Slashdot Mirror
Apple Plans To Launch an 'All-New' 16-inch MacBook Pro and 32-inch 6K Monitor This Year, Says Report (theverge.com)
Apple is planning an "all-new" MacBook Pro design for this year, well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said. From a report: The lineup is reportedly led by a model with a screen of between 16 and 16.5 inches, which would make it the biggest screen in a Mac notebook since the 17-inch models stopped being sold in 2012. Kuo says the lineup may also include a 13-inch model with support for 32GB of RAM; right now only the 15-inch MacBook Pro can be configured with that amount of memory.
[...] More interestingly, Kuo has the first credible details of the external monitor that will mark Apple's return to the pro display market. It's said to be a 31.6-inch 6K display with a "Mini LED-like backlight design." Apple discontinued its last monitor, the Thunderbolt Display, back in 2016; right now the best option for owners of more modern Macs is the Apple-sanctioned but imperfect 27-inch LG UltraFine 5K.
[...] More interestingly, Kuo has the first credible details of the external monitor that will mark Apple's return to the pro display market. It's said to be a 31.6-inch 6K display with a "Mini LED-like backlight design." Apple discontinued its last monitor, the Thunderbolt Display, back in 2016; right now the best option for owners of more modern Macs is the Apple-sanctioned but imperfect 27-inch LG UltraFine 5K.
Neat! I gave up on Apple making serious hardware years ago. I get my *nix meets met via Virtualbox on Windows on *any* size laptop with *any* amount of RAM and *any* size hard drive I want, thanks.
I don't respond to AC's.
I'm really surprised that VMWare doesn't make their own laptop with a VMWare hyperviser in firmware. Basically, boot into any OS you want, and backup the entire stack to the cloud.
Life is not for the lazy.
The MacBook Pro Pro. Starting at $3999.
I miss the days when minor new features and upgraded components were part of a normal product refresh and didn't justify a new name and pricing tier.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
Does "Support for 32GB of RAM" mean you can plug in two 16GB modules, or does it just mean that you can pay 3x the street price of the RAM extra to buy a laptop with it soldered to the motherboard?
Even the automakers didn't weld their wheels on to keep for from changing tires.
It will be the glued-shut, no-port, soldered-everything version of the old 17" MacBook Pro ... this thing will be to power laptops like the Jeep Compass is to off-road vehicles.
And just what Mac will be able to run such a thing without having shedloads of problems?
If you use DisplayPort from any modern TB3 Mac, you can drive any 4k display at 60FPS.
I never had any issues even using my older 2013 MacBook Pro (with discreet GPU) on an LG 4k monitor using DisplayPort adaptors. Certainly no flickering.
Not that I'm saying Apple couldn't stand to improve GPU drivers, mind you. Just saying there are ways to use 4K displays more reliably.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It will be the glued-shut, no-port, soldered-everything version of the old 17" MacBook Pro
That seems very unlikely given what they did with the iMac Pro, and even the MacBook Pro updates - more ports and some flexibility in expansion.
I am even fine with all USB-C ports, as long as there's four or so. In a larger form factor they will probably include more ports.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No wired network is a killer in some settings.
>planned obsolescence
Really? My 2014 macbook pro still runs like a champ.
With Apple's reduction in bezel sizes the new 16" should have about the same screen size as the old 17" in a slightly smaller form factor.
I hate to break it to you but that's not how screen sizes are measured. A 16 inch screen will be 1 inch smaller screen size than a 17 inch, regardless of bezel size.
Will we see a return to the non craptacular keyboards that don't let dust freak them out?
If no, then I'll continue to stick with my aging 2015 Macbook Pro. No reason to ever upgrade until they either change the style of keyboard or revert back to a design that works.
Steve Jobs is clearly turning in his grave at what has become of Apple.
We don't even have true HD in most cases and you think there is going to be 8K content.
I have been a hard core OpenBSD developer and user for two decades but this laptop has me and many of my colleges drooling. A huge number of us will be making the switch permanently to Apple and at this point I see no reason to ever consider any other product. Apple absolutely rules when it comes to technology.
