Apple releases new MacBook Pros with up to 6-Core Processors and 32GB of Memory

Tamerlin said:
It is odd... but since selling hardware is BMD's bag, I guess it makes sense; capitalize on the fact that Apple didn't update the aging GPU in the new laptops, so they're still not competitive.

I was hoping they'd have Vega GPUs, but since they don't I'm leaning toward an AlienWare 15" i9 with a 1080 instead.
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A Vega would have been desirable since the RX580 is the same GPU in the iMac and the iMac struggles with some applications due to how eGPU works with internal vs external monitors. The MBP can at least be used in clamshell mode which means everything is external monitor based. So really the BMD eGPU is only really useful on the MBP which makes it even more of an odd choice. If I upgrade my 2015 MBP I will 99% likely get the Auros over the BMD.

I really do hope Apple gets their butt in gear and fully supports eGPU in their pro apps soon. I'm ok getting the boost for timeline playback and editing in realtime since I do that 7/8 of the time vs rendering but it sure would be nice to get the full advantage.
 
Thomas Smet said:
A Vega would have been desirable since the RX580 is the same GPU in the iMac and the iMac struggles with some applications due to how eGPU works with internal vs external monitors. The MBP can at least be used in clamshell mode which means everything is external monitor based. So really the BMD eGPU is only really useful on the MBP which makes it even more of an odd choice. If I upgrade my 2015 MBP I will 99% likely get the Auros over the BMD.

I really do hope Apple gets their butt in gear and fully supports eGPU in their pro apps soon. I'm ok getting the boost for timeline playback and editing in realtime since I do that 7/8 of the time vs rendering but it sure would be nice to get the full advantage.
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As someone suggested, one issue that likely steered the choice towards RX580 vs a Vega option is crypto mining's continuing influence on GPU prices and availability, but the good news is that GPU prices are finally coming down to near MSRP. Hopefully that will motivate some enterprising company to package an affordable Vega 64 eGPU unit soon!

https://www.computerworld.com/artic...alues-slide-high-end-gpu-prices-drop-too.html
 
Thomas Smet said:
A Vega would have been desirable since the RX580 is the same GPU in the iMac and the iMac struggles with some applications due to how eGPU works with internal vs external monitors.
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A Vega GPU would have been desirable in the MacBook Pro update, since it offers so much more computing power than the 580 does. Vega GPUs are competitive, the previous generation is not. It makes no sense to continue using that old GPU, except that Apple still thinks that shaving a few millimeters off of the thickness of the chassis is more important than being suitable for the task that it's supposedly designed for.

I really do hope Apple gets their butt in gear and fully supports eGPU in their pro apps soon. I'm ok getting the boost for timeline playback and editing in realtime since I do that 7/8 of the time vs rendering but it sure would be nice to get the full advantage.
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Apple needs to get its butt in gear and make a modern machine, and also start integrating Wacom tablets into them. You know, stop letting Microsoft out-Apple Apple. :)

I know that touch on a clamshell is basically uselesss, but with a 360-degree hinge and a Streamdeck or a few shortcut keys, it would be very popular with a lot of artists who are these days discovering the coolness of the 2-1s from Dell and HP and Lenovo, and to a lesser extent the overpriced Surface line that Microsoft still hasn't implemented Thunderbolt on.
 
Regardless of VEGA pricing w/Crypto I don't see why they didn't offer it even as a marked up option. It's not like they're afraid to charge extremely high amounts for components (4tb internal SSD, for example). The same market that would pay for the convenience there may also be inclined to pay for VEGA.
 
Tamerlin said:
A Vega GPU would have been desirable in the MacBook Pro update, since it offers so much more computing power than the 580 does. Vega GPUs are competitive, the previous generation is not. It makes no sense to continue using that old GPU, except that Apple still thinks that shaving a few millimeters off of the thickness of the chassis is more important than being suitable for the task that it's supposedly designed for.



