Apple Updates MacBook Pros with 8th-Generation Intel CPUs and 32GB RAM

[Tom012]

Is it possible to set a Power-Limit for the CPU?
And when it is possible, how can I set it?
The Power-Limit-Setting in the BIOS is ignored by macOS.

 

[freesby]

Is it possible to set a Power-Limit for the CPU?
And when it is possible, how can I set it?
The Power-Limit-Setting in the BIOS is ignored by macOS.

it is possible with "voltageshift" and "Volta"

 

[Wowfunhappy]

No one is denying that MBP cooling is inefficient, I’m saying that Intel should have already been at 10nm by now and that would help a lot especially with a case this thin.

Obviously Apple is after quietness and thinness, it doesn’t care about heat generation and throttling.

Well, maybe that's a problem on a super-expensive laptop line ostensibly intended for "Pros".

We can argue until the cows come home about where Intel "should" be, but the fact of the matter is—even leaving aside compatibility—x86 is the only game in town at this level of performance. I'm sure employees at Intel wish they were at 10nm right now just as much as anyone else. I'm equally confident they didn't fall short because everyone at Intel was snoozing all day.

 

[izo1]

Well, maybe that's a problem on a super-expensive laptop line ostensibly intended for "Pros".

We can argue until the cows come home about where Intel "should" be, but the fact of the matter is—even leaving aside compatibility—x86 is the only game in town at this level of performance. I'm sure employees at Intel wish they were at 10nm right now just as much as anyone else. I'm equally confident they didn't fall short because everyone at Intel was snoozing all day.

Apple is a design-centric company and has always been one, even when Jobs wasn't at the helm. Their company ideology is much more different than other "engineer-centric" computer makers.

Apple makes "utilitarian products" that are user friendly and approachable. This is why they do what they do and have for more than 20 years.

There are plenty of "performance centric" laptops out there, you're welcome to buy it.

I for one will be getting a specced out i9 MBP soon, it's for work and more than enough for me since it reaches ~1070 Cinebench score on a laptop, which is pretty damn good. I don't mind the trade-off for thinness compared to a fat notebook and I want macOS to come preinstalled and I like Apple's warranty.

I do however, will keep my desktop a Hackintosh as a daily driver. It's rock solid and fast and Apple has nothing out right now that I can purchase. The iMac Pro is out of the question for me.

In the end, Apple is more like an "appliance" company that makes computers, smartphones and tablets and other accessories. Think of it that way.

You're free to not buy their products, and on the Windows side you have way more options.

However, we need to hold up Apple to a certain standard and scrutinize them. I really don't think they should have put the i9 in the MBP without redesigning the cooling system. That stuff costs millions of dollars to R&D.

Most likely the i9 sales will be a pretty small number, so it wouldn't make sense for Apple to spend a lot of money on re-designing their cooling.

They have access to Intel's internal roadmap (which we don't have) and most likely they are waiting for Intel to move to 10nm and 7nm and that's when Apple will completely re-design the MacBook Pro (most likely in 2020) and it will probably be thinner and have a better cooling solution.

However, I've never seen a MacBook Pro (any series) that hadn't had some kind of problem. Apple keeps pushing the envelope all the time, so usually I buy their notebooks that are the last in the series which makes it more mature.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Apple is a design-centric company and has always been one, even when Jobs wasn't at the helm. Their company ideology is much more different than other "engineer-centric" computer makers.

Apple makes "utilitarian products" that are user friendly and approachable. This is why they do what they do and have for more than 20 years.

There are plenty of "performance centric" laptops out there, you're welcome to buy it.

Apple is a company that has been very good at balancing the push for good design with the need to perform well. A 2015 Macbook Pro may not be the most powerful laptop out there, but it struck a very good balance between a desire to be thin and light with the ability to handle performance intensive tasks. When I began investing in the Mac ecosystem (by buying Mac software and acclimating myself to Mac-centric workflows), I did so under the assumption that this balance between design and performance would continue.

My issue is that the newest laptops have thrown that balance completely out of whack.

I can't simply go buy another laptop because it will run Windows. (Unless I Hackintosh it, which isn't great on laptops.)

