Graphics power of the new MacBooks Pro is quantified; Will we see Apple making its own graphics cards?

One thing has not changed with the introduction of the new MacBooks Pro: While 13-inch models continue with the Intel Iris platform's integrated graphics option only, the 15-inch models offer dedicated video cards for more competent graphics performance.

In this new generation, the cards offered are from the new AMD Radeon Pro 400 series and the company last week published a post on its official website detailing some numbers and offering a detailed analysis of what we can expect in terms of graphics performance in the new models. Larger MBPs.

One of the details provided by the company involves the thickness of the new boards, which are, according to their own, the "finest graphics processors" existing thanks to a thinning process of the wafers of silicon, now reaching 380 microns (0.38mm). This makes it possible to incorporate the plates into the ultra-slim body of the new MBP without any problems.

Regarding the processing numbers, the three boards 450, 455 and 460, depending on the MBP model do not ugly, with the most powerful having a maximum performance of 1.85 teraflops and all three holding a transfer rate of 80GB / s.

The image below ranks better the main numbers of the three models:

AMD's new Radeon Pro 400 series numbersAMD's new Radeon Pro 400 series numbers

Really speaking, the three boards are beautiful companies for creative professionals who will engage their MBPs in tasks involving image and video editing, sound mixing, illustration and production of CAD files and others and will certainly not ugly about these activities.

Regarding games, however, the thing is already more controversial: the first two cards (450 and 455), with 2GB of memory, will have difficulty processing games to anything equal to or greater than Full HD 1080p with a reasonable frame rate. after all, remember, they are discrete video cards in devices that are not dedicated to this purpose; Apple always prefers low power consumption for maximum performance.

If you are still looking to buy the new MBP with the intention of playing Mafia III with the maximum settings and a framerate Acceptable, only the most powerful of the three plates, the 460, may theoretically be able to do so with any skill. The problem is that it is only available in custom laptop configurations and well, will it cost a note like the computer itself, in it?

Anyway, it is good to hope that these beautiful machines will start to appear in society for us to analyze the first benchmarks From your graphic performances in this way, we can get a better idea of ​​your aspirations and qualities.

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Still on the same subject, Apple made clear on the official page of the new MacBooks Pro crucial information for those who like to connect their laptops to external monitors, and at the same time proved that the new 15-inch machine is a true processing beast in this. sense.

LG UltraFine 5K Monitor

15 ″ MBP can be connected to at four external 4K monitors or two 5K monitors, like the glorious LG ones featured in Thursday's keynote that once and for all symbolized the demise of Cinema Display. It is important to note that all these connections will be made at full resolution and at 60Hz, ie none of the choppy and irregular transmission of the MacBooks (not the Pro here).

Meanwhile, the 13-inch version, while not reaching the multi-monitor Olympus as its biggest brother, also definitely doesn't make it ugly: it supports two 4K monitors simultaneously or one 5K monitor. All of these connections, of course, are made by the new Thunderbolt 3 ports that are causing quite a stir in the computer world.

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Still in the field of graphics processing, but moving to even smaller and thinner devices: Apple has apparently designed its own graphics chips for iPhones somewhere in the past and no one has noticed.

A10 Fusion

Who says David Kanter of RealWorldTech. According to him, just take a look at the differences between Apple's Metal Graphics API architecture manuals and Imagination Technologies graphics processing chips, the company whose technology was licensed by Apple in the early days of producing its own chips (starting with the A4).

Apparently, starting with the A8 chip in the iPhone 6, Apple has now designed its own graphics chip solutions, with new and more powerful iterations present in its successors, the A9 and A10 Fusion. The advantages to such a change are clear: cost savings, greater control over the design and operation of components within your devices, and even better integration between hardware and software.

The question now is when or if the same change will ever occur within their computers. Can anyone imagine a MacBook running an “A15” chip with Ma's own graphics processing? I can. 😛

(via AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacRumors)