At least we should have a two generation CPU leap since these are A15 cores in the M2, so it should be a bigger leap than A17 overall, and then extra thermal headroom and maybe memory bandwidth limiting how much faster RT could get etc.
Web browsing and MS Word users are satiated with an M1 MBA, but anybody who spends a decent amount of time waiting for their computer to do “something” will benefit from their computer doing that “something” faster.
And then from the other approach, anybody who currently needs a high performance desktop or remote compute power of severs to get their work done will benefit from future laptops that are able to do more and more work locally on a convenient laptop.
Of course some tasks continue to eat as much power as you throw at them, and those will continue to run on large servers, but things we currently run on server can and do move to local processes over time.
And that beings us to another angle to desiring more compute power is more power opens up new things that can be done with a computer altogether. As current computers become “fast enough” at existing tasks, new tasks become possible. Generative AI is a field that is opening up more and more with faster hardware and will continue to benefit from faster hardware for the foreseeable future.
If the metric for “fast enough” is a snappy computer for people who browse the web and use word processing, I’d say we hit that point in like 2012 once MacBook Airs came standard with SSDs.
The other commenter is talking about heat, but the more fundamental reason the Ultra is not coming to a laptop should be evident from just looking at the size of it.
Literally every MacBook Pro sold before 2020 had thermal management and throttling issues. They may have moved to M series chips to make that less of an issue, but it doesn’t mean they would never release something with bad thermal management (like the trashcan Mac Pro etc)
a new M3 Pro/Max MBP is crazy 10 months later but here we go.
We used to have updated versions every 9 - 12 months on average, sometimes even faster, before the transition to M chips.
And they are already making a new iPhone chip every year anyway.
It’s not crazy to think a yearly release is the intended timeline. We had covid and yield issues that prevented it to be become a thing i the middle.
Plus, gotta keep in mind that both Intel and AMD are getting close (in all but in power efficiency, which doesn’t matter much for all of that that’s plugged in), and now Qualcomm is releasing their products as well, which look very promising…
If Apple keeps a schedule of a year and a half or longer, and the rest iterate faster, they could get leapfrogged easily in a couple years.
Yeah, but this is a Macbook Pro. They don’t come with the base M chip. The M2 Pro came mid January, so that’s 10 months. And M1 Pro to M2 Pro took 15 months.
Still, even if it were a simple M3 it would be slightly faster, as M1 to M2 took almost 20 months. And this would put it at 16 months.
You forgot the part where they’re likely drip feeding chips at their own discretion, at a calculated rate to achieve favorable financial & market metrics. In other words, for all we know — they could’ve just finalized the M5 series of chips and are just now releasing the M3 as they begin development of the M6.
I find it extremely likely that this is the case. The M5 & M6 are random examples, the premise is my point.
Wasn’t there a rumor that Apple wanted to release M2Pro/Max in fall 2022? If that was the plan then yeah definitely makes sense if they’re “back on schedule”
the wallpaper matches the colors of the event announcement graphic.
a new M3 Pro/Max MBP is crazy 10 months later but here we go.
hopefully it’s really a big leap.
At least we should have a two generation CPU leap since these are A15 cores in the M2, so it should be a bigger leap than A17 overall, and then extra thermal headroom and maybe memory bandwidth limiting how much faster RT could get etc.
Honestly why does it need to be a big leap? Do people seriously feel short of power on these MacBooks?
Web browsing and MS Word users are satiated with an M1 MBA, but anybody who spends a decent amount of time waiting for their computer to do “something” will benefit from their computer doing that “something” faster.
And then from the other approach, anybody who currently needs a high performance desktop or remote compute power of severs to get their work done will benefit from future laptops that are able to do more and more work locally on a convenient laptop.
Of course some tasks continue to eat as much power as you throw at them, and those will continue to run on large servers, but things we currently run on server can and do move to local processes over time.
And that beings us to another angle to desiring more compute power is more power opens up new things that can be done with a computer altogether. As current computers become “fast enough” at existing tasks, new tasks become possible. Generative AI is a field that is opening up more and more with faster hardware and will continue to benefit from faster hardware for the foreseeable future.
If the metric for “fast enough” is a snappy computer for people who browse the web and use word processing, I’d say we hit that point in like 2012 once MacBook Airs came standard with SSDs.
Same numbers but ray tracing support will be already huge win
What if it’s a m2 ultra variant instead of m3?
The other commenter is talking about heat, but the more fundamental reason the Ultra is not coming to a laptop should be evident from just looking at the size of it.
doubtful since the M2 Ultra needs better thermal management.
they won’t release a laptop that throttles constantly.
Literally every MacBook Pro sold before 2020 had thermal management and throttling issues. They may have moved to M series chips to make that less of an issue, but it doesn’t mean they would never release something with bad thermal management (like the trashcan Mac Pro etc)
We used to have updated versions every 9 - 12 months on average, sometimes even faster, before the transition to M chips.
And they are already making a new iPhone chip every year anyway.
It’s not crazy to think a yearly release is the intended timeline. We had covid and yield issues that prevented it to be become a thing i the middle.
Plus, gotta keep in mind that both Intel and AMD are getting close (in all but in power efficiency, which doesn’t matter much for all of that that’s plugged in), and now Qualcomm is releasing their products as well, which look very promising…
If Apple keeps a schedule of a year and a half or longer, and the rest iterate faster, they could get leapfrogged easily in a couple years.
It’s been almost 18 months since Air M2 was released…
Yeah, but this is a Macbook Pro. They don’t come with the base M chip. The M2 Pro came mid January, so that’s 10 months. And M1 Pro to M2 Pro took 15 months.
Still, even if it were a simple M3 it would be slightly faster, as M1 to M2 took almost 20 months. And this would put it at 16 months.
I think you could argue that Apple are actually a lot further along in the development of chips than they are production.
Due to supply issues with Covid they likely slowed releases dates or chips and modules. Things might be a bit more regular now .
You forgot the part where they’re likely drip feeding chips at their own discretion, at a calculated rate to achieve favorable financial & market metrics. In other words, for all we know — they could’ve just finalized the M5 series of chips and are just now releasing the M3 as they begin development of the M6.
I find it extremely likely that this is the case. The M5 & M6 are random examples, the premise is my point.
yup Apple’s earnings is on 11/2. They’re timing it around that
Lead time in chip development and manufacturing is famously long.
You are certainly correct that they are actively developing future generations and are probably quite far along in the nearer term future generations.
I don’t see any reason to believe they are sandbagging chip releases though.
That’s the same of other companies. Intel and AMD no doubt have designs ready to go.
Wasn’t there a rumor that Apple wanted to release M2Pro/Max in fall 2022? If that was the plan then yeah definitely makes sense if they’re “back on schedule”
there were two strong evidences the January 2023 M2 MBP release event was going to happen during fall 2022z
when they filmed the event you could see the trees leaves falling and even on website links present on the event promo images.