Apple needs to get its butt in gear and make a modern machine, and also start integrating Wacom tablets into them. You know, stop letting Microsoft out-Apple Apple. :)

I know that touch on a clamshell is basically uselesss, but with a 360-degree hinge and a Streamdeck or a few shortcut keys, it would be very popular with a lot of artists who are these days discovering the coolness of the 2-1s from Dell and HP and Lenovo, and to a lesser extent the overpriced Surface line that Microsoft still hasn't implemented Thunderbolt on.
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How is the new MBP not a modern machine? Are there some secret 8 core PC laptops out there I'm not aware of? Is the MBP missing out on any advanced connectivity faster and more capable than TB3? Sure the GPU could be faster but Apple pro apps tend to do more with less power and the 560x does really really well with the apple pro apps. Not great but the MBP is also about balancing heat, fan noise and battery power so you can, you know, actually use it unplugged from the power for a decent amount of time.

2 in 1? No thanks. While it might be nice to have a line of apple computers that can do that I don't want the MBP butchered into a 2 in 1 monstrosity. Still plenty of users that have no desire to have such a machine.
 
Thomas Smet said:
How is the new MBP not a modern machine? Are there some secret 8 core PC laptops out there I'm not aware of? Is the MBP missing out on any advanced connectivity faster and more capable than TB3? Sure the GPU could be faster but Apple pro apps tend to do more with less power and the 560x does really really well with the apple pro apps. Not great but the MBP is also about balancing heat, fan noise and battery power so you can, you know, actually use it unplugged from the power for a decent amount of time.

2 in 1? No thanks. While it might be nice to have a line of apple computers that can do that I don't want the MBP butchered into a 2 in 1 monstrosity. Still plenty of users that have no desire to have such a machine.
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As much as I would love to have larger MacBook Pro with a better GPU, that doesn't appear to be Apple's strategy. They appear to have built these new systems to stay just under Thunderbolt 3's power delivery limits and a high end GPU would make staying under 100 watts impossible. The Alienware system mentioned earlier in this thread has a 240 Watt power supply. That doesn't seem very attractive to me and it isn't nearly as convenient as being able to plug into any sufficiently large USB-C brick to keep the MacBook Pro's main battery fully charged.

I agree Apple's tech seems plenty modern. That same Alienware system does have a single Thunderbolt 3 port, but it's USB ports are all USB 3.0 vs the much faster USB 3.1 ports that even Apple's 13" MacBook has. I wish the 15" had a USB 3.1 port or two but not at the expense its 2 Thunderbolt 3 busses. The MacBook Pro will be upgradeable to whatever eGPU is fast in 2020 and extra Thunderbolt bus will be great for 10Gb ethernet and/or some crazy fast external storage.

I'll probably get an eGPU but I won't be surprised if Apple's optimizations make even the base 15" model fast enough for most of the work that I do. I certainly plan to do some testing at my local Apple store before I buy. Neat Video is my principle motivation for getting an eGPU and the initial press release for FCP 10.4.1 had a note about bundling high quality video noise reduction feature that apparently didn't make it into the final release. Hopefully it will be in the next major update and will be plenty fast.
 
CharlesPapert said:
It's a small thing but a few people above mentioned the drawback of not having a Mag-Safe connector on the new Macbook Pro's. I bought one earlier this year and I agree. To remedy, I went with this system: https://www.wallor.co/products/type-c-magnetic-magic

It has worked well so far.
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That's cool. All the ones on Amazon seem to be junk.

I'm actually pretty surprised Apple doesn't just make their default macbook charging cable with this magnetic tip stock, and sell an add-on kit for $50. They'd probably make a coin or two.
 
CharlesPapert said:
It's a small thing but a few people above mentioned the drawback of not having a Mag-Safe connector on the new Macbook Pro's. I bought one earlier this year and I agree. To remedy, I went with this system: https://www.wallor.co/products/type-c-magnetic-magic

It has worked well so far.
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Nice, and it isn't a small thing to me. I can't count the number of times a MagSafe connector saved me from destroying one of my MacBook Pros. This is definitely a plus of not having a proprietary power connection.
 
