Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 173 posts

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#111

Post by stcredzero »

jimbokun wrote: post #105
m_mueller wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think it’s just nerds. I think the idea has quite a bit of mass appeal [1], it’s just that existing versions are in some way unsatisfactory. the phone is already on its way to replace our wallet and I think it’s just a matter of time for it to replace our laptop bag. I’d very much welcome that if it could do all the things I’m doing on my Thinkpad, it’s just that human interface and OS are not there yet (mean…

"it’s just that existing versions are in some way unsatisfactory" You say this as if it is an easy problem to solve.

"It’s just that existing versions are in some way unsatisfactory," was exactly the problem that plagued smartphones before the iPhone.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#112

Post by jimbokun »

theluketaylor wrote: post #28
carlesfe wrote: post #13

Apple are paving the way to A-chip laptops, not only by building excellent tech, but also PR-wise. Their last keynote was clearly a gymnastics exercise to ignore Intel CPUs and dismiss laptop performance while later praising their own chips which power a tablet that has no software ready to use that much speed. The fact that one of the most secretive companies executes a PR-stunt by providing an exclusive interview t…

The near total lack of the word "intel" at the keynote was certainly quite noticeable. The question is how much was that a negotiating ploy for better pricing/stock with intel and how much was positioning for arm macs. I think a bit of both. I went back to remind myself of the details of the switch from powerpc to intel. It was announced at wwdc 2005 (june) when they released a developer transition kit. The announcem…

"The macbook modifying words have lost all meaning when systems labeled pro have major expansion and repair limitations, the device named air isn't the smallest or lightest and the model without a modifier isn't the cheapest."

This eloquently summarizes much of the disconnect customers have been feeling about the Mac product lineup. Jobs never would have allowed this to happen.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#113

Post by dragonwriter »

xvector wrote: post #110
iagooar wrote: post #56

This is nuts. The iPad Pro is so massively ahead of the game, it's even hard to believe. It is faster than the MBP 2017 and ALMOST as fast as the MBP 2018. We're talking a device that is 5.9mm thick and is battery-powered! Now here's my prediction: Apple does not really want to build an ARM-powered MBP. Instead, they will eventually allow iPads to double boot into iOS and/or MacOS. Call me crazy, but this would be hu…

Tim Cook himself flat out said they have no intention of ever merging MacOS and iOS or converging the two in any way.

Yeah, and Apple never turns around in a couple years and does what the CEO said they had no intention of doing. (Big phones, tablet stylus, ...)

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#114

Post by 6nf »

bsder wrote: post #67
camillomiller wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look up what Tim Cook thinks about convergence. That is not what an iPhone is for. Period. This gimmick is just a pipedream of us nerds. It won't have the slightest chance in the market and it would be a subpar product. Both Huawei and Samsung have implemented such a solution on their flagship smartphones since at least two years. They work as advertised, but nobody could give half a shit about them.

> Both Huawei and Samsung have implemented such a solution on their flagship smartphones since at least two years. They work as advertised, but nobody could give half a shit about them. That's more a reflection of the fact that Samsung and Huawei suck at software--Bixby, anyone? Everybody said the same thing about WiFi. I used WiFi when it first came out--PCMCIA cards, external stick on antennas, etc. Worked as adver…

> Everything on your phone--everywhere--is the endgame.

The endgame is everything on every device you own. Sometimes you'll use your watch. Sometimes your phone. Sometimes your tablet or laptop and sometimes your big screen TV. It's just differently sized screens that all connect to your data in the cloud.

That is the endgame here. Nobody wants to go swimming with their phone or watch a feature film on their phones or do 8 hours of office work on their phones.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#115

Post by jimbokun »

theluketaylor wrote: post #65
scarface74 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From an OS standpoint. I only see two real limitations keeping iOS from being a desktop replacement for most people -- support for mice/trackpads and adding support for USB Mass storage devices to the Files app and treating mass storage devices like they treat Dropbox/iCloud/OneDrive, etc.

iOS is getting close to being all the computer my grandparents could ever need. My mother as well. My father and I are both in tech and would run into too many hard (and fairly artificial) limitations pretty quickly. I won't ever switch my primary computer to something that needs an optional accessory to hold the screen up. ipad may be magical, but there is plenty of wonder left in a device can open up and start typi…

An iPad is already the only computer my parents own. They don't even have smart phones.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#116

Post by Arn_Thor »

skh wrote: post #99
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple executives have a long-standing habit of saying something sucks for whatever reason only to come out a few years later with the same concept only slightly tweaked. And now that Apple's on board with USB-C, which can do video/power/peripherals, it's not inconceivable that a Monitor+USB hub would be all you need for a plug and play iOS productivity station. It would be a trivial firmware change for the next relea…

Your comment reminded me of Seve Jobs mocking the idea of a pen for iPads. You can’t trust that such statements are true or that even if true today that they will be true in a few years. Ideas, tech, beliefs change and sometimes companies publicly proclaim things that are just plain false.

