What if the new rumored 14 & 16" Macbook Pro's are Intel and not M1x or M2

[Ixon2001]

I might be wrong & I'm probably am but what if the new 14" & 16" Macbook Pro's use Intel 11th gen, rather than the next M series SOC's there was rumors knocking about that Apple might still release Intel based Mac's in 2021.

If this being the case would you buy the new Macbook 14" & 16"?

 

[dukebound85]

they won't be

 

[jon08]

There's 0% chance they would be Intel.

 

[anshuvorty]

Man, that would be very very very very bad bet....that is like betting on the earth being struck by a meteorite or that aliens visit us because that likelihood is almost as likely as the earth being struck by a meteorite or aliens visiting us.

 

[leman]

I suppose thats possible, especially for the 16“ model.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I might be wrong & I'm probably am but what if the new 14" & 16" Macbook Pro's use Intel 11th gen, rather than the next M series SOC's there was rumors knocking about that Apple might still release Intel based Mac's in 2021.

If this being the case would you buy the new Macbook 14" & 16"?

They won't be. Apple is gearing up for the SoCs that'll go in them. The one shot we had for one last Intel MacBook Pro was the supposed 2020 16" MacBook Pro (referenced in leaked Boot Camp images) that had updated GPUs and, possibly marginally changed 10th Gen H series. But that didn't happen. Every Mac released after the 2020 27" iMac is Apple Silicon from this point onward until the next time they decide they want to change processor architectures.

 

[LFC2020]

No chance, Timmy boy said apple is moving away from intel and the transition will take 2 years, at the rate apple is going at, it'll be done in under 2 years 😳😂

 

[Serban55]

No chance...0 chances. The only mac that can come with some intel updates, and amd gpu is the mac pro. thats it
This topic can be close now

 

[bohemian]

Then they’ll be hot!!

 

[09872738]

Then they’ll be hot!!

No they won‘t. Cause this would mean hell froze over 🤣

 

[Falhófnir]

If there were to be another Intel MacBook Pro, it would be a minor spec bump to the existing 16" (and/or 13") and I think very likely to have already released by now. I don't see any further Intel Macs from here unless the Mac Pro is updated this year before it's revamped with AS next year. The 14" is out of the question, they aren't going to invest in creating an all new chassis based around an outgoing chip architecture.

 

[leman]

No they won‘t. Cause this would mean hell froze over 🤣

Well, but let's think about this seriously. Apple definitely has a plan, the question is simply about when the respective chips are ready. I can definitely imagine a scenario where they intend to have three performance tiers, with the highest-performance chips not being available before 2022. In that case upgrading the 16" with newest Intel chips does make sense.

Of course, I agree that this is unlikely and that we probably see the same hardware in the 14" and the 16" machines (just with different thermal headroom), but we should not discount the possibility (no matter how slim it might be). In the end, if the 16" does not get an Apple Silicon update this year it's kind of good news — because it would mean that it will end up being much more powerful down the line.

If there were to be another Intel MacBook Pro, it would be a minor spec bump to the existing 16" (and/or 13") and I think very likely to have already released by now.

Intel released new 8-core mobile Tiger Lake only last week though. This is the first time in two years where a spec bump would make sense.

The one shot we had for one last Intel MacBook Pro was the supposed 2020 16" MacBook Pro (referenced in leaked Boot Camp images) that had updated GPUs and, possibly marginally changed 10th Gen H series. But that didn't happen.

True, I forgot all about that! On the other hand, is it possible that the 2020 model simply refers to the Pro 5600M option (it was added in summer last year if I remember correctly)?

 

[Serban55]

Apple with its R&D money for the SoC family will not spend more for intel since they dont even need intel for thunderbolt anymore
Bad marketing and bad for profit margins
So, no chances.

 

[Internaut]

The 14" will arrive when Apple actually has the next generation M to put into it. The 16" depends on whether Apple feels that line needs a refresh now. The 16" MacBook is important to Apple - a lot of developers rely on 16" MacBook Pros and for some development work (e.g. cross platform iOS/Android and areas of Windows and Linux where ARM isn't sufficiently covered), M is at best suboptimal right now. I wouldn't be too surprised if we see new Intel and M options for the 16" MacBook Pro.

 

[senttoschool]

Well, but let's think about this seriously. Apple definitely has a plan, the question is simply about when the respective chips are ready. I can definitely imagine a scenario where they intend to have three performance tiers, with the highest-performance chips not being available before 2022. In that case upgrading the 16" with newest Intel chips does make sense.

