MacBook Pro 18W Quad-Core Processors Cancelled

[Appleaker]

The rumored 18W quad-core processors have apparently been cancelled. Similar to the 15", they were part of the H-series and did not have Iris graphics.

However, a 15W (U-series) quad-cores are also expected be released with Kaby Lake/Coffee Lake processors next year. Apple have begun shipping 15W processors in MacBook Pros, so perhaps these could replace the 28W CPUs in the higher end 13" models.

It would certainly make it more suitable for professionals while also having possible battery life benefits.

 

[Patrick-Photo]

The rumored 18W quad-core processors have apparently been cancelled. Similar to the 15", they were part of the H-series and did not have Iris graphics.

However, a 15W (U-series) quad-cores are also expected be released with Kaby Lake/Coffee Lake processors next year. Apple have begun shipping 15W processors in MacBook Pros, so perhaps these could replace the 28W CPUs in the higher end 13" models.

It would certainly make it more suitable for professionals while also having possible battery life benefits.

My guess is they won't as the have at best an HDx20/30 IGP. The 15" uses this too but with an Radeon Pro 450-455-460 as alternative when it needs more gpu power. The 13" however wil rely more on HDx40/50 IGPs as those are stronger. It would be awesome if they could bring a 10nm Quad-core with the current performance back to let's say 25W as it would enable better GPUs in the 15" or maybe a beefier IGP at 35W.

 

[Appleaker]

My guess is they won't as the have at best an HDx20/30 IGP. The 15" uses this too but with an Radeon Pro 450-455-460 as alternative when it needs more gpu power. The 13" however wil rely more on HDx40/50 IGPs as those are stronger. It would be awesome if they could bring a 10nm Quad-core with the current performance back to let's say 25W as it would enable better GPUs in the 15" or maybe a beefier IGP at 35W.

Yeah, if the performance was similar they may have used the 18W processors in the 15" and use a dGPU.

The 15W models also come with the standard graphics, so I was hopeful they could come up with a custom AMD dGPU solution for the 13" to make it suitable for Pros.

Next year this could be possible with minimal impact on battery life but Apple probably wouldn't do it.
I personally think they should move the 13" to the 'MacBook' range and have a 14" Pro, where they would have space for this arrangement. It would have a similar footprint to the 13" MacBook Air thanks to the decreased bezels of the new designs.

I don't know why Intel are so reluctant to include Iris graphics in some of there processors where it would make sense, but ultimately it's a good thing in my opinion as it forces Apple to include dedicated graphics cards in all models (i.e. with the 15" MBP and iMac)

 

[OS X Dude]

I don't know why Intel are so reluctant to include Iris graphics in some of there processors where it would make sense, but ultimately it's a good thing in my opinion as it forces Apple to include dedicated graphics cards in all models (i.e. with the 15" MBP and iMac)

I beg to differ, personally, since dGPUs have caused Apple and users huge issues in many cases.The 2011 MacBook Pro is an obvious example but the iMac range has also experienced issues.

 

[Appleaker]

I beg to differ, personally, since dGPUs have caused Apple and users huge issues in many cases.The 2011 MacBook Pro is an obvious example but the iMac range has also experienced issues.

They have, but for the most part those issues are resolved and do not always occur. I really don't think it is a reason to ditch dedicated graphics cards, given the major performance difference.

 

[Appleaker]

It looks like the quad-core 15W chips have been confirmed by Intel!

Set for a release at the end of this year or beginning of next year so the earliest likely appearance in MacBooks would be March/June 2018.

Details are scarce, other than the i7 chip has a boost clock of 4GHz, other than that we know as much as we did when the leaks first appeared in August 2016.

I'm interested in opinions regarding the 13" MBP, so please vote in the poll if you haven't already.

 

[ZapNZs]

I would like to see it and this would motivate me to immediately replace whatever my smaller portable is at the time, even if it was a relatively newer machine.

My work is more CPU-intensive than GPU-intensive, and there are things my 2014 15-inch MacBook Pro does very well that no current dual core machine does nearly as well, including my newer 13-inch MBP.

With that said, I would also be interested in a dGPU 13 if we keep moving in the direction of sending certain processing tasks to GPUs that have historically been done with CPUs.

 

[macduke]

I'll guess I'll add my input here as well. I've always wanted a powerful 13" MacBook Pro. I don't really care much for the 15" size. A quad-core chip would go a long way towards convincing me to pick one up. I don't really care if Apple charges a good chunk more for it. A discrete GPU would be nice, but the integrated GPUs nowadays aren't that bad. My dream MacBook Pro, which will hopefully come out by the end of 2018, is a retina display the same resolution as the 15" but put into the 13" body (higher PPI, more workspace), quad-core i7, 32GB RAM, discrete GPU, and 2TB SSD. I would also accept (you know, back here in reality) a 13" with the same resolution we have now, quad-core i7, 16GB RAM, decent integrated GPU and 1TB SSD. Hopefully with the advances in low-power chip design, we can get integrated GPUs and more RAM, but we'll see. I'm currently more in the market for a desktop, so I could wait another year or two for the right MBP to come along. I'd also take the 15" model but with a really narrow bezel and reduced footprint.

 

[Appleaker]

So, a year after initially being leaked, they've been announced by Intel. IN a surprising twist they will not be on the Coffee Lake (14nm++) architecture, instead remaining as a revised version of Kaby Lake. But the significant gains are still present, being 30-40% faster as previously stated by Intel.

However only a few U-series models have been announced, they are 15W but use 620 graphics. The other models should be announced shortly.

The 28W chips will presumably be Kaby Lake R as well, but the H-series for the 15" will be Coffee Lake (with 6 cores), but they have yet to be announced.