This is a pet peeve of mine.. Steve didn't mock the idea of styluses in abstract, he didn't want it to be the default and only way people interact with their devices. So Apple made the operation of iPad be all about the touch experience. Now, later on Apple released a much improved stylus as an optional, secondary and not at all necessary input method. That has nothing to do with the truth or untruth of Job's statement, nor is it inconsistent with what he said.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#117

Post by crooked-v »

nrb wrote: post #54
philwelch wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be right, but I'd like to unpack that a little. Why would that be the case? Obviously, the laptop form factor is missing, but it would be...interesting if the iPad, iPhone, and MacBook were all pretty much the same compute device with different form factors and different battery sizes and possibly different storage sizes. Honestly, the form factor and user experience are going to be the biggest user-visible…

I think a lot of people (except maybe Apple shareholders) would be happy with a single physical device that handles a variety of use cases rather than paying Apple $1500 a pop, several times over, for the exact same hardware in different physical cases.

A single unified accessory market to end all accessory markets would probably be worth it.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#118

Post by theluketaylor »

m_mueller wrote: post #103
theluketaylor wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The near total lack of the word "intel" at the keynote was certainly quite noticeable. The question is how much was that a negotiating ploy for better pricing/stock with intel and how much was positioning for arm macs. I think a bit of both. I went back to remind myself of the details of the switch from powerpc to intel. It was announced at wwdc 2005 (june) when they released a developer transition kit. The announcem…

I think one thing you’re missing is how good Apple’s GPU have become (and will be in 1-2 years). I’m thinking you’re going to have a hybrid architecture for MBP. The T2 will expand to support all of Apple’s own software plus all upgraded one sold through a revamped Mac Appstore (plus hopefully your own compiled stuff when security settings are off). This can power down (all but ~2 cores) and instead power up an x86 c…

I'm a little scared to consider the hybrid approach since I think it's highly likely Apple will only let mac store code execute on the ARM side of the house. They can tout the security benefit (which is real), but they get to collect their 30%. If apple ever gets to a point where they ditch x86 macOS is no longer a general purpose OS and that's pretty much its whole appeal.

I'm not personally that interested in a hybrid mac as getting rid of the power draw of an intel cpu and all the weight and technical baggage it comes is the real draw of an arm mac for me.

What I really want is to hand apple a little over $1000 and walk away with a laptop form factor with nothing but one of their fantastic A series SoCs inside and running full macOS where I make all the decisions. The gpu being so much better than the anemic intel integrated stuff in my current air is a big part of the attraction of the A series chip running macOS.

I don't think the air branding will go away. Apple spoke so much during this last event about macbook air being people's favourite mac I can't see them giving up on such positive branding. It's far and away the best selling mac and has been for close to a decade.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#119

Post by mixmastamyk »

skh wrote: post #99
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple executives have a long-standing habit of saying something sucks for whatever reason only to come out a few years later with the same concept only slightly tweaked. And now that Apple's on board with USB-C, which can do video/power/peripherals, it's not inconceivable that a Monitor+USB hub would be all you need for a plug and play iOS productivity station. It would be a trivial firmware change for the next relea…

Your comment reminded me of Seve Jobs mocking the idea of a pen for iPads. You can’t trust that such statements are true or that even if true today that they will be true in a few years. Ideas, tech, beliefs change and sometimes companies publicly proclaim things that are just plain false.

“No video on the iPod” was my thought.

Re: Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip

#120

Post by dharma1 »

jimbokun wrote: post #108
dharma1 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked on Ubuntu Touch (specifically convergence) for a few years. I think it's really interesting what Apple are trying to do (with Marzipan, pro apps for iPad, desktop level SoC's) but I think they still have a couple of years work ahead of them. It's not an easy task, especially with so much legacy. Getting Adobe and Autodesk to rewrite their flagship software for iOS was quite a good win, though I still wonder…

"Getting Adobe and Autodesk to rewrite their flagship software for iOS was quite a good win" Now if they could only get Apple to rewrite their flagship Pro software for iOS.

Touche. I think perf is becoming less of an issue, it's more about design challenges around touch/pointer UI density, screen real estate (depending on what the range of supported screen sizes should be)
Post reply on HN