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Introducing the next generation of Mac

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Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#421

I wonder, is the 8GB vs. 16GB "unified memory" the kind of thing where all of the hardware actually has 16GB, but they disable half of it to sell the lower price version? Like Tesla's Model S 40 kwh?

Probably binning where faulty memory gets disabled and flagged as a 8GB chip?

Intel did that for the 486SX processor 30 years ago. The 486 was the first x86 CPU with an integrated FPU. Chips that failed the FPU test were sold as cheaper 486SX with the FPU disabled.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#422
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a tangential note, there were reports about the Intel based MacBook Pro from earlier this year having CPU usage spikes and heating issues when charging from the left side port. For users with this problem, it was effectively “charge using the right side port”.

As a MacBook Pro owner this is nonsense. It throttles badly and overheats no matter which side you charge on. Actually surprised it didn't get more attention. If you're downloading and charging at the same time then your computer is unusable.

Hmm, I wouldn't say this is nonsense. I can consistently reproduce the issue by charging on the left side (making the computer completely unusable), and then switching to the right side and having it run perfectly fine. Since I started charging on the right side I've had zero issues with it.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#423
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You have reduced performance, you're just accustomed to it.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#424

Did I miss something, or are they, once again, not upgrading the camera? The low light performance of the current version is real bad. Since we're all using these cameras way more, I really thought there would a hardware bump. You can only squeeze so much detail out of an under-exposed, noisy image with software.

I'm curious, are higher-quality cameras even available that fit into the thin lid? (At a reasonable price?) I was always under the impression that the built-in camera is so much worse than your phone's front-facing camera simply because the phone is thick and has room, while the MacBook lid is much thinner.

That's a kind-of-backwards argument though isn't it? The lid needs to be thick enough to contain the necessary components, not the other way round.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#426

I wonder, is the 8GB vs. 16GB "unified memory" the kind of thing where all of the hardware actually has 16GB, but they disable half of it to sell the lower price version? Like Tesla's Model S 40 kwh?

Curious about the same thing, re: the 7-core GPU vs. the 8-core GPU on the Air. Seems like a pretty arbitrary upgrade (and only a $50 difference).

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I tried that the network file serving was a bottleneck. But I guess there comes a point where you have to choose your bottleneck.

VSC is the real workhorse here. It’s way beyond something like an SSHFS mount. The server actually runs an instance of VSC. It’s really quite good and I don’t even notice I’m editing on another machine. Would recommend trying it.

Yeah, Docker is an issue for me as well. Great idea! Thanks! Care to share any more details? Who is hosting what configuration?

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#429

Straw poll: I need a new development machine, price is not an object but it has to be a Mac. Should I buy this new M1 or go with the Intel 16 inch MBP? My gut says there’s going to be a year or two of cross-compilation nightmares. I do a lot of Docker-based development. Wondering what everyone else thinks?

I sometimes wonder what the overhead of Docker costs on a Mac. The fact that you have to run a whole linux VM, with guest OS, then send data back and forth over that, especially with volume mapping. I'm sure it can be quantified over running linux directly on the same hardware. My machine (MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2018, 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3) often runs screaming hot (with screaming fans…

Have you tried Turbo Boost Switcher?

It does wonders for my 2019 16 MBP, ensuring the fans very rarely kick in and CPU temps stay reasonable doing similar workloads to what you describe.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#430
post #417
post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only bad thing about the current 16" is the Touch Bar. There is a lot to like about the rest though.

I use the 2020 macbook air personally and 16in professionally and the keyboard drives me insane, to the point I bought a magic keyboard to be able to function without screaming at my computer for accidentally turning my video camera on yet again during a meeting. I really wish they would have a no touch bar option, because I could use more power but still be able to touch type. Touch bar is the worst technological "i…

I'm genuinely surprised you are accidentally touching the TouchBar. I have had the 16" for 8 months and haven't done that once.
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