27-inch iMac gets a major update

Post by flywheel » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

thomasedwards wrote: post #195

supernova87a wrote: post #188

I still find it fascinating how the choice of Intel chip generation is almost an afterthought (well, maybe only for a minority, but do most buyers look carefully? are they aware?) in the difference between models or computers when you click to buy something. Is this a strategy of Apple (or Intel) to be able to get people to ignore (and therefore they can optimize the cost of) the generation of chip used? It's almost…

I still don’t fully understand this world, I ‘downgraded’ from an i7 to a slower i5, and my computer got faster. I wish they’d use sensible clear names for the generations so you can clearly understand what’s better.

Post by _ph_ » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

ogre_codes wrote: post #207

_ph_ wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 16" was just refreshed and requires both a very beefy cpu and gpu. Not sure Apple will bring that with the first iteration. The 13" MB Pro has an integrated GPU, so that sounds more like a first step for Apple. Also, I think the Intel version of the 16" will stick around for quite a long time, might even be the last Intel machine sold in parallel to Apple Silicon, as developers and many others might require an In…

How can Apple say their new CPUs are the best/ fastest... but aren't good enough to ship in their flagship laptop? This first launch is going to be the most scrutinized & criticized Mac Apple has launched in years. Apple knows this and they are going to put a beefy CPU in their new machine to silence the critics. If they can't beat Intel performance at launch, what are the chances they are going to be able to beat th…

Post by ogre_codes » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

JohnTHaller wrote: post #191

ogre_codes wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But for a $600-$700 machine with an ARM CPU? that's insanely competitive, and is in-line with the "basic" macbook branding. I'm skeptical Apple's introduction of their high performance CPUs exclusively on a low end device. A super light/ high performance 12ish inch machine seems right up their ally, but they don't want the new CPU associated with being a low-end "Intel Pentium Gold" type device. There might be a lo…

Maybe not exclusively, but it would make more sense as users of their more 'budget' machines likely won't be put off by its inability to run Windows and running existing Mac software more slowly due to emulation (unless it's been recompiled in the latter half of 2020). Edit: Thanks to the replies letting me know that Rosetta is still a thing. I somehow forgot. Updated.

Post by bayindirh » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 5:23 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #235

bayindirh wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually do heavy data processing but not every day. It can be hundreds of RAW images (50MB/image) or the simulation software I'm working on which can generate GBs of output in 3 seconds if I leave the wrong flags on. In my other workstation I can actually see the big jumps of write accumulation when I do these tasks via SMART (I log the data periodically). So mine was a honest question rather than covert fanboyism…

I'm actually impressed that you're dumping that much data regularly on Apple's notoriously undersized drives.

Post by skohan » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 5:23 PM UTC

rimjongun wrote: post #193

asadkn wrote: post #15

It just feels wrong to buy anything new from Apple with "Intel Inside" - when they're clearly going to dump it soon, in favor of ARM (excuse me for not using the cringey term Apple Silicon).

But your use of ARM is not encompassing of the entire change here. Apple Silicon is the whole SoC environment. All the custom cores, power management, specialized hardware decoding parts.. etc... This is far more than an instruction set change.