Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is definitely an adequate base spec. What would the random MacBook user fill 16GB of RAM with?
Chrome, Slack, Docker. Pick 1 (and only 1)!
Better yet, pick 0 and 8GB is fine.
Introducing the next generation of Mac
701–710 of 1001 posts
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#702Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that the cameras are subpar. I wonder if Apple figures that most Mac users already have an iPhone, and that if they want to use a better camera for videoconferencing, they can always just plug in their iPhone and use it as the camera. Has anyone done this? I've considered using my iPad Pro's camera this way but have never cared enough to actually do it.
I got a tripod and use my iPhone’s rear facing camera and I’m really happy with the setup.
Where do you position it? Right in front of your screen, or above/below?
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#703I 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?
The pro comes with fan cooling.
With that, the pro can run for much longer without hitting max temperatures .
The air is fanless so in an intesive task, you will hit thermal limits very soon and the cpu will be slowed down .
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#704I 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?
They might both be an M1, but only the Pro has a cooling fan. The Air is going a more iPad route; totally silent and more than enough performance for typical tasks, but under sustained load it's going to throttle hard.
Or they may be throttled lower all the time, so that using the four performance cores still stays within its cooling budget. Either way, it's not going to run as fast as the MBP without having a fan.
I'm very curious to see benchmarks on these things. Also wondering if processors are performance binned from one SKU to another, or if it's really just the amount of RAM and storage.
Apple's been known to have secret hardware differences like that, the 2018 iPad Pro had 4GB of RAM unless you specced it up to 1TB storage, which included a secret upgrade to 6GB RAM. You wouldn't know from the specs, since Apple doesn't talk about how much RAM their iPads have.
Now here we are with the M1 and Apple doesn't talk about the clock speed. All MacBook Pros have an M1, but do they all have the same clock speed? Maybe.
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#705Earlier quoted context omitted.
More ram is patch for components that aren’t hyper-optimized to work together. The whole point of what apple is doing with their own silicon is to create that optimization, thus reducing the need for excessive ram. It’s worked for them for iPad and iPhone. Samsung et all would boast more ram but oddly enough iPhones were and remain faster
Not sure the downvoting ... Even with 16, 32gb of ram, Android phones still don’t have buttery smooth 60 FPS while iOS has never been smoother
You're getting downvoted because "hyper-optimizing" isn't going to let me run another VM or launch another instance of Xcode.
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#706Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that the cameras are subpar. I wonder if Apple figures that most Mac users already have an iPhone, and that if they want to use a better camera for videoconferencing, they can always just plug in their iPhone and use it as the camera. Has anyone done this? I've considered using my iPad Pro's camera this way but have never cared enough to actually do it.
I got a tripod and use my iPhone’s rear facing camera and I’m really happy with the setup.
What software are you using to pull it off?
I want to do it too, but don’t want to choose between 3rd-party apps. I wish it were built-in to the OS, like AirPlay and Sidecar are...
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#707Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is definitely an adequate base spec. What would the random MacBook user fill 16GB of RAM with?
I have Firefox, Slack, MS Team, MS Word, MS Excel, and Onenote opened. The world's most boring office worker use case. I know it's a deceptive metric but Task Manager shows 12.5GB "In Use". 16.2 Committed. Each Firefox tab has between 250mb and 1g "Memory (Active Working Area)". HUUUUUGeeeee long tail of 100MB trailing down to 20MB services and things. Adobe has half a dozen at all times, etc etc etc. I'm game to use…
> Slack
You're lucky any of those other applications opened at all!
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#708I 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?
Is there a market for aftermarket coolers on MBA?
There's a market for aftermarket coolers on laptops universally - I sometimes see laptops on those fan pads?
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#709The 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.
This. I just want 32GB and a 13" screen!
Please do explain what your workflow is that requires to you have so much RAM in such a small form factor with a severely limiting CPU and almost non existent GPU?
Re: Introducing the next generation of Mac
#710Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes the iPad is "crippled" in that sense, but I find it's an excellent accessory to a computer. Not everything I do needs a terminal, my Python scripts, favorite text editor, and rapid multitasking. The iPad is a wonderful (albeit expensive) side device for lighter activities on the couch, in the kitchen, or on the go. It doesn't need to be our only computing device to be appreciated, and not every computing device n…
What I am lamenting is the observation that the iPad OS seems to be Apples vision for how computers should work: Crippled, not much user control, just content-consuming devices with Apple controlling every aspect of it. That’s not a personal computer anymore, not a device where we have much control over it.
You can write a book on an iPad. You can make a movie on an iPad. You can draw, sketch and make art on an iPad.
I think it's a bit narrow to call label them content-consuming devices. Of course, they have limitations for activities like programming.