How are companies still releasing hardware with 8GB RAM? My MacBook Air from ~2016 has 8GB of RAM.
My first PC which had 8GB of RAM was built in ~2010 if I remember correctly. My current machine has 32GB. In all honesty, 32GB is not even much, considering my motherboard can take 128GB (in the old days, if your motherboard could take max 8GB RAM, people would fill all the slots to capacity). Also, I have a Lenovo machine that I paid $200 for that has 8GB RAM.
WHY any power user would buy a MacBook is beyond me. They've become devices that only my mother would use, not to get work done.
Apple should've made the baseline 32GB with 128GB as max spec. It would've forced the whole industry to give us more RAM. So for the next two years RAM will still be stagnant, all other manufacturers that copies Apple will indeed keep shipping 8GB without blinking.
Perhaps this pricing was brought about by the same head injury that caused someone in management to believe 8GB is an adequate base spec for RAM in 2020.
They might both be an M1, but only the Pro has a cooling fan.
The Air is going a more iPad route; totally silent and more than enough performance for typical tasks, but under sustained load it's going to throttle hard.
Here[1] is an article from The Verge that goes into the full differences with confirmation from Apple. For those too lazy to click through, yes the fan is the biggest difference. Beyond that the screen in the Air is slightly darker, the base model has worse chips due to binning, the battery is smaller, and there is obviously the Touchbar.
Thermals and sustained performance. I expect 10 W passive CPU in MBA body to throttle quickly - I now have 2017 12" MB, and for about 60(winter)/15(summer) seconds of sustained load it's the most awesome little machine in the world, and then becomes a slog.
It has 7W CPU in slightly smaller body than new Air, so I expect Air's performance review to be 'the story about throttling'.
The pro comes with fan cooling.
With that, the pro can run for much longer without hitting max temperatures .
The air is fanless so in an intesive task, you will hit thermal limits very soon and the cpu will be slowed down .
Apple mentioned in the event that these Macs will have hardware verified secure boot. Since I’m not very knowledgeable in this area, can someone explain (or even try to guess) what this would/could mean for running Linux on these? I use Macs way beyond Apple’s support timeframe with OS X/macOS, and Linux is the one that runs on some of the older Macs and provides adequate security and security related software updates.
I'll be sticking with my 2015 Macbook Pro Retina 13". Great machine, not too thin, heavy enough, no stupid touch screen, usb ports, great keyboard. Everything apple has done since hasn't compared.
You are missing out if you don't have 4 USB-C ports in both sides of your laptop. You can charge your laptop and connect a display with a single cable and without caring about putting the computer in the right direction.
I have this machine, it’s a super portable and reliable powerhouse. I recently upgraded to a 2019 15”, mostly to go up to 32G ram, and it feels like a downgrade in terms of design and usability.
Also have this one. It was my first macbook, and I think I got really lucky with getting in when I did. Been going strong for 5 years, and has no difficulty doing anything I need it to do. Only thing I wish I did was get more storage (only got the 128GB model).
Used Apple products maintain their value very well. The 2015 MBP Retina can be found on Ebay between $700-$1000. I've thought about getting one myself.
I've been waiting to upgrade my 2015 for 5 years now! It's funny, when I bought it I only went with 8GB ram because I figured I would replace it in 2 years-ish. It has served me well, but, it's struggling with only 8GB these days. Now I'm ready for 32GB, because I'm planning on keeping the next one for another 5 years. Let's hope the 14" MackBook Pro in 2021 (with mini-LED secreen) rumors have legs to it. Hoping this is only the interim state of the 13" Pro and is due to really needing a different ARM cpu that is not available yet.
I am in the same boat. I love this Laptop, but Lightroom (CC) is really slow compared to how it runs on iOS. I would assume the new M1-based machines could run the iOS version of Lightroom almost out of the box.
Same boat as you, but for some reason with the new MacOS update my computer kept getting the most random freezes to the point where I gave up and gave it a fresh Linux install. Haven’t looked back and I’m extremely happy with the work I’ve been putting into it.
I have this generation air and a recent pro... call me crazy, but somehow the hard edges of the pro are super uncomfortable when the laptop is on my lap. Maybe an air vs pro thing rather than generation thing
Did I miss something, or are they, once again, not upgrading the camera? The low light performance of the current version is real bad. Since we're all using these cameras way more, I really thought there would a hardware bump. You can only squeeze so much detail out of an under-exposed, noisy image with software.
