# New Mac Book Pro



## URL (Jul 12, 2018)

*2.6GHz*
2.6GHz 6-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.3GHz, with 9MB shared L3 cache

Configurable to 2.9GHz 6-core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz, with 12MB shared L3 cache

32gB Ram


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## N.Caffrey (Jul 12, 2018)

you forgot the most important thing, now with 32gb of RAM!


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## gsilbers (Jul 12, 2018)

Seems nice. It would good to know how it’s the upgrade process for ram and drives space, if there is any at all.

32gb ram + 4tb ssd is a bit pricey if bought at Apple.

And why not at least 1 regular USB port. ?! Oh well .


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 12, 2018)

And how active will the cooling be. Especially running at max options?


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## URL (Jul 13, 2018)

There is a effective cooling nowdays so...I hope.


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## jcrosby (Jul 13, 2018)

Knowing Apple, what you buy is what you're stuck with... At least in terms of the MB line... (I'd hope not, but this is Apple after all..) Sadly they nuked upgradability with them in 2012.


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## URL (Jul 13, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> Knowing Apple, what you buy is what you're stuck with... At least in terms of the MB line... (I'd hope not, but this is Apple after all..) Sadly they nuked upgradability with them in 2012.



Yes, I don't like this permanent solution regarding ssd and memory, paying to much for ssd


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## PeterBaumann (Jul 13, 2018)

£2.5k for a 4TB SSD :emoji_astonished: sheeeesh


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## jcrosby (Jul 13, 2018)

URL said:


> Yes, I don't like this permanent solution regarding ssd and memory, paying to much for ssd


Yup. And if you price one of these with a proper SSD and RAM the price doubles suddenly or triples :-/

It's unfortunate, but the reality is that Apple is focused on peddling a 'lifestyle' these days... the days of them 'making professional computers for professionals' have been replaced by making design pieces for hipsters with a kale garden and fixie collection  (Nothing against kale )


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## URL (Jul 13, 2018)

There is fast Usb-c ports.. as we know external ssd communication is fast so its possible to go that road but...


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## Vik (Jul 13, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> t's unfortunate, but the reality is that Apple is focused on peddling a 'lifestyle' these days... the days of them 'making professional computers for professionals' have been replaced by making design pieces for hipsters...


Ironically, the fact that Apple finally has released a laptop with 32 gb RAM is the first sign in a long time that they do listen to professionals laptop users. 
IMO it's a brilliant move, I just wish it had happened earlier - and that the price would be lower. The US dollar costs 60% more than it did last time I bought a laptop, which means that Apple stuff has become 60% more expensive as well - in addition to the fact that Apple stuff already is pricey. (I had reserved money for a 32 gb MBP for a long time, but gave up and now the money is spent on string libraries instead!  )


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## Cinebient (Jul 14, 2018)

As much as i would like to upgrade to a 6 core i9, i´m not sure if thermal throttle will make it useless compared to the i7. Then the worst thing is sadly still the keyboard. I really like my keyboard on the late 2013 retina much much more and it´s even very usable as midi input for me. The flat butterfly keys which also seems to have some trouble and have almost no travel is close how it feels to type on an iPad.
Many also seems to rant over the mediocre GPU´s but that isn´t something i´m worried about. I even would like to have an option without the GPU and just the fast cpu.
I would also miss the mag-safe.
As much as i like Logic and macbooks i really don´t like the way they go. Thinner, thinner, remove everything else etc.
I also think macOS is just a side project compared to iOS and the iPads are really great for music production these days. Sadly good sample libraries are missing there but for synths it is on par with some of the greatest and latest desktop plug-ins for 1/10 of the price. I might even try to replace my notebook with the next generations of iPads since i tryed the iPad Pro 10.5" but it still isn´t powerful enough for layering a lot stuff and play that live.
At least the new macbook pro still have a headphone jack 
Maxed out version just about €8000 here (Germany). 
I guess my macbook must still work some years....


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## Olfirf (Jul 16, 2018)

PeterBaumann said:


> £2.5k for a 4TB SSD :emoji_astonished: sheeeesh


Exactly! If the upgrade options would be within a reasonable price range this machine wouldn't look that bad price-wise. But with these SSD prices I won't buy a macbook pro anytime soon. Even the RAM upgrade is ridiculously overpriced!. I just wonder why they do that? There will be enough people who understand it. Probably, some analysts have found out that there is more money to be made from people who don't get it or don't care to spend way to much ... not encouraging towards a 2019 Mac pro release ...


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## jcrosby (Jul 16, 2018)

Olfirf said:


> Exactly! If the upgrade options would be within a reasonable price range this machine wouldn't look that bad price-wise. But with these SSD prices I won't buy a macbook pro anytime soon. Even the RAM upgrade is ridiculously overpriced!. I just wonder why they do that? There will be enough people who understand it. Probably, some analysts have found out that there is more money to be made from people who don't get it or don't care to spend way to much ... not encouraging towards a 2019 Mac pro release ...


Or that can get away with it because everything's soldered into MacBooks now and you're stuck with price if you need it.


