The Many Notebook Dilemmas

February 12, 2016 15:05 EST • Alexandre Vallières-Lagacé • 2 minute read • Permalink

Stephen Hackett writing on 512px:

I hope the 13-inch Pro continues to be a good machine with a lot of custom options when ordering, but would Apple sacrifice some of that to position lower in the line, closer to where the Air is now?

I have been using MacBook Pro for many years now both at work and at home, always with the dedicated GPU. But my new job, kind of like Casey Liss only 4 months earlier, provided me with a GPU-less MBP.

I did not think I would like the switch to a GPU-less computer, thinking the performance loss would be important and noticeable. Also, Apple is touting the GPU accelerated features of OS X all the time. In the end, the embedded GPU in the Core i7 is enough for all my daily tasks (web developers, many apps, usually all 16GB of memory filled and used).

The nicest thing is when doing low complexity tasks, no GPU means no fan kicking in all the time. So writing in my recliner is not a synonym of overheating lap anymore. But as Stephen put it, nothing is certain for the future. What if the 15" MBP does not have a GPU anymore? What if the MacBook Air disappears for a more powerful Core i3 MacBook?

If I had to buy a computer today, I would choose a 15" MacBook Pro without a discrete GPU, but maybe this year this model will cease to exist and I would have to consider a 13" MacBook Pro. What if the MacBook becomes so powerful with the new CPU and integrated GPU that most of my work can be done on one, it would be another category of laptop to consider.

Change is in the air, maybe…