Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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Maybe they really WEREN'T planning to add those ports and the wildly heralded responses to rumors in the press pushed them to go that route? We may never know.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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Update. Seems it may be COVID-related. Places aren’t staffed/running at 100%, etc.
Still on track for a second-half of 2021 launch, but tight until production fully ramps up. Blah, blah… Who knows what’s true, or worth believing, in such reports. I’m just passing along related news in the relevant thread. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Yep. Read this piece yesterday that was making that clear.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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Well, here we go (maybe)...
Someone who isn't Jon Prosser says new, redesigned 14" and 16" MacBook Pros will be introduced net week at WWDC keynote. Makes sense, considering the venue/event (professional developers + professional portable Macs). We'll see soon enough. This part, however, sounds off/weird: Quote:
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M1, including M1X, seems a bit late at this point. I think we're more likely to see an early M2 here.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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We just don't know these things are planned out, or what Apple's long-range approach is.
I assumed newer, beefier variants will get called M2, M3, etc. But, for all we know, M1 is the building block/foundation and, for the foreseeable future, it just get suffixes added to that? The M2 might be years away, and truly a next-generation type of thing? Who knows...they've not laid out any sort of public roadmap, so it'll probably be another 6-12 months before we're able to figure out any sort of pattern. That might start as soon as Monday, though. "Ahh, so that's how they're going to go about it with this second round...". The naming doesn't really matter. I assume whatever's coming in these models, no matter what it's called, will run a bit faster, support more RAM, have better graphics, etc. than what's in the current M1-based Macs. Otherwise, what's the point? There's definitely a reason the more powerful Macs have yet to transition (because they were never intended for the "modest", rev. A M1 currently in use). This may be one of those rare modern era keynotes I'll watch. It's a slog to sit through all the retail, watch and sales-related stuff (and the inevitable human interest/lifestyle pieces and forays into fluff/schmaltz they usually offer up). But I'll perk up if/when they start talking about the M1 and Macs. Hopefully, like that Spring Forward event, they get right to it (as they did with the new iMac). But they may leave new notebooks until the end. I will say this: these pre-filmed, stylishly-edited presentations are growing on me. Visually, they're much more interesting to watch (the transitions between segments, the sets/locations used, the things they can do with graphics/animation in-scene, etc.). They're just better all around, on several fronts (more informative, you get a better look at the hardware, no awkward third-party presenters, no whooping/seal-clapping audience, no chance of a glitch or technical snag, etc.). Nobody presently at Apple has that Thing™ to effectively carry a live, 90-minute-plus presentation. Not even hair guy, whose shtick got old a couple of years ago. Doing this stuff in front of a live crowd has been annoying/awkward for at least a decade (hell, two decades...ever since Steve quit doing them, frankly), so I much prefer this new way, now that I've seen a few. It just flows better. These people are all easier to take in bite-size, digestible and edited chunks, vs. standing on a black stage and trying to engage a live audience. There have been some absolutely awful live keynotes/presentations over the years because so many don't seem to know what the hell they're doing up there. At the very least, they should have a bottle of whiskey backstage and everyone is required to take two slugs from it before they walk out. I think that would help quite a bit with some presenters. But it'll probably go back to live/in-person next June if things continue to improve. Oh well...it was nice while it lasted. Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2021-06-03 at 09:32. |
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Then again, Apple's marketing seems to enjoy being a little unpredictable on naming. So they might do the "M2 is the high end; M1 is more mainstream" approach. Quote:
It's not the name, it's what we associate with it: if they take the M1 but add support for more RAM and more external displays, that's already a plenty capable processor for the 14-inch. If they add more CPU and GPU cores, that'll destroy the current highest-end 16-inch Intel MacBook Pro. Either of those could be an "M1X". Or, they might take the route of using a new generation of cores (instead of Firestorm/Icestorm), and maybe those already from the get-go feature more RAM and display support. That might be the "M2X". (I'm guessing they'll do both: they'll upgrade the generation, but also add more cores than are necessary on their current lower-end ARM Macs; therefore, the first CPU of this generation we'll see might be called the "M2X", and the 'regular' "M2" launches later in the year or early 2022.) Quote:
