Introducing the next generation of Mac • Hacker News Board

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#461

Post by lumberingjack » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

noneeeed wrote: post #438

lukifer wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

As with Pavlov's comment about the memory this could be a yield thing. It may be that there are enough dies where one of the cores fails that it's worth turning them into a lower spec model as happened with the 486 SX all those years ago. More than one core failing might not happen often enough to warrant making them a product line.

Lots of people talking about frequency binning and Benning in general. I would like to add in here someplace that AMD used to make 100% identical chips for an entire full lineup and then adjust the frequency and prices to the actual binning process like if they tested a bunch of chips and got a lot that did 3.8 then they sold them all as 3.8 if they did 4.1 they sold them as 4.1 it was quite common to buy the lowest possible cheapest AMD chip and get one that could essentially be and overclock to their number one highest bench chip. See fx 8120 the lowest bulldozer chip overclocking to be and identical performer to the much more expensive and higher chips.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#462

Post by ValentineC » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

nicoburns wrote: post #338

Thorentis wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also have this one. It was my first macbook, and I think I got really lucky with getting in when I did. Been going strong for 5 years, and has no difficulty doing anything I need it to do. Only thing I wish I did was get more storage (only got the 128GB model).

FYI the storage is upgradable on these machines (and it's very straightforward to do). It's a nonstandard SSD interface, but you can official modules 2nd hand on ebay quite cheaply these days.

Adding on: this forum thread should be able to get most people started: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-mac...

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#463

Post by dawnerd » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

propelol wrote: post #453

dawnerd wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's disappointing. Dual 4k isn't that uncommon. Sounds like their chip isn't quite as powerful as they're leading on?

Shouldn't one 6k display be the same data transfer as two 4k displays?

Yeah I’m hoping it’s just a case of them not having the specs in right. Otherwise it would be a pretty poor downgrade for those that use two monitors. I don’t use the laptop screen either when docked so really no reason it shouldn’t be able to drive them.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#464

Post by baggy_trough » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:00 PM UTC

tiffanyh wrote: post #445

I don't understand the pricing of the MacBook Air vs the 13" Pro. The Air ($1249) vs 13" Pro ($1299), you get: - same CPU - same GPU - same Neural chip - same RAM (8gb) - More storage for the Air (512gb vs 256gb with 13" Pro) - You get Touch Bar with 13" Pro So if you don't care about the Touch Bar, you actually get with the Air: - better specs - smaller device footprint - and $50 cheaper. Am I missing something?

Not having the Touch Bar is worth at least several hundred dollars.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#465

Post by paulpauper » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:00 PM UTC

ako wrote: post #273

paulpauper wrote: post #212

Is the macpro worth the cost? I want to keep 300+ browser tabs opens, 6+ chrome user sessions, and many other programs running. My PC usually gets sluggish after a day of this. I don't do graphics design or gaming, but rather need to keep a lot of tabs and sessions open on chrome and to a lesser extent on Firefox.

What do you do with 300+ browser tabs?

i like having everything accessible when I need it.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#466

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:00 PM UTC

css wrote: post #455

tiffanyh wrote: post #445

I don't understand the pricing of the MacBook Air vs the 13" Pro. The Air ($1249) vs 13" Pro ($1299), you get: - same CPU - same GPU - same Neural chip - same RAM (8gb) - More storage for the Air (512gb vs 256gb with 13" Pro) - You get Touch Bar with 13" Pro So if you don't care about the Touch Bar, you actually get with the Air: - better specs - smaller device footprint - and $50 cheaper. Am I missing something?

Air only has passive cooling; Pro has a fan.

[deleted]

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#467

Post by komali2 » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:01 PM UTC

tiffanyh wrote: post #445

I don't understand the pricing of the MacBook Air vs the 13" Pro. The Air ($1249) vs 13" Pro ($1299), you get: - same CPU - same GPU - same Neural chip - same RAM (8gb) - More storage for the Air (512gb vs 256gb with 13" Pro) - You get Touch Bar with 13" Pro So if you don't care about the Touch Bar, you actually get with the Air: - better specs - smaller device footprint - and $50 cheaper. Am I missing something?

Presumably a bigger battery on the Pro?

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#468

Post by damnencryption » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:01 PM UTC

tiffanyh wrote: post #425

Apple officially has dropped mentioning the CPU frequency for these new Macs (just like they don't mentioned it with iOS devices)

Apple's direction of marketing is better suited for mainstream consumers. Many of them don't know what CPU frequency means. For them, its additional noise with no added value. Consumers have too many choices and throwing a spec sheet often make them compare for hours and still can't make a decision whereas you know that this year's Mac is likely faster and better than last year's.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#469

Post by foldr » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:02 PM UTC

davio wrote: post #69

coolspot wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe binning. Good chips go into Pro, chips with defects in one of the GPU cores go to Air.

Sure, but it's kind of a cheap limitation. 6/6 CPU/GPU would make more sense in terms of positioning the different models. Up to .14x faster graphics performance for $250

The Air is fanless so may not have the thermal head room to make good use of 8 GPU cores anyway.

Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac

#470

Post by duhi88 » Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 10:03 PM UTC

tiffanyh wrote: post #425

Apple officially has dropped mentioning the CPU frequency for these new Macs (just like they don't mentioned it with iOS devices)

It is sorta meaningless these days. The 3.6GHz chip in my P consistently averages at 4.3GHz, and climbs up to high 4's when it needs to. It's also much faster than a 3.6GHz processor from 5 years ago.

It's a great baseline for comparing same-generation computers, though. Without benchmarks, none of us has any idea which is faster, the Air or the Pro, or the 15".