Super interesting how they kept the touchbar on the Macbook Pro keyboard but not on the Air. As a software developer, I'm going to be more likely to buy an Air just due to the keyboard.
Five years later and I still can't buy a new 13" laptop from Apple with more RAM than my 2015 MBP.
Edit: Apparently you can configure a (Early 2020) Intel-based 13" MBP with 32GB of RAM - I was not aware of that. Hope they bring that option to the ARM versions ASAP, especially if the performance gains are as good as Apple claims.
The new Air looks good. The new mbp 13” not so much. If they’re going to lower the max ram they should at least provide an explanation why 16g in the new architecture is comparable to 32 in the previous, if that’s indeed the case.
What I can't find is how many external monitors can be supported on the M1 chip? I don't see any detailed specs. Al they say about the M1 specs are:
"The Apple M1 chip is the first system on a chip (SoC) for Mac. Packed with an astonishing 16 billion transistors, it integrates the CPU, GPU, I/O, and every other significant component and controller onto a single tiny chip. Designed by Apple, M1 brings incredible performance, custom technologies, and unparalleled power efficiency to the Mac.
With an 8‑core CPU and 8‑core GPU, M1 on MacBook Pro delivers up to 2.8x faster CPU performance¹ and up to 5x faster graphics² than the previous generation."
I backed a game a while ago on Kickstarter with native support for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Several weeks ago they sent us a message saying they were ditching the MacOS version due the architecture change.
I wonder how it'll affect the whole ecosystem. I think it'll end being like an iOS on steroids.
Looks like the Mac mini no longer has the ability to have a 10GBe Ethernet port. So, we could get 64GB of RAM and 10GBe in the last generation, and now this.
They still sell Intel version, it's not gone. Also I think that there will be USB dongles for 10GBe Ethernet which is not as convenient, for sure, but bearable. And RAM limit is unfortunate indeed. I wouldn't buy 8GB RAM in 2020 at all and 16GB is barely enough, so this device won't last long given the lack of upgradability. Probably better RAM options will come next year.
Straw poll: I need a new development machine, price is not an object but it has to be a Mac. Should I buy this new M1 or go with the Intel 16 inch MBP?
My gut says there’s going to be a year or two of cross-compilation nightmares. I do a lot of Docker-based development. Wondering what everyone else thinks?
I'm interested to see the benchmarks vs. comparable AMD systems. Some of the claims, like 2x performance increase on the MBP are impressive, but intel laptops have been absolutely trounced by AMD 4000-series laptops of late.
Also will be interested to see the benchmarks of the integrated GPU vs. discreet GPU performance.
That does seem weird. Probably Apple doesn't care about developers or rather expects them to wait for the 16 inch version?
Personally I brought a windows workstation laptop and I have pretty much regretted that most of the time - if you are going for that kind of performance, running VMs, etc you are probably better of with a desktop. I expect that if you build a system with the new Ryzen 3 you can smoke almost any of the new mac models for 50%-75% of the cost.
Screws you pretty hard if you actually need the computer to be a mac for some reason.
I wonder, is the 8GB vs. 16GB "unified memory" the kind of thing where all of the hardware actually has 16GB, but they disable half of it to sell the lower price version? Like Tesla's Model S 40 kwh?
I don't see people mentioning it here, but the Pro machine only supports one external display. People have called the sales rep to confirm and this is indeed the case.
Entry-level pro? Devaluing the "pro" moniker? The latter isn't new though, they've had to spend years in R&D to try and reinvent the Mac Pro for example.
[+] [-] BatteryMountain|5 years ago|reply
My first PC which had 8GB of RAM was built in ~2010 if I remember correctly. My current machine has 32GB. In all honesty, 32GB is not even much, considering my motherboard can take 128GB (in the old days, if your motherboard could take max 8GB RAM, people would fill all the slots to capacity). Also, I have a Lenovo machine that I paid $200 for that has 8GB RAM.
WHY any power user would buy a MacBook is beyond me. They've become devices that only my mother would use, not to get work done.