It looks like Apple did so some work on this model's keyboard to address the dust issues. iFixit is in the middle their teardown and it looks like the reason this model's keyboard is so much quieter than the 2016 and 2017 models is that the new model has a protective membrane over each of the keys.

iFixit seems to believe this membrane was added to mitigate the keyboard failure issues the 2016 and 2017 models had and the quieter keys are likely only a side effect. In any case, this "fix" makes me even more comfortable buying this year's model.

https://ifixit.org/blog/10279/apple-macbook-keyboard-cover-up/
 
paulears said:
The new Blackmagiuc external GPU looks real interesting. https://www.dpreview.com/news/4405572202/blackmagic-external-gpu-for-macbook-pro-now-available-from-apple
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I thought so at first as well until I realized the Gigabyte Auros has the same GPU built in with 4 USB3 ports and 4 HDMI ports for only $500.00. There is actually absolutely nothing interesting about the BMD eGPU at all and people have been making similar products for two years now. Only thing the Auros is missing is the second TB3 port but the MBP has four ports so I would rather save $200 and have the extra HDMI ports.

This may be the first product BMD ever released that costs a lot more than any of the competition.

Read the rest of the thread, we discussed this in detail.
 
Thomas Smet said:
I thought so at first as well until I realized the Gigabyte Auros has the same GPU built in with 4 USB3 ports and 4 HDMI ports for only $500.00. There is actually absolutely nothing interesting about the BMD eGPU at all and people have been making similar products for two years now. Only thing the Auros is missing is the second TB3 port but the MBP has four ports so I would rather save $200 and have the extra HDMI ports.

This may be the first product BMD ever released that costs a lot more than any of the competition.

Read the rest of the thread, we discussed this in detail.
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Wonder if it has anything to do with being available exclusively through Apple...?
 
Mac Benchmarks has the new 2018 models tested with Geekbench.

https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

Multithread score is better than I expected. I assumed it might beat the top iMac but not by as much as it did. 22439 vs 19326. The fact that it beats the old Mac Pro tower 12 core is pretty darn awesome for a laptop. Of course these are synthetic tests and don't always paint the full picture but when it comes to raw processing speed the new MBPs are no slouches. Only Macs faster are the 8+ core iMac Pro and trashcan Mac Pro.

The single core test really impressed me. The top 2018 MBP is now the second fastest Mac when it comes to single threaded applications. The turbo boost really helps here.
 
Thomas Smet said:
Agreed. I still have a 2011 17" MBP and while clunky and a giant beast compared to my 2015 MBP I do miss the larger Realestate. I run the 2015 at 1920 resolution but my eyes are not as good as they used to be and I'm pretty sure I'm making them worse.

Not that it will stop me from loving this new MBP however. My 2015 MBP already cuts through native GH4 4k with great ease. The extra rendering power will be very welcome indeed. This should put the MBP on par with the 4 core CPU on the top iMac. If apple ever works the kinks out of eGPU I have no problem adding one to match or exceed the GPU performance of the iMac. On the road work with the 560x and at home at my desk plug in the eGPU and go to town.

Anybody notice that neat new BMD eGPU Apple has on the new MBP page? In terms of guts its just a Radeon 580 so comparable to other eGPU options but it has a ton of nice ports making it double as a USB3 hub with a HDMI port. The ports kind of make it a great option.
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Seeing reports of the Blackmagic eGPU creating 2-3x render speeds in Premiere vs. without. The new CPU is a monster compared to 2017 models. Compared to my 2015 MBP... not even in the same universe.

This bodes well for the updated iMac in 2018 which will be i7 and i9, 6-core option, and a much higher clock speed. Aside from GPU a 2018 iMac with the i9 + semi-current GPU will give the base iMac Pro a run for it's money. Based on that... the next iMac Pro should be killer even compared to the current model... and whatever modular Mac Pro they're supposedly working on would have to best all of them by the time it releases... which means... wow.
 
