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Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

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Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#101

Post by jfoster »

zanethomas wrote: post #95
fowlerpower wrote: post #10

The one thing I will say is even though Apple's software quality lately has taken a hit. Their commitment to security has only gotten stronger. The secure enclave, hardware level security, all of the things that came up with the FBI request have become a self serving prophecy for them. I applaud them for this and it looks like the MacBook Pro is going to be one of the most secure laptops around. Nothing is perfect of…

I have a nagging suspicion that Apple will eventually lock the hardware and OS down to the point where their computers will only run software delivered through the app store.

It certainly seems like they want to move in that direction, but it's critical that they retain the developer segment. It'll be game over for them if developers are unable to be productive on a Mac.

There's likely a way to make both of these things happen, to some degree. For instance, they could start with just locking Macs to the app store as a default that is changeable. (similar to how Android is locked down)

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#102

Post by memracom »

You mean that they are using a tried and proven architecture that helped the 4.77 MHz IBM PC find success in 1982?

Yawn....

The IBM PC keyboard had its own Z-80 CPU way back then and likely every single PC of any sort since then has done this. And then there are the disk controller CPUs. Wasn't that introduced around 1984?

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#104

Post by ayuvar »

monocasa wrote: post #38
dom0 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intel platforms also had an ARC processor (they approximately cater the same markets as ARM minus mobile) for years in the ME. AMD does the same thing with an ARM core. Practically all peripherals contain at least one programmable processor. Remote management / IPMI also usually works with an entirely separate ARM computer that's integrated with the main computers graphics unit -- basically a shared framebuffer, just…

Fun fact: ARC derives originally from the SuperFX inside some SNES cartridges like Star Fox.

It blows my mind that the Super FX not only survived the collapse of Argonaut but went on to become so widely adopted by companies that presumably could make their own tiny microprocessors.

So cool.

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#105

Post by [deleted] »

ginko wrote: post #4

Not really that surprising. Your average laptop nowadays probably has more ARM cores than x86 cores. They're in all kinds of peripherials like wifi controllers, power supplies, harddisk controllers, GPU job control, heck even AMD's recent APUs come with an integrated Cortex-A5.[1] ARM cores are everywhere, people just don't know about it. [1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/6007/amd-2013-apus-to-include-...

[deleted]

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#106

Post by therein »

johnm1019 wrote: post #13
revelation wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, you know, spare one of the trillion transistors to switch power to 1) camera and 2) LED. There, solved. No full-powered ARM needed to control an indicator light.

I'm guessing it's not that simple because there may be situations when the camera has power and is capturing an image (think hot-standby) but is not transmitting image data to the world outside the sensor package.

Yeah, exactly since the camera in the previous generation MBP actually had 4GB SD storage on it.

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#107

Post by zanethomas »

jfoster wrote: post #101
zanethomas wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a nagging suspicion that Apple will eventually lock the hardware and OS down to the point where their computers will only run software delivered through the app store.

It certainly seems like they want to move in that direction, but it's critical that they retain the developer segment. It'll be game over for them if developers are unable to be productive on a Mac. There's likely a way to make both of these things happen, to some degree. For instance, they could start with just locking Macs to the app store as a default that is changeable. (similar to how Android is locked down)

Do you think they still care about developers or other creative types? Judging by what the did to Final Cut and then to the Mac Pro line I'm not so sure.

There are several good alternatives to the Mac Books now and I'll be moving to Linux for my development efforts the next time I buy a machine.

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#108

Post by whyenot »

memracom wrote: post #102

You mean that they are using a tried and proven architecture that helped the 4.77 MHz IBM PC find success in 1982? Yawn.... The IBM PC keyboard had its own Z-80 CPU way back then and likely every single PC of any sort since then has done this. And then there are the disk controller CPUs. Wasn't that introduced around 1984?

Do you have any further information on this? Having opened up an IBM PC keyboard, and knowing that Z80 CPUs were still fairly expensive in 1982, I'm a little surprised.

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#109

Post by apendleton »

zanethomas wrote: post #107
jfoster wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly seems like they want to move in that direction, but it's critical that they retain the developer segment. It'll be game over for them if developers are unable to be productive on a Mac. There's likely a way to make both of these things happen, to some degree. For instance, they could start with just locking Macs to the app store as a default that is changeable. (similar to how Android is locked down)

Do you think they still care about developers or other creative types? Judging by what the did to Final Cut and then to the Mac Pro line I'm not so sure. There are several good alternatives to the Mac Books now and I'll be moving to Linux for my development efforts the next time I buy a machine.

I wouldn't lump "developers" together with "other creative types." They depend on developers to make the apps that make their devices desirable. If devs stopped buying macs there would be nobody to make apps for iOS. They don't depend on film editors in anywhere near the same way.

Re: Intel driven MacBook Pros have secondary ARM processor for Touch ID and security

#110

Post by lozf »

TillE wrote: post #58
wlesieutre wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a lefty, I'm looking forward to not having the headphone cable dangling across my papers area. Suck it, righties! It's your turn to be slightly inconvenienced!

But...lots of headphones only connect on the left side, and run the connection for the right earphone along the headband. I'm pretty sure it's always left or both, never right. Putting the jack on the right really screws that up, even for lefties!

Just as a counterpoint; Sennheiser HD25 headphones connect from the right headphone in the default configuration, however there are plenty of replacement cables of various types, some of which may change this. I agree that its quite unusual though.
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