Apple's 2017 MacBook Pro may come with the new AMD Ryzen 7 processor instead of the latest Intel Kaby Lake which has long been rumored. The possibility of the MacBook Pro skipping Intel's 7th-generation Kaby Lake processor in favor of AMD's new Ryzen CPUs was first floated by Architosh after the latter's impressive Cinebench test results surfaced.
According to Architosh, the new AMD Ryzen 7 1700x, as well as the 1800X, would be the ideal processor for the MacBook Pro. This sparked the idea that the processor was actually developed with Apple and the MacBook Pro in mind. While this is yet to be proven, the Ryzen processor coincides with Apple's preference for conserving energy over maximizing shear performance.
Most of Apple's devices come in lightweight and thin designs while still having impressive battery life. This is the result of the tech giant's philosophy. The lower TDP of the AMD processors allows "more computing muscle per watt" which coincides with that ethos. The thermal design points of AMD's Ryzen 1800X and 1700X are only 95 watts as compared to Intel i7's TDP which is 140 watts. Additionally, AMD processors are much cheaper which will allow Apple to adjust the price of its high-end laptops and make them even more palatable to consumers.
According to PC Advisor, KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the updated MacBooks will be released this year with the 7th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU. Mass production of the upcoming 12-inch variant is expected to start this month. Kuo also mentioned that the MacBook will likely come with 16GB of RAM. The other variants, the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros, will be produced starting in July while a premium 15-inch MacBook Pro, which will possibly have 32GB of RAM, will possibly debut this September.
Earlier this week, rumors surfaced that Apple is also bringing the new AMD Ryzen processor to the highly-anticipated iMac. Initial reports also noted that the iMac will come with the latest Kaby Lake processor but the release of AMD's impressive yet cheaper high-end CPUs had analysts consider the possibility. Like with the MacBook Pro, Apple can afford to lower the price of the iMac to make it more competitive with other brands particularly the Microsoft Surface Studio.
