27-inch iMac gets a major update

Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by ogre_codes on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:34AM (#24050991)

I'm guessing they will go right to the meat of things and upgrade one of their MacBook Pro models. That is right up the "Performance per watt" avenue which Apple claims their new silicon is best for. They are going to want to squash any rumors that these don't perform well right off the bat so I don't think they are going to be conservative here.

For similar reasons, I don't think the iMac was ever slated to be the first Apple Silicon machine. The desktop form-factor just doesn't highlight the benefits of the new architecture the way a laptop does. Since they sell a lot more laptops than desktops, it's likely they don't even have a desktop specific CPU ready at launch time. That'll come next year or maybe even 2022 towards the tail end of their 2 year launch window.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by _ph_ on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:55AM (#24051195)

Yes, they need at least one Apple Silicon machine, which demonstrates that it is competitive for absolute CPU power and of course as a machine for all the developers. They do need not only a testing machine, but should be doing the development itself on an Apple Silicon machine. That is, why I would consider the rumor about a 13 or 14 inch MB Pro with Apple Silicon for highly plausible. The 16 inch would then follow later, with an even beefier CPU.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by ogre_codes on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @12:38PM (#24051689)

I wouldn't be surprised to see the 13/14 and the 16 inch both released this year.

That would mean 2 significantly different 16" MBPs in the same year. My thinking here is that it would be quite odd if they released a 14" MacBook Pro which is faster than the more expensive current 16" model.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by _ph_ on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @12:53PM (#24051891)

The 16" was just refreshed and requires both a very beefy cpu and gpu. Not sure Apple will bring that with the first iteration. The 13" MB Pro has an integrated GPU, so that sounds more like a first step for Apple. Also, I think the Intel version of the 16" will stick around for quite a long time, might even be the last Intel machine sold in parallel to Apple Silicon, as developers and many others might require an Intel-based machine.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by ogre_codes on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @01:11PM (#24052120)

How can Apple say their new CPUs are the best/ fastest... but aren't good enough to ship in their flagship laptop?

This first launch is going to be the most scrutinized & criticized Mac Apple has launched in years. Apple knows this and they are going to put a beefy CPU in their new machine to silence the critics. If they can't beat Intel performance at launch, what are the chances they are going to be able to beat them a year down the line?

And since it would be quite weird to have the smaller MacBook be the better/ faster iOS development machine, it seems like the 16" is pretty likely. Maybe not launch day, but within the first few months at the latest.

They might keep the Intel based MacBook around and sell them at the same time, but I doubt it will be the only 16" MacBook they sell for long. It just doesn't make any sense.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by _ph_ on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @01:22PM (#24052256)

That is the reason why I think at least one of the MB Pros will be available on Apple Silicon from the start, I am just not sure they will start with the 16", as they would have to replace a dedicated GPU for that machine.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by Veedrac on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @05:37PM (#24054760)

You are massively underestimating the performance of Apple's GPUs. They can beat the 5600M.

https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/hgahzx/apple_gpu_...

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by rsynnott on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @02:06PM (#24052733)

> I am just not sure they will start with the 16", as they would have to replace a dedicated GPU for that machine.

Why? The 2015 15" came with an integrated GPU option (and that was by far the most popular SKU, AFAIK).

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by _ph_ on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @02:26PM (#24052985)

Because one important feature of the large MB Pro is the availability of a dedicated GPU making it a decent graphics machine when connected to an external screen. I am certainly stressing the GPU of mine :)

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by ogre_codes on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @03:53PM (#24053838)

My thinking is this is exactly the use-case Apple needs to prove they can compete with and arguably the case where they should shine. With ARM's much better thermal characteristics, Apple should be able to get much better graphics performance.

It's certainly the tougher nut to crack.

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Re:27-inch iMac gets a major update by SllX on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @01:32PM (#24052392)

Worth noting that the very first Intel Macs released in January 2006 were the MacBook Pro and the iMac. At the time the MacBook Pro came in 15”/17” sizes, now after multiple generations they’re 13”/16” machines. The iMacs were 17”/20” machines as opposed to the 21.5”/27” machines they are now.

The rest of the PowerPC line was brought to Intel within the calendar year, and iMacs and MacBook Pros received an additional refresh replacing the Core Duos with Core 2 Duos later in the year.

At the time I remember thinking the release cadence for which models they transitioned over made perfect sense. You could make a strong argument for them to follow a similar roadmap this time around because while Macs have changed substantially since then, each Mac’s place within the lineup has not changed very much, although a MacBook Pro and a new ultra-thin MacBook around the same to show off the advantages of Apple’s chips on both sides ends of the performance per watt spectrum wouldn’t surprise me.

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