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Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

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671–680 of 1001 posts

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#671

This might just be a bargaining move on Apple’s part, but I don’t think so. I think that long term they are much better off controlling their entire hardware stack. I wouldn’t be surprised to even see them make their own display screens. As an Apple customer, I like this idea also. For 20 years, I used to be a desktop Linux fanatic and later became a fan of Android. In the last few years, I have switched to using all…

It's the old story of convinience vs. freedom. I myself am willing to trade a bit of convinience and the need of tinkering with the system for a big chunk of freedom. Not only for me but by using and making Linux better, hopefully it's also a (small) investment for future generations.

This way I hope they still will have the choice to run software they (can) trust on their own devices. If everyone would just go for the convinience, at least desktop Linux would dissapear as an option.

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#672

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, too, used to love tinkering with Linux. I would compile my own kernels, hack drivers and fix bugs to make it run better on the hardware I chose to buy. I wanted everything to be just so. Then, I realized that I have more money than time. I can choose Apple hardware, and run OS X (now macOS), trouble free. The only time I patched my Linux kernel was when some piece of hardware didn't work. Now, I simply choose hard…

Yes. And it just works. Gnome is not at MacOS levels of polishing but you get a proper dev machine instead of a pretty SSH terminal into your real dev machine.

What are you talking about? MacOS is a certified Unix variant and it has everything you need to do local dev on it.

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#673

I personally hate close fences with no rooms for customization, and many computer scientists are on the same wavelength. Windows is an awful choice for software development, a job that usually requires a lot of interaction with Unix servers. Microsoft's recent crush for Linux and open source can't fix many years of closed standards, closed protocols, and Embrace-Extend-Exterminate evil culture. And MacOS, even though…

I still prefer the "closed fence" that is macOS over the complete mess that is desktop on linux. macOS was really really liberating after years of frustrations with all of gnome, kde and xfce. Then was x11 vs mir vs wayland. Desktop on linux is pretty much still a toy when compared to desktop on macos.

There seem to be a lot of misconceptions about the whole developer's environment thing. "Made by developers, for developers" and "all that money for such a closed box" sound a lot more like wishful idealism than actual "best tool for the job" pragmatism.

I also used to think linux was the best desktop, and did so for a long time, because of "by developers for developers, open-source" and other righteous sounding things. But believing you're using the best tools and actually doing so are two different things; I wasn't even living in Emacs or aware of how superior the VIM language is back then, so much for using the best tools ;)

Its easy to fool yourself into thinking you have the best tools, and its near impossible to tell you actually do.

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#674
post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they wanted to go x86 they would just buy VIA? I think it will be aarch64

I’m not sure they can for this purpose. I remember people talking about the idea of buying AMD but it’s possible the license terms may say it doesn’t survive a purchase; making AMD or Via worthless for that purpose.

Unless the licensing terms are extremely lopsided, they'd still own AMD64 patents which EM64T is based on, and intel would need to strike a new deal. VIA's situation should be similar, but with other technologies.

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#676

I personally hate close fences with no rooms for customization, and many computer scientists are on the same wavelength. Windows is an awful choice for software development, a job that usually requires a lot of interaction with Unix servers. Microsoft's recent crush for Linux and open source can't fix many years of closed standards, closed protocols, and Embrace-Extend-Exterminate evil culture. And MacOS, even though…

If Linux had proper support for suspend on My MacBook Pro I would use it. The problem with Linux is their laptop support for drivers such as the touchpad and proper ACPi support . Windows and MacOS have this handled but Linux does not unless you buy dell or Lenovo. Also, macs have a lower chance of replacement since they have more reliable parts .

MacOS doesn't have it unless you buy a Mac ;)

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#677
post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my second to last company (a web development shop), they had originally the policy that a new developers can choose if he want either a mac, linux or windows machine. When i arrived there it was 75% mac and the rest used linux, not even one had made the choice for windows. After a while some new guys get hired and one of them wanted to use windows. We found out immediately, that this caused a lot of problems, beca…

I guess from a business point of view it makes sense, but I really get frustrated when I find an open source project that's completely unbuildable on Windows. Maybe the developer in question would have been better using a manually created VM or WSL?

A windows developer just needs to create a build

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#678
post #624

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the problem with saying "this is better for computer scientists": It's the same argument every time someone says "the Macbook Pro is not a professional device". Not every computer scientist has the same needs. There are a lot of CS folks who will never need to recompile a kernel or even get into the OS internals. For those people, having to do that is a major downside to any computer. So the obvious choice is…

> and it's not going to work if I'm copying and pasting kernel code from Stack Overflow to get my trackpad to scroll the correct direction When was the last time you used a linux desktop, 2005? On any linux desktop I can think of (MATE, Gnome, KDE) this is a matter of going to Settings | Mouse & Touchpad | check or un-check the natural scrolling box as desired

Exactly. Sure if you're trying to revive some old notebook with a Linux distro you're going to face issues (no different to if you try to install the latest MacOS on their earlier machines). With a modern machine, Linux is a very reliable and comfortable OS that doesn't restrict you in terms of hardware. The only minor criticism I have is that it lacks a high quality spreadsheet application like Excel (but with cloud based solutions catching up, that is becoming a non issue).

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#679
post #630

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the problem with saying "this is better for computer scientists": It's the same argument every time someone says "the Macbook Pro is not a professional device". Not every computer scientist has the same needs. There are a lot of CS folks who will never need to recompile a kernel or even get into the OS internals. For those people, having to do that is a major downside to any computer. So the obvious choice is…

the biggest problem with macs is not the software/openness. the biggest problem is the price. the older models might have had a justifiable price, however the new 15" models with a touch-whatever, costs way more and have less value. they actually even replaced the SD slot, which probably a lot of professional artists needed (or at least used). I used it to extend my harddrive with a 256gb extension card If I would ne…

1. You can buy MacBook Pros without the touch bar.

2. Professional photographers for a long time primarily used CompactFlash which has never had built in hardware support. So I can't imagine they are suddenly missing something they never had. It's the prosumers who were the heavy uses of SD cards and who were inconvenienced with the decision. Although most cameras come with WiFi these days so you can see Apple's thinking in removing the port.

3. Using a SD card as external storage is an awful idea. It was never designed for that much IO especially on OSX which can thrash storage devices pretty badly (check fs_usage). Just buy a USB-C enclosure and a 2.5inch hard drive like everyone else. Very cheap and comes in large sizes.

Re: Apple Plans to Use Its Own Chips in Macs from 2020, Replacing Intel

#680

I personally hate close fences with no rooms for customization, and many computer scientists are on the same wavelength. Windows is an awful choice for software development, a job that usually requires a lot of interaction with Unix servers. Microsoft's recent crush for Linux and open source can't fix many years of closed standards, closed protocols, and Embrace-Extend-Exterminate evil culture. And MacOS, even though…

I, too, used to love tinkering with Linux. I would compile my own kernels, hack drivers and fix bugs to make it run better on the hardware I chose to buy. I wanted everything to be just so. Then, I realized that I have more money than time. I can choose Apple hardware, and run OS X (now macOS), trouble free. The only time I patched my Linux kernel was when some piece of hardware didn't work. Now, I simply choose hard…

> The only thing I really liked but Apple dropped (and I hate them for it) was virtual desktops

What are you talking about here ? They are still there.

Four finger swipe up to get Spaces overview. Then click the plus button to add a new desktop.

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