Oct 18 Apple Event

[Pumbaa]

Notch would be interesting.

Best to steer clear of MR comments if that happens.

I’m less skeptical of notches now that I have used my 13PM a while. As long as the implementation is good I think I’ll be fine with a notch.

I doubt we'll see that, since it could clash with applications that have a lot of dropdown menus in the top bar.

Unless they design around it somehow. That could certainly happen.

 

[Renzatic]

Unless they design around it somehow. That could certainly happen.

They could truncate the size and/or spacing of the menu entries so that they don't ever extend beyond 45% of the top bar, but that could look a little sloppy.

 

[SuperMatt]

The notch rumor sounds like something planted to expose a leaker. Why would a 16-inch laptop need it, and not the smaller 13-inch ones? Even iPads with Face ID put it in the bezel. Doesn’t the screen have enough of a bezel to hold the cameras if needed? Who knows though… maybe Apple wanted to shrink the bezels down to nothing.

 

[Renzatic]

The notch rumor sounds like something planted to expose a leaker. Why would a 16-inch laptop need it, and not the smaller 13-inch ones?

The higher end Macbooks could be sporting entirely bezel-free screens, a'la the Dell XPSes. A notch would give them more play with the webcam.

 

[Cmaier]

I doubt we'll see that, since it could clash with applications that have a lot of dropdown menus in the top bar.

Remember the original betas of OS X had the apple menu in the center of the bar? Fun.

 

[Cmaier]

The notch rumor sounds like something planted to expose a leaker. Why would a 16-inch laptop need it, and not the smaller 13-inch ones? Even iPads with Face ID put it in the bezel. Doesn’t the screen have enough of a bezel to hold the cameras if needed? Who knows though… maybe Apple wanted to shrink the bezels down to nothing.

The 13” wasn’t a redesign. The 14” will replace the 13” in the next year or two. If 16” has a notch then so will 14”. Presumably for better cameras.

 

[Pumbaa]

They could truncate the size and/or spacing of the menu entries so that they don't ever extend beyond 45% of the top bar, but that could look a little sloppy.

Unless they for example find a new use for the topmost part above the menu.

 

[Renzatic]

Unless they for example find a new use for the topmost part above the menu.

Them building an empty black space at the top of the OS UI to make room for the notch would be kind of hilarious.

 

[Entropy]

Bigger than a mini, more ports and more upgrade options, without being a $$$$$$ Mac Pro. I realize this is a dream that will never happen.

For what it’s worth, I share your dream.

 

[Renzatic]

For what it’s worth, I share your dream.

Now that we know what Apple Silicon entails, with the RAM being so tightly entwined with the SoC, which includes both the CPU and GPU, I'd say the days of being able to upgrade your Mac are all but over.

The only thing left that can be potentially upgraded is the SSD, and it probably won't be long until it's integrated in along with the rest.

Also, WELCOME TO THE BOARD!

 

[Entropy]

Now that we know what Apple Silicon entails, with the RAM being so tightly entwined with the SoC, which includes both the CPU and GPU, I'd say the days of being able to upgrade your Mac are all but over.

The only thing left that can be potentially upgraded is the SSD, and it probably won't be long until it's integrated in along with the rest.

Also, WELCOME TO THE BOARD!

Thanks.
The SSD is basically the one thing I hold hope would be replaceable. Using an m.2 unit doesn’t affect anything architecturally, Apple is using something nvme equivalent on the M1s (the finer details are a bit fuzzy).
I’m not holding my breath for that one though, my crystal ball shows an external thunderbolt drive in my future…

I do wish for silent cooling and expect a somewhat more rubust set of I/O. My tech nerdy curiosity is centered on the memory hierarchy though - how the greatly increased on SoC processing capabilities will affect their cache and RAM choices.

 

[Eric]

For what it’s worth, I share your dream.

Welcome!

 

[Cmaier]

Thanks.
The SSD is basically the one thing I hold hope would be replaceable. Using an m.2 unit doesn’t affect anything architecturally, Apple is using something nvme equivalent on the M1s (the finer details are a bit fuzzy).
I’m not holding my breath for that one though, my crystal ball shows an external thunderbolt drive in my future…

I do wish for silent cooling and expect a somewhat more rubust set of I/O. My tech nerdy curiosity is centered on the memory hierarchy though - how the greatly increased on SoC processing capabilities will affect their cache and RAM choices.

I figured they doubled the size of the SLC, at least.

 

[Cmaier]

Best to steer clear of MR comments if that happens.

I’m less skeptical of notches now that I have used my 13PM a while. As long as the implementation is good I think I’ll be fine with a notch.


Unless they design around it somehow. That could certainly happen.

If they do it, I figure they simply have menu items skip over that gap, same as they did in the early OS X betas where the apple menu was centered. May also explain why Big Sur has the control center, to remove a lot of the right-side menubar items and hide them in a place that takes less space.

 

[Alli]

So remember I had decided against a new Mac? Well today my mother asked me if there was anything tangible she could get me for my birthday. <eg> I said, why as a matter of fact there’s an Apple event tomorrow announcing the new Macs. Wanna get me one? I love having an Apple event on my birthday. So I‘ll be back to watching what they announce in the 16” range, either Air or Pro.

 

[Entropy]

I figured they doubled the size of the SLC, at least.

Given that the A15 according to Andrei Frumusanus testing has increased L2 to 12MB (same as M1) and SLC to 32MB (twice the size of M1!), that seems a very safe bet. If the same size L2 serves 4 times the cores of A15 and the same size SLC serves an additional 4-8 times greater number of GPU clusters in addition to the rest of the SoC, that prediction seems almost conservative.

 

[Deleted member 221]

What are you hoping to see in a Mac Mini Pro?

Basically the same as the regular one but beefier? More ports? Upgradable storage? Slot for dGPU? Reality distortion field generator?

Sorry - just saw this

I'd like more GPU power.
That was all that held me back in round 1 of M1 Mini

 

[Hrafn]

Notch would be interesting.

And weird though.

 

[Roller]

I'd rather a thicker upper bezel than a notch that encroaches on the screen, but not a big deal as I'm not in the market for another laptop. I'll be interested in the higher end Mac Mini, though. I've had iMacs for about 15 years, but would consider a Mini with an external monitor if it had everything else I need.

 

[lizkat]

If latest MBP will have the ports added back that people are saying it will have, a notch wouldn't take it out of the running for me, even though I'm not in the laptop upgrade market right now.

I do like having a spare fairly current laptop in hand. My mid-2012 MBP, that sturdy thing which still even has a functional optical drive (among other assets) is getting very long in the tooth now. Plus its keyboard is toast so requires use of a BT one which is a PITA even though the little original magic kb sits well right on top the inbuilt one.

So soon enough I'll be looking to let the MBA 2020 become the spare and I'll be prowling Apple's refurb shelves for one of whatever notebooks are coming off the Apple lines currently. Not sure I can justify an MBP any more, really.

Anyway for now I'm looking to update my iPad Pro and iPad mini, not sure which will get the nod in 2021. I'm thinking I can get by with an iPad Air now, so maybe I can squeeze both tablet updates into the budget. Depends how well I really like all those rice and beans recipes I have acquired. And possibly on how wowed I am by next Tuesday's this Monday's event.

EDIT at 0023 edt: i can't get it through my head that the event is today.... Monday... or at least I couldn't until the reminder popped up on my calendar. Good thing it's not at 9am or something, eh? G'night all...