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## dcoscina (Jul 16, 2018)

Yeah if you could upgrade RAM yourself I'd buy the base 15" model since its specs kill my little MB Air and MP 3,1. But either paying way too much for the 32gb of ram or else live with 16gb is kinda a deal breaker at that price. 

Still hoping Apple releases a Mac Mini Pro with similar specs but just less expensive. 6 core i7 with 32gb RAM would be tasty even if I had to shell out $2K for it.


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## galactic orange (Jul 26, 2018)

dcoscina said:


> Still hoping Apple releases a Mac Mini Pro with similar specs but just less expensive. 6 core i7 with 32gb RAM would be tasty even if I had to shell out $2K for it.


I’m on the fence between getting one of these 32GB models or waiting it out for something else. The Mac Mini would be ideal since I don’t need that much RAM in a pricey laptop. But I need _something_ with more RAM soon for running bigger templates. 16GB in my current Mini isn’t cutting it.

A laptop hooked up to an external monitor would work, and the portability would be great if I need to take it somewhere. The question is will 32GB RAM be enough considering how fast these 2018 MBPs are?

I’d like to wait and see what Apple has to offer on the Mini, iMac, Mac Pro front; but I just want to get to work (and would like a new laptop anyway) and I’m wondering how large a template you can load into one of these 32GB MBPs compared to a 2017 iMac with 64GB, for example.

EDIT: Also wanted to add that a $400 upgrade just to add an extra 16GB RAM in the 2018 MBP is a real kick in the balls when I could get 64GB RAM for an iMac for around the same price.


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## dcoscina (Jul 26, 2018)

galactic orange said:


> I’m on the fence between getting one of these 32GB models or waiting it out for something else. The Mac Mini would be ideal since I don’t need that much RAM in a pricey laptop. But I need _something_ with more RAM soon for running bigger templates. 16GB in my current Mini isn’t cutting it.
> 
> A laptop hooked up to an external monitor would work, and the portability would be great if I need to take it somewhere. The question is will 32GB RAM be enough considering how fast these 2018 MBPs are?
> 
> ...


Yeah the lack of upgrading the RAM is not great. I had a 2006 MB for years because I upgraded the RAM, the HDD to SSD and really the only reason I stopped using it was because Apple stopped supporting the hardware.. The screen was still as clear as the day I bought it.


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## Akarin (Jul 26, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> Yup. And if you price one of these with a proper SSD and RAM the price doubles suddenly or triples :-/
> 
> It's unfortunate, but the reality is that Apple is focused on peddling a 'lifestyle' these days... the days of them 'making professional computers for professionals' have been replaced by making design pieces for hipsters with a kale garden and fixie collection  (Nothing against kale )



As a long time programmer and decades on Mac, a few months ago, I considered getting an iMac Pro but for the reasons you listed, I finally ditched Logic, discovered Cubase and am happy with my Windows 10 rig that cost me half the price, including the Cubase Pro licence. And I can upgrade the parts when I feel like it. That's "pro" hardware.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 26, 2018)

galactic orange said:


> I’m on the fence between getting one of these 32GB models or waiting it out for something else. The Mac Mini would be ideal since I don’t need that much RAM in a pricey laptop. But I need _something_ with more RAM soon for running bigger templates. 16GB in my current Mini isn’t cutting it.
> 
> A laptop hooked up to an external monitor would work, and the portability would be great if I need to take it somewhere. The question is will 32GB RAM be enough considering how fast these 2018 MBPs are?
> 
> ...



If you don't need big templates when you're on the road, just spend the money on a PC slave and the sky's the limit. The price of those top-spec's MB pro's is insanity. I think the 32MB i9 with a big SSD is something like $7000.


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## galactic orange (Jul 26, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> If you don't need big templates when you're on the road, just spend the money on a PC slave and the sky's the limit. The price of those top-spec's MB pro's is insanity. I think the 32MB i9 with a big SSD is something like $7000.


Well, I could get by with a 512GB SSD plus external drives for storage. I’m still considering the 2.2 or 2.6 i7, either of which would probably be fine for my needs so the overall cost would be about half of what you mentioned.

I’d rather not go down the slave route. For me the next best alternative right now would be a Trash Can Mac Pro loaded up with RAM but the used ones in my country are still more than I want to pay or have a smaller SSD than what I need. It would be foolish to pay full price for such old hardware, but at least I’d have a machine with more RAM. So in then end buying a laptop with limited (and expensive) memory might be _more_ foolish. I’m not sure.


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## chuck.dallas (Jul 31, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> If you don't need big templates when you're on the road, just spend the money on a PC slave and the sky's the limit. The price of those top-spec's MB pro's is insanity. I think the 32MB i9 with a big SSD is something like $7000.


I just configured a new 15” MBP w/2.9GHz 6-core i9 with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD online at Apple.com/shop and it came to $3,899. But I didn’t buy it.... anybody make me a cheap loan?