Edit: In a vacuum, the performance of the MBP's isn't bad per se, it's just bad for the amount they're charging. And that's not a complaint about the expected "Apple tax" so much as it is, they're using a super expensive processor and putting it in a case that can't UTILIZE that processor due to thermal issues.

I also have major concerns about chip longevity at the temperatures we're seeing. 90°C is really hot!

 

[izo1]

Apple is a company that has been very good at balancing the push for good design with the need to perform well. A 2015 Macbook Pro may not be the most powerful laptop out there, but it struck a very good balance between a desire to be thin and light with the ability to handle performance intensive tasks. When I began investing in the Mac ecosystem (by buying Mac software and acclimating myself to Mac-centric workflows), I did so under the assumption that this balance between design and performance would continue.

My issue is that the newest laptops have thrown that balance completely out of whack.

I can't simply go buy another laptop because it will run Windows. (Unless I Hackintosh it, which isn't great on laptops.)

Edit: In a vacuum, the performance of the MBP's isn't bad per se, it's just bad for the amount they're charging. And that's not a complaint about the expected "Apple tax" so much as it is, they're using a super expensive processor and putting it in a case that can't UTILIZE that processor due to thermal issues.

I also have major concerns about chip longevity at the temperatures we're seeing. 90°C is really hot!

The problem is Intel here. 10nm was on the roadmap for 2016-2017 I believe, and they failed.

Apple has internal roadmap documents and they design products 2-3 years ahead of time before mass manufacturing.

If Intel was already at 10nm right now, I think the i9 would perform excellently in the current MacBook Pro chassis.

I personally do not care about the additional 10-20% of speed bumps on a thicker Windows laptop. I NEED macOS for work and on a day to day basis.

Apple has good designers and engineers, but sometimes they make mistakes (see butterfly keyboard v1+v2 and NVIDIA gpu failures etc).

If you want to get super granular and technical, this guy has a good YouTube channel for crapping on Apple.

However, over the last 20 years I really haven't had MAJOR problems with Apple devices, only a few gpu failures and monitor issues here and there on MacBook Pros and Mac Pros and iMacs, which the Genius bar quickly replaced or fixed. I always get Apple Care.

I push my machines very hard on a consistent basis.

 

[trs96]

2018 MBP Kernel Panics
The new T2 Chip and Bridge OS
​

Yet another problem to deal with for 2018 MBP owners. Just when you thought Apple had fixed the overheating issue.

https://www.cultofmac.com/565355/apple-t2-chip-might-crash-imac-pro-macbook-pro/

I really hope it's a very long time before Apple incorporates their own ARM based chips into Macs.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

2018 MBP Kernel Panics
The new T2 Chip and Bridge OS
​

Yet another problem to deal with for 2018 MBP owners. Just when you thought Apple had fixed the overheating issue.

https://www.cultofmac.com/565355/apple-t2-chip-might-crash-imac-pro-macbook-pro/

I really hope it's a very long time before Apple incorporates their own ARM based chips into Macs.

... and I guess that unlike a macOS software problem that can be "coded out" a hardwired problem like the T2 has to be rebuilt at the foundry. Unless Apple has some way to "reflash" these things?

Agreed. Stick with Intel.

 

[haanuman]

Haha
These i9 chips are for thicker laptops. Not sure why Apple put them in here.

Very eager to know how it performs to be honest, especially after the thermal throttling issue.

 

[izo1]

Very eager to know how it performs to be honest, especially after the thermal throttling issue.

Apple fixed the issue and people are getting ~1060 in cinebench which is incredible for such a thin device.

This chip on a thicker laptop with bigger heat sinks and cooling will yield you about 1160 or so in cinebench. I don’t mind 5-10% less performance if the form factor is slower. It’s a full unlocked chip.

I’ll be getting a maxed out i9 soon (with 1tb or 2tb ssd).

A lot of the reviews before Apples patch were focusing on Premiere Pro which is not optimized for the Mac at all. They haven’t touched Metal in years. FCPX is much more optimized.

When Intel moves to 10nm probably mid 2019, we will see much less heat dissipation and better performance and less “throttling” with ultrabook style laptops like the MBP. Apple will probably make the next MBP much thinner so we’ll be back to square one.