A 15" Macbook Pro actually has a 15.4" diagonal screen (16:10 aspect ratio, vs 15.6" 16:9 aspect ratio for most PC laptops). So you're going to be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a 16" and the existing 15" model. A 16.0" screen would have 16^2 / 15.4^2 = 1.07944 or just 8% more screen area than the 15". Most people won't be able to tell them apart unless they're side-by-side. A 16.5" screen would have 16.5^2 / 15.4^2 = 1.148 or 15% more screen area than the 15", which might be noticeable.
By contrast, the 17" model (17.0" 16:10 aspect ratio, vs 17.3" 16:9 aspect ratio for most PC laptops) was 17^2 / 15.4^2 = 1.2186 or 22% more screen area than the 15", which is definitely noticeable.
I believe that a 16inch screen, with almost no bezels, would easily fit "on" the form-factor of my 15.4inch 2013 MBP. Backpack problem easily addressed.
You need 8k three feet from your face? Do you have a Borg implants?
Can I get some?
Wharrr. Wharrr pro tower?
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
your next app at 6K.
Got the needed GPU?
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
4K for the 4K video.
The extra 2K is for the software to place its GU to work on the 4K video.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I understand the most recent Macbook pro has more modular components and ports, suggesting they are responding to criticism of the glued together, fake pro direction they had been taking. Is it an inflection point in design philosophy after burning the goodwill they created for pro users?
Not a fan boy, but typing this on a 2009 17 inch MB pro that has been used every day for the last decade and still works like new. Possibly the best machine I have owned of ANY kind. That level of quality earns loyalty. It was assumed they would never again make a laptop larger than 15 inches because the profit margins are too small. Selling a loss leader product to command respect from the pros is the kind of strategy they displayed when Jobs ran the show. Could be a good sign.
(But not holding my breath.)
Quick Survey. did anyone ask for?
Here is what was on my list:
Better keyboard
Option for Touch Screen
Better Repairability (See Louis Rossman, easy to replace keyboard and battery)
Better Upgradability (Not Soldered in HDD and RAM)
Better Water Resistance
Return of the MagSafe
More Ports on the Pro Model including a classic USB3.0 port
eGPU Options for High End Cards with Plug N Play
Now that would actually be a lovely idea - *if* it used a standard PC video-card slot so that you could easily upgrade the GPU in the future. Somehow though I suspect that's not the case.
I have the same basic objection to "all-in-one" PCs - a good monitor is worth investing in, and will likely outlast many PCs - unless you integrate the two, and generate a huge additional stream of trash as the fast-evolving tech goes predictably obsolescent, taking a perfectly good screen with it.
Even if you've got the money to burn, and upgrade your monitor as often as your PC, consigning a high-quality monitor to an early grave rather than many years of cherished second-hand value should hurt your heart. It's wanton wealth-destruction.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
Words of a guy who never got much shore leave.
No wired network is a killer in some settings.
I agree. What bothers me is the increasing lack of Ethernet ports and no support for an inexpensive alternative. All it would take is the small step of support for USB to USB networking with a passive cable. This was written in the USB spec 10 years ago, but it seems few people bothered to implement it. It's in section 5.5.2 of the USB 3.0 whitepaper.
https://www.usb3.com/whitepape...
Apple doesn't have this problem because they have USB-C ports on all new computers and support networking over a passive cable by use of the Thunderbolt protocol. An inexpensive passive cable will connect two Apple computers at 10 Gbps. A wired network does not necessarily mean Ethernet.
I guess if Apple supported this kind of connection with USB 3.0 it might go just as fast, and be able to connect to any computer with a USB-A port with a widely available an inexpensive USB-A to USB-C cable, but then the other computer would have to support this as well. There's little incentive by Apple to support this if Windows and Linux can't be bothered to support a direct PC to PC connection by USB.
Oh, and if you really needed to have Ethernet to connect by a wire to another computer then there's all kinds of adapters out there for this. Given the increasing scarcity of Ethernet ports on new Windows computers, especially laptops and tablets, the need for such an adapter is shared with Apples. But, again, I can connect two new Apple computers together at 10 Gbps with a $10 cable I can get at most any Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or whatever. I can't do this with Windows or Linux, or at least I haven't seen it yet.
I'd like to be able to do the same with Windows and Linux. Why after 10 years has no one bothered to read the USB spec and implement a very useful wired connection between PCs? Seems to me that there would be no hardware limitation for this, all we need is the software. Has no third party read this either and seen the possibilities?
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
>apple could care less
So they care more?
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
I've got a LapLink cable you can have:)