" as well as I want a bigger monitor than the 27" on my late-2015 iMac

I also own a Core i9 2018 MacBook Pro with every bell & whistle and I seriously caution any true pro to not use a MacBook Pro full time. The heat throttling is real. I have the fastest MBP you can get less a couple of percentage points and I hate using it compared to my iMac. it feels 50% of the speed at processing RAW images off my 5D and 4K footage off various devices. Just my personal opinion but I wish I could put the iMac speed into this MacBook Pro because it was insanely expensive to spend over 4 grand twice when I ended up hating doing anything more than regular tasks on the MacBook Pro.

The 16" does dissipate heat better which I hope will make it more usable for you.

 

[DHagan4755]

MacBook Air and 13" Retina MacBook Pro Updated to Improve Speed and Battery Life

Following the announcement of the brand new line of MacBooks, Apple today revealed a slight update to its MacBook Air and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro...

www.macrumors.com

5 years ago Apple yesterday. For those who think that it's "too early" for Apple to update the smaller MacBook Pro (COVID-19 aside)

 

[DanMan619]

Yeah - it's not an easy decision - I am stuck in a paralysis by analysis loop (especially wondering if there will be any spec updates announced for the MBP 16" during the March event

I want to say i saw elsewhere here that the general consensus was that the 2020 MBP 16" would be a pretty small spec bump over the 2019 MBP 16". Unless Apple surprises with a switch to AMD CPU. All it's really going to be is the same as the 2019 MBP 16" but with a slightly bumped Intel CPU (10th gen but not a massive performance increase) and the biggest new thing will allegedly be the Mini-LED screen. The possibility that that Mini-LED screen might have Apple finally do a 4K HDR screen is enough for me to want to hold out the extra couple months personally. The current MBP 16 but with that one spec change would be perfect for me. But yeah if you bought the current 16" MBP you most likely won't be missing out on anything major when the 2020 one comes. I could be completely wrong though, but that's what the rumors/leaks and Intel timelines point to.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

I also own a Core i9 2018 MacBook Pro with every bell & whistle and I seriously caution any true pro to not use a MacBook Pro full time. The heat throttling is real. I have the fastest MBP you can get less a couple of percentage points and I hate using it compared to my iMac. it feels 50% of the speed at processing RAW images off my 5D and 4K footage off various devices. Just my personal opinion but I wish I could put the iMac speed into this MacBook Pro because it was insanely expensive to spend over 4 grand twice when I ended up hating doing anything more than regular tasks on the MacBook Pro.

The 16" does dissipate heat better which I hope will make it more usable for you.

Well that's not good news
My late-2015 iMac is running slower than usual and having more spinning beach ball time than it used to
I can't believe it's doing this and it is not even 5 years old yet

 

[adamjackson]

Well that's not good news
My late-2015 iMac is running slower than usual and having more spinning beach ball time than it used to
I can't believe it's doing this and it is not even 5 years old yet

This is my personal opinion only but I've bought new Macs every 2 years (I buy one every year but I do desktop one year, laptop the next) and I've done this for the last 15 years and so I've owned a TON of iMacs and MacBook Pros (which were PowerBooks back when I started this cadence) and the 2018 MacBook Pro was the first time I actually regretted the upgrade not due to the keyboard but because of the insane throttling that occurs in the Core i9 processors.

...at the same time, Apple made the latest iMacs REALLY fast and REALLY good at dissipating heat. My 2015 Core i7 Retina iMac and 2017 were both pretty loud and not more than 10% faster than my Core i7 MacBook Pros...but the 2018 Core i9 feels slower than my 2016 i7 and the 2019 iMac is like twice as fast and twice as quiet as my 2017 iMac. So I'm super happy with the iMac, highest "customer sat" I've ever had with an iMac but I'm hoping Apple can refresh the 16" MacBook this year before I make a purchase with a chip that is slightly cooler. I think their case design needs to get thicker to move more heat so we can keep the 8-core chips cooler.

 

[ls1dreams]

Would this new 14" be released already? Ughhhh

 

[ascender]

At least the Kuo stuff confirms there's a refresh imminent (first half of 2020). Spec bump, scissor-keyboard, but does the 13" become a 14"?

Does that mean mini-LED comes in 2021 with the "redesign" he mentions?

And are we still thinking it will be the Air and maybe an ultra-portable which will go non-intel first?

 

[matram]

I believe the first ARM model would be a new MacBook. That seems to fit the low-power profile of the ARM architecture the best. Apple could offer more performance and longer battery life in a compact package. They will probably initially only introduce ARM in a single model then go broader within a year, like with the new keyboard.

I guess MacBook users would also NOT be running virtual machine or other heavy stuff that would be more reliant on Intel.

I assume Apple would need Microsoft on board with an ARM version of Office and Adobe or possibly Affinity with graphics apps.

 

[stuffx]

I strongly believe the latest MBP Q2 2020 rumor is referring to MBP 14”. It doesn’t make sense for Apple to launch 16” form factor last year and still continue producing MBP 13” with scissors keyboard this year. I believe only MBA will come in 13” this Q2.

 

[PeterJP]

I believe the first ARM model would be a new MacBook. That seems to fit the low-power profile of the ARM architecture the best.

While I also think the first ARM model will be a new macbook, or possibly an Air redesign, I think it's because of lack of applications. Comparing to the Rosetta CPU change (PowerPC to Intel), it wasn't the Microsoft apps that suffered but things like PhotoShop. People who pick a macbook or air are more likely to stick to office style applications over power user apps, so they'll notice the slowdowns for legacy apps much less.

I don't think it's because of the "low power profile of ARM". While they are low power chips, that doesn't make them less powerful. They just use less power to provide the same processing power. To give you an impression: here's a former head of Mac development's opinion on an ARM based Mac Pro (based on a 210W TDP ARM, comparable to a 400W Xeon in processing power).