KyleProhaska said:
Seeing reports of the Blackmagic eGPU creating 2-3x render speeds in Premiere vs. without. The new CPU is a monster compared to 2017 models. Compared to my 2015 MBP... not even in the same universe.

This bodes well for the updated iMac in 2018 which will be i7 and i9, 6-core option, and a much higher clock speed. Aside from GPU a 2018 iMac with the i9 + semi-current GPU will give the base iMac Pro a run for it's money. Based on that... the next iMac Pro should be killer even compared to the current model... and whatever modular Mac Pro they're supposedly working on would have to best all of them by the time it releases... which means... wow.
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I'm not entirely sue the iMac will see such an update. To this day Apple doesn't have a default configuration of even an i7 iMac and in order to have a i7 iMac you have to custom order. Apple isn't going to make the regular iMac as fast as the iMac Pro because they want two different markets. Most consumers also don't need that level of performance and the iMac is after all a consumer focused computer.

The MBP had to increase its cores because its intended for the same market as the iMac Pro. Hard to call the previous MBP and the iMac Pro both pro machines I the same sentence due to the vast performance differences between the two.

Honestly if you want iMac Pro performance just get the iMac Pro. Thats kind of what it was intended for. I think by the time one would custom build a i9 iMac the cost difference wouldn't be far off from the base 8 core iMac Pro.
 
Gary T said:
With 6 cores, 32gigs of RAM, improved security, and displays, I think I'm in love. Apple just got a bit more of my cash, but I just wish they still made a 17 inch model for my old man eyes. FCP probably screams on these beasts.


https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018...faster-performance-and-new-features-for-pros/

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/15-inch
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I would love a 17 inch version with 32 GB and 6 cores. 1-2 TB is ok for me. Why Apple doesn't give us 17 inch screen is a mystery. My old 17inc MBP crashed and I was forced to update to 15.4 inch 2016 version last year. And a month later the 2017 version was launched. :) So will wait out for sometime before jumping to the new 2018 version.
 
indiawilds said:
I would love a 17 inch version with 32 GB and 6 cores. 1-2 TB is ok for me. Why Apple doesn't give us 17 inch screen is a mystery. My old 17inc MBP crashed and I was forced to update to 15.4 inch 2016 version last year. And a month later the 2017 version was launched. :) So will wait out for sometime before jumping to the new 2018 version.
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Not a mystery at all. Sales of the 17” were very poor. I love the size as well but it just didn’t make financial sense for Apple to keep it around. I wish they would give it another go but that ship may have sailed.
 
indiawilds said:
I would love a 17 inch version with 32 GB and 6 cores. 1-2 TB is ok for me. Why Apple doesn't give us 17 inch screen is a mystery. My old 17inc MBP crashed and I was forced to update to 15.4 inch 2016 version last year. And a month later the 2017 version was launched. :) So will wait out for sometime before jumping to the new 2018 version.
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The 17" is probably too niche for the current Apple business model. If only SmallHD or somebody would make a slim 17" monitor for laptop editors on the go. something that could slip into a laptop case without too much bulk. maybe even OLED.
 
Thomas Smet said:
There is actually absolutely nothing interesting about the BMD eGPU at all and people have been making similar products for two years now.
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My guess is that noise levels is the main differentiation. The BMD design is custom with a huge heatsink to be more or less silent. More generic solutions simply offer a box around a retail card. Yes, they're cheaper, but not as refined. Buyer's choice—which is good.

Thomas Smet said:
Multithread score is better than I expected. The fact that it beats the old Mac Pro tower 12 core is pretty darn awesome for a laptop.
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My Mac Pro from 2009 scores 24500 in multithreaded. I guess the listed Macs are the stock configs, whereas most old towers still in use for demanding tasks likely all have the 3.46GHz CPUs that cost nothing.

I don't say this to take anything away from the new MBP though: it seems like a really cool allrounder straddling the portability vs power gap quite well. And let's not talk single threaded scenarios at all, please. :cry: :embarasse
 
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