Apple should've made the baseline 32GB with 128GB as max spec. It would've forced the whole industry to give us more RAM. So for the next two years RAM will still be stagnant, all other manufacturers that copies Apple will indeed keep shipping 8GB without blinking.
[+] [-] tiffanyh|5 years ago|reply
The Air ($1249) vs 13" Pro ($1299), you get:
- same CPU
- same GPU
- same Neural chip
- same RAM (8gb)
- More storage for the Air (512gb vs 256gb with 13" Pro)
- You get Touch Bar with 13" Pro
So if you don't care about the Touch Bar, you actually get with the Air:
- better specs
- smaller device footprint
- and $50 cheaper.
Am I missing something?
[+] [-] justin66|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wlesieutre|5 years ago|reply
The Air is going a more iPad route; totally silent and more than enough performance for typical tasks, but under sustained load it's going to throttle hard.
[+] [-] slg|5 years ago|reply
[1] - https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/10/21559228/apple-new-macbo...
[+] [-] EgoIncarnate|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomaskafka|5 years ago|reply
It has 7W CPU in slightly smaller body than new Air, so I expect Air's performance review to be 'the story about throttling'.
[+] [-] ab_testing|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AnonHP|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] callamdelaney|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yoz-y|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mFixman|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sebmellen|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shrimpx|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Thorentis|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cyrialize|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Aloisius|5 years ago|reply
Wait. What? I can honestly say that I've never thought to myself that a laptop was too thin or too light.
[+] [-] weystrom|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ellipticaldoor|5 years ago|reply
Now with the new model being even faster and without a fan things look even better for the future.
[+] [-] p0rkbelly|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] christian008|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pgrote|5 years ago|reply
How long will OS updates be distributed for it?
[+] [-] lavp|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 0xFFFE|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sesuximo|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] christiansakai|5 years ago|reply
I'm going to install Linux on it.
[+] [-] regulation_d|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SamuelAdams|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] KMnO4|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dcchambers|5 years ago|reply
Five years later and I still can't buy a new 13" laptop from Apple with more RAM than my 2015 MBP.
Edit: Apparently you can configure a (Early 2020) Intel-based 13" MBP with 32GB of RAM - I was not aware of that. Hope they bring that option to the ARM versions ASAP, especially if the performance gains are as good as Apple claims.
[+] [-] shrimpx|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tiffanyh|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] redm|5 years ago|reply
"The Apple M1 chip is the first system on a chip (SoC) for Mac. Packed with an astonishing 16 billion transistors, it integrates the CPU, GPU, I/O, and every other significant component and controller onto a single tiny chip. Designed by Apple, M1 brings incredible performance, custom technologies, and unparalleled power efficiency to the Mac.
With an 8‑core CPU and 8‑core GPU, M1 on MacBook Pro delivers up to 2.8x faster CPU performance¹ and up to 5x faster graphics² than the previous generation."
[+] [-] Darmody|5 years ago|reply
I wonder how it'll affect the whole ecosystem. I think it'll end being like an iOS on steroids.
[+] [-] protomyth|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vbezhenar|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TechBro8615|5 years ago|reply
My gut says there’s going to be a year or two of cross-compilation nightmares. I do a lot of Docker-based development. Wondering what everyone else thinks?
[+] [-] skohan|5 years ago|reply
Also will be interested to see the benchmarks of the integrated GPU vs. discreet GPU performance.
[+] [-] EduardoBautista|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wirthjason|5 years ago|reply
P.S. I’m a developer, like many here.
(Edit: specify the M1, not the existing Intel.)
[+] [-] cromka|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomjen3|5 years ago|reply
Personally I brought a windows workstation laptop and I have pretty much regretted that most of the time - if you are going for that kind of performance, running VMs, etc you are probably better of with a desktop. I expect that if you build a system with the new Ryzen 3 you can smoke almost any of the new mac models for 50%-75% of the cost.
Screws you pretty hard if you actually need the computer to be a mac for some reason.
[+] [-] ibraheemdev|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ayesh|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codazoda|5 years ago|reply
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch-space...
[+] [-] CharlesW|5 years ago|reply
It supports up to 64GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory. (Source: Went through the "Buy" process to see the options.)
[+] [-] supernova87a|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] interestica|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] weystrom|5 years ago|reply
This is kind of bad news for the Pro machine.
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|5 years ago|reply