Still wouldn't make that much sense as the new 16" redesign chassis is designed for Apple Silicon SoCs and its lower cooling requirements.

I think the chances are slim to none.

Tiger Lake 8 core parts are still extremely power-hungry.

 

[Serban55]

And remeber the 16” with intel still needs a dgpu that is also power hungry

 

[Falhófnir]

Intel released new 8-core mobile Tiger Lake only last week though. This is the first time in two years where a spec bump would make sense.

At best that means a vanishingly small chance the Intel model is silently updated alongside the new AS models at WWDC. An intel refresh instead of the AS models, as OP's scenario entails, implies they aren't coming this year at all, as another update of that magnitude at the next opportunity just 4 months later is likely to go down like a lead balloon.

 

[leman]

Still wouldn't make that much sense as the new 16" redesign chassis is designed for Apple Silicon SoCs and its lower cooling requirements.

I certainly hope that they won’t cut down the 16” TDP too much. Apple has traditionally used around 70-80 watt cumulative TDP targets for the larger laptops and I hope they will continue doing so. Apple Silicon is very energy efficient but still, I’d prefer them to utilize that efficiency to deliver superior performance at the traditional TDP target rather than keep the same performance and reduce the TDP.

 

[dahlblom]

Highly unlikely but I think it would be fair to assume that it would be Intels dream at this point.

 

[leman]

Highly unlikely but I think it would be fair to assume that it would be Intels dream at this point.

Why? Intel is selling enough processors and Tiger Lake is commercially successful. Where they don’t seem to do very good is the server market, where AMD and recently, ARM offerings, are slowly but surely eroding Xeon’s hegemony. That’s where the serious money lies.

 

[UBS28]

Why? Intel is selling enough processors and Tiger Lake is commercially successful. Where they don’t seem to do very good is the server market, where AMD and recently, ARM offerings, are slowly but surely eroding Xeon’s hegemony. That’s where the serious money lies.

However this is only at 10mm. If Intel gets on 5nm, AMD (and Apple) has a problem. They are in the spotlight now because Intel their manufacturing has been crap for the last few years, unable to move past 14mm.

Intel can easily be back if they outsource their manufacturing to Asia where all the expertise of producing chips is nowadays (even Samsung is also at 5mm).

 

[Stephen.R]

I might be wrong & I'm probably am but what if the new 14" & 16" Macbook Pro's use Intel 11th gen, rather than the next M series SOC's there was rumors knocking about that Apple might still release Intel based Mac's in 2021.

If this being the case would you buy the new Macbook 14" & 16"?

Forget buying a new MacBook I'd spend a macbook's price on popcorn and watch people lose their collective ****.

 

[leman]

However this is only at 10mm. If Intel gets on 5nm, AMD (and Apple) has a problem. They are in the spotlight now because Intel their manufacturing has been crap for the last few years, unable to move past 14mm.

Intel can easily be back if they outsource their manufacturing to Asia where all the expertise of producing chips is nowadays (even Samsung is also at 5mm).

From what I understand, Intel's 10nm is roughly equivalent to TSMC's 7nm, so the difference is not as large as it sounds. Besides, Intel is currently years behind the schedule, what are the chances that they manage to get the next node production-ready any time soon? It took them four years to make 10nm work reasonably well, and still, their CPUs are as hot as ever (mobile Tiger Lake actually rises the TDP on the high-end models!). Plus, they still seem have yield issues, as their desktop is still on 14nm...

The reality of the situation is that TSMC has the most advanced process right now, and everyone else plays catch up. Samsung's 5nm is also inferior to TSMC's 5nm (in fact, it seems worse than TSMC's 7nm). Given the fact that Apple has tons of cash and can win any foundry bidding war, they will have access to most advanced processes going forward, giving them a decisive advantage for the foreseeable time.

And besides, even if Intel manages to close the process gap, their power-efficiency is still atrocious compared to Apple's designs.

 

[09872738]

Well, but let's think about this seriously. Apple definitely has a plan, the question is simply about when the respective chips are ready. I can definitely imagine a scenario where they intend to have three performance tiers, with the highest-performance chips not being available before 2022. In that case upgrading the 16" with newest Intel chips does make sense.

True. However, I would not expect this a device in a new form factor/design. They could up the specs of said devices a bit, but nothing major to speak of

 

[leman]

True. However, I would not expect this a device in a new form factor/design. They could up the specs of said devices a bit, but nothing major to speak of

Oh, definitely. If the 16" gets an Intel spec bump (which I agree is unlikely), it won't be a redesigned chassis.