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MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

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171–180 of 1001 posts

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#171
If Hector Martin doesn't say that they fixed the memory-mapping bug in their PCIe controller[0] I think it's safe to say that we're not getting a new Mac Pro this year.

And to be honest, the whole concept of a Mac Pro goes against the design philosophy of Apple Silicon. The whole point of those chips is to maximize efficiency by having everything on-die or very close to the chip. For example, the M2 Max has like eight memory channels in a laptop - you could not do that even with CAMM[1] modules.

A desktop machine without replaceable RAM or slots that can accommodate GPUs is going to be a nonstarter no matter how good the the SoC's integrated accelerators are. A significant chunk of the cost of the Mac Pro is just the fancy desktop case, specifically designed to accommodate lots of expansion cards and compute accelerators. If you don't care about slots, you can just buy a Mac Studio for less money than the Pro. If you do want slots, only being able to plug in storage and I/O devices and nothing else is going to be a huge drag.

[0] Apple Silicon PCIe controllers have a unique limitation in that they prohibit accessing external memory devices. This is why Thunderbolt eGPUs don't work - the M1 and M2 can't actually write to the memory on the GPUs.

[1] Compression Attached Memory Module, a JEDEC standard for a thin dual-channel RAM card promoted by Dell to allow socketed high-performance RAM on business laptops.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#172
post #30

I've been waiting over a year for this. My M1 8GB is simply not up to spec for iOS Dev work. Apple Store literally had nothing with 16GB when I had to buy it. I asked about when they could get one in -- Apple store assistant told me it would be at least 3 months. This was in Ireland during Covid. For reference my 2016 MacBook Pro had 16GB RAM so it was surprising to me that 6 years later I would be unable to buy one…

To make money just like you showed. You got the 8gb and now you want to pay more to get another one with M2 and 16gb+. Apple product segmentation is legendary for extracting the most from consumers.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#173
post #14

It’s crazy how far ahead Apple is getting in the laptop game with these new chips. I have the first gen MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro (ok maybe they’re not winning the naming game), and it’s a perfect computer. Battery life is literally all day, every single action is instant, I have zero regard for many apps or tabs I have open. It’s just perfect. I have literally traveled with just a 30 watt anker brick for my phone…

Def the opposite experience for me software wise. Latest joy is chrome hanging whenever tabs are moved. Things randomly seem to crash all the time.

Maybe it’s normal for OS X but my Linux experience is pretty much the opposite - rock solid, everything is fast, and nothing breaks. Granted the hardware does seem really good (except for slow anything to do with x86 and a useless GPU that can’t play games or do VR).

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#174
post #16

New Mac mini with the M2 Pro maxes out at 32GB memory, that's quite disappointing compared to the Macbook Pro's 96GB. On the other hand, my M2 Macbook Air is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time, great fanless laptop.

I really hope the next Macbook Air supports multiple external monitors, that's the only thing holding me back from it right now. I know there are DisplayLink solutions but not sure how well they would work.

At this point it's a purely a differentiation play in the lineup. Most large businesses I know that ordered Airs for years just purchase Pros.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that compare to products you would cross shop against the M2-based MacBook Pro in 2023?

You’ll have to wait until 3rd parties do those comparisons? Apple has literally never posted “here’s a ream of benchmarks vs the Dell XPS XYZ and HP modelnumbersneeze738462” — pretending this is indicative of some grand conspiracy to hide performance deficiencies of these new M2 models the way GP is, is silly.

Realistically it’s expected it will perform relative to competitors now as the old models did in the past.

More realistically, this is one of the more drab ways apple announces products. They didn’t even have a presentation or anything. So they’re clearly not marketing with the same goals in mind as a presentation. I’d say the intended audience here are people already going to buy the latest model because they’re in the apple ecosystem.

Not that I’m inclined to defend a multi trillion dollar company, of course. It’s just pithy to hop into this sort of thread and grind the old axe against apple.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#176
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have both a latest generation Thinkpad P1 Gen5 and Macbook Pro 16 inch M1 pro and while it is true that Macbook comes pretty close to being a perfect laptop, I still miss the productivity of a Linux laptop (for backend dev work). From what hardware POV you are correct, I wish though Apple would adopt Carbon Magnesium chasis that thinkpad uses. For same 16inch size, Thinkpad is noticeably lighter. I can happy lug my…

Could you elaborate what is preventing it from being the perfect backend dev laptop?

I’m not the person you asked—but a ton of developer tooling just runs better on Linux. Installation is usually easier too—on a Mac, there’s Homebrew, but Homebrew doesn’t have the best user experience.

All the GUI productivity apps run better on a Mac—image editors, IDEs / text editors, apps like Slack or Zoom or whatever.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#177

Does someone of you use the whole potential that this kind of chip offers ? What do you use it for ?

No, but that’s why I love it so much.

For my daily coding workflow, the fan never even spins. This is Docker, many containers, many many windows.

With docker on, battery lasts a fair bit. Without it on, running on bare metal, could last me days.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#178
post #14

It’s crazy how far ahead Apple is getting in the laptop game with these new chips. I have the first gen MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro (ok maybe they’re not winning the naming game), and it’s a perfect computer. Battery life is literally all day, every single action is instant, I have zero regard for many apps or tabs I have open. It’s just perfect. I have literally traveled with just a 30 watt anker brick for my phone…

Look into Gallium Nitride (GaN) chargers. I got a 100W charging brick on Amazon for a little over $100CAD (a bit pricy yes), with 3 USB-C, 1 USB-A. There are cheaper models with less ports / wattage as well. A single brick fast-charges my M2 Macbook Air, my Phone, headphones.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#180

Pro, Max, Ultra, any combination of these. I can't understand any of these. Not that it means anything more than an artificial fragmentation to bring in more upsell opportunities. Looks like 90s Apple again, at least from this point of view. I understand the old (simple and brilliant) four-quadrant is not going to fit anymore, but this is just the opposite extreme.

Really? There's 4 processors and 2 generations, it's not that hard. Compare to intel: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/pro...

With Intel higher = better.

What’s better, ultra or pro?

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