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

Introducing the next generation of Mac

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 1001 posts

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#241

Post by kllrnohj »

intpx wrote: post #78
dcchambers wrote: post #37

The 16GB RAM limit is unfortunate. Five years later and I still can't buy a new 13" laptop from Apple with more RAM than my 2015 MBP. Edit: Apparently you can configure a (Early 2020) Intel-based 13" MBP with 32GB of RAM - I was not aware of that. Hope they bring that option to the ARM versions ASAP, especially if the performance gains are as good as Apple claims.

Not all RAM is created equally. Better memory management means less RAM can be better than more RAM. Pair that with superfast flash storage for SWAP and you might not even be able to tell the difference between 16 and 32. Besides, this release cycle is 100% optimized for an impressive speed boost, tempered by a need for a more impressive battery life. The proof will be in the pudding.Time will tell.

> Better memory management means less RAM can be better than more RAM

No, it can't. If more RAM means it's slower RAM then maybe it can be better to have less of it in some workloads. But otherwise it's never better to have less RAM than more RAM. Better memory management can make the impact of less RAM be less severe, but it's still unambiguously worse.

Especially if you have workloads that actually need the RAM like large ML models or editing 8K videos.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#242

Post by [deleted] »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #148
jmisavage wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The low end Air only has 7 GPU cores compared with 8 on the one with more storage. So they must be disabling a bad core and selling it the cheap model. Other than that all these machines use the exact same CPUs. Which means that an iMac or 16" MBP are probably going to use a M1X or something with more cores.

Could be disabling but it could also be the fact to increase yields to their most appealing product.

[deleted]

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#243

Post by conductr »

qz2 wrote: post #220
conductr wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, doing what??

IDE + VMs + office + slack + zoom etc

Blows my mind, I do most of the same on a 2013 MacBook Air with only 8GB RAM. I’ve never had a perf hiccup unless I try video editing or gaming. But I just don’t really have a want to do those things, hence why I’m still getting by on this thing. I was going to upgrade once for the hell of it but all the keyboard issues kept me seated.

I expected you to say you did something with graphics/media. I guess the VMs could be the difference. I don’t use. But I have 100 chrome tabs open at most times lol.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#244

Post by notahaterbut »

The peak of the mac mini was the 2012 Mac Mini Server where you could add an extra HDD and had easy access to the memory. That was the Apple I respected.

I'm not sure I understand why the current Mac Mini's needed to be a unibody design, since it just sits on your desk.

While I am excited for the M1 chip and the future of ARM, I'm absolutely disgusted by the price gouging in the name of memory and HDD space.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#245

Post by wtetzner »

viscanti wrote: post #234
dcchambers wrote: post #37

The 16GB RAM limit is unfortunate. Five years later and I still can't buy a new 13" laptop from Apple with more RAM than my 2015 MBP. Edit: Apparently you can configure a (Early 2020) Intel-based 13" MBP with 32GB of RAM - I was not aware of that. Hope they bring that option to the ARM versions ASAP, especially if the performance gains are as good as Apple claims.

Do most people with MacBook Airs have workloads that require more than 16GB or ram or do they generally value a lower price point? Cost, performance, light weight - pick two right? Apple seems to have picked a combination of lower cost and light weight. Customers who need more ram probably move up to a MBP.

The 13" MBP has the same limitation.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#246

Post by hackstack »

andy_ppp wrote: post #60
stblack wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My fondest wish is a high-end MBP 16" with no touch bar. The touch bar's sole role is to generate errors and missteps resulting from merely grazing over it. Even setting the touch bar to vanilla F-keys, grazing triggers F-key actions which is so frustrating.

Yes - I always assumed the eventual goal was a touch bar with the same haptic feedback as the trackpad (and no the trackpad doesn't move).

FWIW there are third-party software options for the Touch Bar such as MTMR (my touch bar, my rules), which at least allows you to activate the haptic feedback in the trackpad when touch bar buttons are pressed. I found that it helped dramatically with accidental touch bar presses.

MTMR also solves the other main problem with the Touch Bar which is that it hides brightness and volume controls behind a tap (so you can't, for example, instantly mash "volume down" when you find it is unexpectedly loud.) With MTMR (and others I believe) you can make multi-touch gestures on the bar to adjust volume and brightness swiftly.

All that said, I'm not convinced that the touch bar adds enough value to justify its cost. If your day-to-day computer use includes tasks it is good it, maybe. As a developer, probably not.

Just my $0.02 as a touchbar-skeptic-cum-macbook-owner.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#247

Post by dbbk »

viscanti wrote: post #234
dcchambers wrote: post #37

The 16GB RAM limit is unfortunate. Five years later and I still can't buy a new 13" laptop from Apple with more RAM than my 2015 MBP. Edit: Apparently you can configure a (Early 2020) Intel-based 13" MBP with 32GB of RAM - I was not aware of that. Hope they bring that option to the ARM versions ASAP, especially if the performance gains are as good as Apple claims.

Do most people with MacBook Airs have workloads that require more than 16GB or ram or do they generally value a lower price point? Cost, performance, light weight - pick two right? Apple seems to have picked a combination of lower cost and light weight. Customers who need more ram probably move up to a MBP.

The MacBook Pro is also limited to 16GB.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#248

Post by rsync »

dcchambers wrote: post #37

The 16GB RAM limit is unfortunate. Five years later and I still can't buy a new 13" laptop from Apple with more RAM than my 2015 MBP. Edit: Apparently you can configure a (Early 2020) Intel-based 13" MBP with 32GB of RAM - I was not aware of that. Hope they bring that option to the ARM versions ASAP, especially if the performance gains are as good as Apple claims.

"The 16GB RAM limit is unfortunate."

This is a charitable characterization.

More correct would be to term this limit "absurd" or "clownish".

Even if Apple views the use-cases of these machines as primarily consumption devices and the users of these machines not as creators but as consumers, the bloat of the modern web is expensive and getting more expensive every day.

The end user needs this memory even if they really are just using these as facebook machines.

EDIT: That's not just the notebooks - the mini appears to have this limitation as well (down from 64GB previously).

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#250

Post by shaicoleman »

Asmod4n wrote: post #184
sneak wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the best news I’ve heard all day, thank you! I’m totally fine with a chromebook-style unsigned boot warning.

During WWDC they said you can't use any other operating System at boot time, only through virtual Machines. Update: here a podcast with Craig Federighi on that matter https://youtu.be/Hg9F1Qjv3iU

Link with timestamp: https://youtu.be/Hg9F1Qjv3iU?t=3772

"we're not direct booting an alternate operating system, it's purely virtualization"

Post reply on HN