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On the one hand: the production quality is great. It's more efficient and therefore less annoying to watch. The Spring Forward event felt like a breeze. (I have yet to watch the iPhone event, in part because apparently the Verizon/5G mentions were insufferable.) OTOH, I'm bummed how formulaic it's become. It's like they looked through three Stevenotes and decided, "yup, that's how we're going to do every single one of them from today on until eternity!" But Steve wasn't actually that formulaic! The iPod intro and iPhone intro have very different vibes, for example. There was often an element of "Steve just spends five times live-demo'ing a user interface, clearly at his personal peak and in awe of his team" that seems missing now. They still do live demos, but they feel far more "alright, you get the idea" compact. Efficient, but less human. Quote:
I don't think post-pandemic Apple events will be quite the way they were pre-pandemic. |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I know he gets romanticized and put on a pedestal (that he may not fully deserve), but damn...there's no denying that was a wonderful period (1998-2010ish). I'm glad I was around, and into all this stuff. Great memories, and, without a doubt, a big part of the reason I still care about all this stuff. No iEra Steve Jobs, I'm likely on a Dell and an Android-based phone. I was a Mac user pre-iMac/Jobs' return, but I didn't fully dive in/get "passionate" about it until 1998 and those years following. That was when I knew "okay, I'll be using this stuff forever." At 52 I'm not about to change anything on the computing/phone front. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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There was also that oddly hilarious piece of funeral theatre for Mac OS 9.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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And the iBook WiFi/AirPort hula hoop (and I recall Phil Schiller jumping off a platform for some reason).
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Went down an internet rabbit hole this evening and began to wonder:
Could Apple update the Duo concept with its new Silicon? Could they engineer a way to utilize your laptop's RAM, CPU and GPU as added resources when it is docked with the iMac? Does Thunderbolt 4 have enough speed to do something like this? Now that they make the whole enchilada, maybe a 16" MacBook Pro and a 30" iMac could work together for Pros in exciting new ways. |
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Nah. Tb 4 goes to 40 Gigabits per second, or 5 Gigabytes. The LPDDR4x RAM in an M1 reaches 34.1 Gigabytes per second, so about 7 times as much, and M2 might go to LPDDR5, which boosts that even further.
I suppose they could put the RAM in the dock, but at that point you basically have a separate computer? (edit) Now that I'm awake, to expand on that… it's interesting how much the PowerBook Duo's Duo Dock did. It added VRAM and an FPU. The FPU part would probably be quite impractical now, due to aforementioned bandwidth and latency concerns. But the VRAM is kind of a thing with eGPUs. I don't think Apple will do this, but a third party could probably make an eGPU that works more like a Duo Dock: slide the MacBook, lid closed, into a giant holder, VHS tape-style. Then have some kind of mechanism that, once inserted, hooks up the Thunderbolt port from the side. And finally, add many, many ports, and a GPU. Last edited by chucker : 2021-06-04 at 07:29. |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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DigiTimes is one of those outlets with the rule of thumb: whatever they say, the opposite will occur.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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Ah, good to know. I just kinda assume they’re all pretty much full of shit/grasping at this point. But I suppose there are varying levels of shit/grasping?
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Anyway, AppleTrack seems to rate DigiTimes at 63.5% accurate, which is higher than I'd have guessed. I wonder how much lower this rate would be once you filter out products that are imminent. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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And yes, combining the TB dock and eGPU is something that might be well done by a third-party. |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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Another day, another MacBook Pro rumor.
September, this one speculates. Which is weird because that’s usually iPhone period. I realize the source ain’t all that, I’m just posting it because it’s something, and this thread exists for that reason. In any case. I don’t think anything is gonna happen on the MacBook Pro front until autumn, even without the above rumor. I gave my reasons in that Apple Silicon thread the other day. EDIT: Good grief, once again iOS auto-correct has mangled three simple paragraphs above that I didn't notice until later, while viewing on a larger screen. This would not have happened five years ago. This "feature" is worse now than it has ever been, constantly making me sound like a demented, sub-literate loon (even more than I probably already do on my own; spare me the commentary). Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2021-07-01 at 10:42. |
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Yeah.
I guess they might announce them at the same event as the iPhone? But that doesn't seem to be their format any more. They made three separate events last fall, and then announced even more outside any event on top of that. Now, if they separate it, and do it press release-only, maybe, but "the first Apple Silicon-based high-end MacBook Pro" seems too major for that. |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I agree. If it were just the new version of the M-whatever, maybe. But a newer, beefier version of that and a completely redesigned, "next-generation" MacBook Pro (possibly with a new size) seems to warrant a standalone, let's-talk-all-about-nothing-but-this-for-60-plus-minutes event (and maybe with some other stuff rolled in, of course).
IMO. With these pre-filmed things they've been doing the past year or so, it may be easier to do more of them as needed/warranted. I know it's still work to film/edit them as well as they do, but, logistically, it's still gotta be easier than sending out invites and expecting journalists/bloggers/tech media to drag their asses out to Cupertino multiple times a year, at the drop of a hat (and to do all the prep/staging there in Cupertino to put on a live show for hundreds and hundreds of people). Things still being how they are, many (most?) of them probably wouldn't want to fool with air travel or staying in a strange hotel room anyway. |
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Sneaky Punk
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I would think Apple would want to keep the computer and phone launches separate, to help with with supply/production issues.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I do too. I don't see them combining/crossing over. iPhone event in September (as has been the case for 172 years now), and a more Mac-oriented wing-ding in October is my guess. I just can't imagine two events in September, or the annual iPhone event "tainted" by Mac stuff. Either would be a first.
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One final possibility is: just like last year, the iPhone gets pushed to October. Might be needed due to supply constraints. If so, we could see a Mac event in September.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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Flip-flop the two? Yeah, that would work if the Macs are ready to go before the new phones.
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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I gotta tell you: I'm excited.
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The wildcard is what they do with the Apple Watch and iPad. Maybe no new iPads this fall, and the Apple Watch as a side gig during the iPhone event. Depends on how major the upgrade is… |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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With those in-house, pre-filmed things, they’ve got flexibility and options they don’t have with a live audience. If they want to do 3-4 smaller presentations they can, making each as focused as they want, without the burden of asking press to come to Cupertino 2-3 times in the space of a few months.
They no longer have to “make it worth it”, trying to engineer a “worth its while” two-hour live event (padded with on-stage demos and musical performances) if they can just put out nicely-made, tight one-hour videos for each product type…an iPhone/watch thing, a separate one for new Macs, yet another for new iPads/pencils and services type stuff. Now they can do whatever they want via those pre-filmed pieces, and do as many, or as few, as warranted. No burden/pressure of making every live event a burn-burner and having attendees grouse afterwards about flying all the way from the east coast for a new pencil and ho-hum iPad refresh. Because let’s be honest… some of those non-Mac or iPhone events have been raging bores and atomic-level wastes of 90+ minutes, for all involved. Having those be presented as streaming videos makes more sense on many levels. Only a handful of folks would get a journalistic hard-on over “Apple education initiatives” or “services”. As for the lack of in-person, hands-on demos, we know Apple is sending demo/review units to the Grubers, Snells and iJustines of the world, which they can use in their own homes, at their leisure, for long stretches. That’s already better than a bunch of tech bloggers and journalists crowded around some demo units in the theater, hoping to snag five minutes with it before “hogging guilt” sets in. If Apple never does another live event again, 98% of the planet won’t notice or care. Just a shame those new facilities aren’t being used as intended, but that isn’t Apple’s fault. 2020 happened. Speaking of which, had they known 10 years ago what they know now (people demanding to work from home, meetings being done online, etc.), that spaceship in Cupertino would be a hell of a lot smaller and lower to the ground. I don’t know if that place will ever be fully occupied and exploited as planned! They just built a giant glass donut that will probably never be fully staffed at this point. Ouch. Maybe they can rent parts of it out to Sunglasses Hut, Babies R Us and Zeb’s Leafblower Emporium. Might be the only way some of those rooms/offices get used. Turn it into a really cool looking shopping mall. The senior citizen walking circle is already in place! Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2021-07-02 at 08:59. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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If you want to be in the loop about engineering and product development, you're going to have to be in the spaceship. The marketing, PR and bureaucratic layers, on the other hand, will be welcome to Facetime from anywhere. |
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