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What's the battery life like on those Pro laptops? Ideally Apple would release an external graphics card that communicates via TB3 for docked pro use, and then

What's the battery life like on those Pro laptops? Ideally Apple would release an external graphics card that communicates via TB3 for docked pro use, and then use the discrete Radeon Pro 460 when on the road.

nakedrobot2 10y ago
The battery life is under two hours when you're doing "that kind of work". Also, the GPU is severely throttled when the laptop is not plugged into the AC power.
- robhu 10y ago
  Yes, and wouldn't it be good to let the pro buying the laptop make that choice?
  - selectodude 10y ago
    You can make that choice. By not buying the MacBook Pro. All these articles and comments that imply that Apple has put a gun to their head seem a bit overblown. Hell, Apple is still selling the old model if you're really that upset about USB-C.
    - robhu 10y ago
      I am saying from the perspective of a Mac using developer, wouldn't it be nice if Apple offered them the choice of choosing low end GPU for better battery life or high end GPU with less battery life, which may (and for many is) more appropriate for their professional workload.
    - wbond 10y ago
      I called Apple (both personal and business divisions) and you can not buy the old model with dGPU any more unless you buy refurb. The only 2015 available is the base model with Intel integrated graphics.
- jagger27 10y ago
  Keep in mind that the max TDP is only 35W this generation (down from 50W in the M370X). Don't hold me to it, but I suspect battery life will be better than 2 hours.
svarrall 10y ago
I believe it's already possible to hook up and external card to a Pro. At least I've seen pictures of it on a gamers machine so don't know how viable it actually is
- robhu 10y ago
  It's not officially supported and so probably isn't a good business investment. The Razer Core is (I believe?) the first non-chinese/ebay/type-thing solution that is officially meant to work on laptops (other than Razer or whoever makes the eGPU dock). However I read a thread today saying someone who has one of these couldn't get it to work with the new 13" MBP. Don't know if that means it won't be possible in the future though. It's also very expensive ($400?) to add on top of the GPU.
  - mikhailt 10y ago
    TB3 is the first protocol to officially support eGPU by Intel. As long as Apple doesn't block it outright in the EFI firmware, it should support eGPUs by default. If not, then Apple's the blame.

nakedrobot2 10y ago

The battery life is under two hours when you're doing "that kind of work". Also, the GPU is severely throttled when the laptop is not plugged into the AC power.

robhu 10y ago
Yes, and wouldn't it be good to let the pro buying the laptop make that choice?
- selectodude 10y ago
  You can make that choice. By not buying the MacBook Pro. All these articles and comments that imply that Apple has put a gun to their head seem a bit overblown. Hell, Apple is still selling the old model if you're really that upset about USB-C.
  - robhu 10y ago
    I am saying from the perspective of a Mac using developer, wouldn't it be nice if Apple offered them the choice of choosing low end GPU for better battery life or high end GPU with less battery life, which may (and for many is) more appropriate for their professional workload.
  - wbond 10y ago
    I called Apple (both personal and business divisions) and you can not buy the old model with dGPU any more unless you buy refurb. The only 2015 available is the base model with Intel integrated graphics.
jagger27 10y ago
Keep in mind that the max TDP is only 35W this generation (down from 50W in the M370X). Don't hold me to it, but I suspect battery life will be better than 2 hours.

svarrall 10y ago

I believe it's already possible to hook up and external card to a Pro. At least I've seen pictures of it on a gamers machine so don't know how viable it actually is

robhu 10y ago
It's not officially supported and so probably isn't a good business investment. The Razer Core is (I believe?) the first non-chinese/ebay/type-thing solution that is officially meant to work on laptops (other than Razer or whoever makes the eGPU dock). However I read a thread today saying someone who has one of these couldn't get it to work with the new 13" MBP. Don't know if that means it won't be possible in the future though. It's also very expensive ($400?) to add on top of the GPU.
- mikhailt 10y ago
  TB3 is the first protocol to officially support eGPU by Intel. As long as Apple doesn't block it outright in the EFI firmware, it should support eGPUs by default. If not, then Apple's the blame.