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## chimuelo (Jul 31, 2018)

Apple will be a Trillion Dollar Company before years end.
Seems to be their loyalists keep getting poked in the eye.
Alan Dershowitz couldn’t even make a case for Apples MacBook Pro i9s.


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## URL (Jul 31, 2018)

What will the price of a new Mac pro be hypothetically if it sees the light, without Pci-e slots,150k?


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## chuck.dallas (Jul 31, 2018)

Out of curiosity, I configured a potentially equivalent Dell laptop to see the price difference between the 15” i9 MacBook Pro I configured earlier (above post) for $3899. At Dell.com, a Dell Precision 5530 laptop with 6-core Intel i9 2.9GHz, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD came to $3311. I was surprised to see only a $588 difference! Am I missing something? Where’s the huge price differential (between Apple and Wintel platforms) that everybody always talks about...? Caveat: Note that I said “potentially equivalent” Dell laptop.... I admit I’m not an expert on Dell/Wintel systems, so please correct me if this isn’t a fair laptop comparison... thanks!!


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## bjderganc (Jul 31, 2018)

I think the more common comparison is with the XPS 15. With the 1TB, the faster i9, and the screen upgrade it comes to https://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop/dncwxb1649s?selectionState=eyJGUHJpY2UiOjI4NDEuOTksIk9DIjoiZG5jd3hiMTY0OXMiLCJRdHkiOjEsIk1vZHMiOlt7IklkIjoxNDYsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiRzNJN1VUOCJ9XX0seyJJZCI6NzYwLCJPcHRzIjpbeyJJZCI6IkdORk82RE0ifV19LHsiSWQiOjU3MiwiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiJGRzAwMTUifV19LHsiSWQiOjc0OSwiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiJHTDVTMVFCIn1dfV19 ($2841). The 2TB drive upgrade is <$400. Not sure about drive speed differences.


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## chuck.dallas (Aug 1, 2018)

bjderganc said:


> I think the more common comparison is with the XPS 15. With the 1TB, the faster i9, and the screen upgrade it comes to https://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop/dncwxb1649s?selectionState=eyJGUHJpY2UiOjI4NDEuOTksIk9DIjoiZG5jd3hiMTY0OXMiLCJRdHkiOjEsIk1vZHMiOlt7IklkIjoxNDYsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiRzNJN1VUOCJ9XX0seyJJZCI6NzYwLCJPcHRzIjpbeyJJZCI6IkdORk82RE0ifV19LHsiSWQiOjU3MiwiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiJGRzAwMTUifV19LHsiSWQiOjc0OSwiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiJHTDVTMVFCIn1dfV19 ($2841). The 2TB drive upgrade is <$400. Not sure about drive speed differences.


Thanks for clarifying! So about a $1k difference. That seems more in line with observations about Apple’s premium pricing...


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## Cinebient (Aug 1, 2018)

But Logic alone gives me content worth 1000´s and free updates for years. And it´s (relativ) bug free for me as well.
Also i still like core audio and macOS. Then there are a few mac only tools someone would need to take them off my dead hands. So for me it´s more the software rather than the hardware.
Bluetooth midi, no driver trouble and so on. 
But it could be of course that one day that will not be enough anymore to stay with them....


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## chrisphan (Aug 1, 2018)

chuck.dallas said:


> only a $588 difference


How is that not already a huge difference ? But yeah as said before, the Precision line is usually more expensive than the XPS for similar specs.


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## chuck.dallas (Aug 2, 2018)

chrisphan said:


> How is that not already a huge difference ? But yeah as said before, the Precision line is usually more expensive than the XPS for similar specs.


 You are absolutely right! $588 IS a huge difference to a lot of people.... my bad  

That said, I think Cinebient made a good point about the “bigger picture” to consider relating to software value with Logic, MacOS, Mac-based tools, etc. Good stuff. Thanks!


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## Piano Pete (Aug 7, 2018)

Has anyone found the firmware update enough to fix the thermal issues?


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## Mike Marino (Aug 7, 2018)

Piano Pete said:


> Has anyone found the firmware update enough to fix the thermal issues?


I think Apple's already handled that in a recent update.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...rmware-update-led-to-a-big-improvement/?amp=1


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## yhomas (Aug 7, 2018)

chuck.dallas said:


> Thanks for clarifying! So about a $1k difference. That seems more in line with observations about Apple’s premium pricing...



It should be pointed out that with the XPS you can get a 4K touchscreen OR for $400 cheaper, get a 1080P non-touch. And depending on the time of year and how new the product is, you can get a discount off the listed price. And if you want an extended warranty, you have more/cheaper options from Dell. So if you don’t especially want a 4K or touch screen and you do want an extended warranty, and you wait a few months for discounts, the difference will be more like $2k. 

AND the XPS is Dell’s flagship compact laptop. If you don’t need compact, soon enough, there will be a bunch of other lower cost i9 options from Dell and other manufacturers. Maybe most of these aren’t as nice as a MacBook Pro, but depending on what you want, some will be better.


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## Piano Pete (Aug 7, 2018)

Good to hear. I just remember it blowing up my feed, but I have been too busy to look into further.


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