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Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

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Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#111

Post by walterbell »

The biggest innovation of the M1 ecosystem is the unification of software ecosystem, battery life and performance for phones, tablets, laptops and desktops.

Many iOS apps can now be run on MacOS via IPA files, e.g. native Slack iOS client app instead of bloated and memory-hogging web/electron client.

For the long-suffering power users of iPads, a Macbook Air offers most of the benefits, plus a proper terminal and toolchains. With early virtualization support, Linux can be run in a VM.

Plus all-day battery life and proper docking support for external peripherals. This has the least compromises of any device in the last few years. MBA has a good keyboard, smallish bezels, ESC key, TouchID for auth and is relatively affordable with same weight and less cost than iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard. MBA is now the perfect "thin client" that also works offline.

As an example: the usable and powerful iOS video editor LumaFusion is now available on M1 MacOS via app store. It costs a fraction of traditional video editors and works well. Looking forward to a new class of prosumer apps that can raise the bar for both iOS and MacOS.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#112

Post by whynotminot »

gameswithgo wrote: post #106
faitswulff wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the reason it keeps coming up is that it is the most prominent bad review, but due to Moorhead’s allegiances, poor calls in the past, and eclectic selection of software, his negative review comes across as being in bad faith.

or maybe it just really is in bad faith?

It's part of the Forbes contributor network. Bad faith is kind of assumed.

edit: Downvote if you want, I'm not kidding. Disingenuous hot takes without much connection to reality is a feature over at Forbes when it comes to tech, not a bug. They're literally traffic mercenaries over there. I'm sure Moorhead is smarting maybe little from the internet anger, but also not too upset to collect a nice bonus before Christmas. I'm sure another Forbes contributor will reprise the role of shit-stirrer-in-chief for the inevitable M2 as well.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#113

Post by alwillis »

addajones wrote: post #103
CoconutPilot wrote: post #91

For a counter argument, I don't think M1 is going to disrupt anything. Its a great performer for sure, but its locked to a proprietary and closed ecosystem controlled by a single entity. Its a new direction for Apple in their laptop architecture, and a solid first step, but the raw performance is not up to the fastest from AMD and Intel, and it lacks the ability to upgrade any of its components. I get it, its a lapto…

It will disrupt. Intel and AMD chips aren’t on their first initial CPU release. Apple is with the M1. The future of CPU offerings from Apple looks very bright. An exciting time for computing, I’m looking forward to it.

It will disrupt. Intel and AMD chips aren’t on their first initial CPU release. Apple is with the M1.

Apple has been designing their own ARM-based SoC for more than 10 years now. They've been outperforming the ARM processors in Android phones and tablets the entire time.

They were first to ship 64-bit ARM processors in phones and tablets.

This ain't their first processor rodeo.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#114

Post by miguelmota »

gizmodo59 wrote: post #3

I have seen so many articles on HN in front page about M1 over the past few weeks. Like a curious child I read all of them because somewhere in me I want to believe there exists a possibility of a giant leap for Desktop/Laptop. Having tried it myself, I should say this is going to be remembered just like the iPhone in 2007.

The iPhone was revolutionary because of the responsive capacitive touchscreen with onscreen keyboard and shortly after the App Store which popularized more the iPhone. The M1 chip makes the Apple software run smoother and the battery efficiency is impressive, but not sure if it's something consumers will remember as an inflection point.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#115

Post by wait_a_minute »

walterbell wrote: post #111

The biggest innovation of the M1 ecosystem is the unification of software ecosystem, battery life and performance for phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. Many iOS apps can now be run on MacOS via IPA files, e.g. native Slack iOS client app instead of bloated and memory-hogging web/electron client. For the long-suffering power users of iPads, a Macbook Air offers most of the benefits, plus a proper terminal and too…

Well said! And it really is all-day battery life, too! I myself got the MBP 13" and I have put it through its paces ever since I got it. The battery life, temperature, and performance are amazing. Can't wait to see what they do with the M1 performance variant they'll be putting into the 16".

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#116

Post by whynotminot »

gamblor956 wrote: post #89
seppin wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 1 week + i've had my Macbook Air M1, it's across the board better. This thing is amazing

Yes, compared to your prior Macbook I'm sure it was a revelation. A programmer friend loves his new M1, but he's also been an Apple user for decades. As a Windows user, testing out my friend's Macbook Air M1 was an underwhelming experience. I've had bigger performance boosts from adding more RAM or switching out HDs to SSDs, and a large part of the M1's performance "gains" can be attributed to the increased RAM on th…

What are you even talking about? RAM is actually one of the few disappointing areas of these machines, capacity wise (though the RAM itself is fast and unified, so there's that).

Furthermore, one of the most stunning things about these devices is their long running battery life, which you'd hardly get much experience with in a quick test drive.

Bad take is bad.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#117

Post by wait_a_minute »

CoconutPilot wrote: post #91

For a counter argument, I don't think M1 is going to disrupt anything. Its a great performer for sure, but its locked to a proprietary and closed ecosystem controlled by a single entity. Its a new direction for Apple in their laptop architecture, and a solid first step, but the raw performance is not up to the fastest from AMD and Intel, and it lacks the ability to upgrade any of its components. I get it, its a lapto…

For the price point, I don't know of any other laptop that can compete with my M1 MBP 13 on battery & performance & temps and sleekness of form factor. M1 got me all of these things in one package, and it is just the FIRST attempt by Apple at making their own laptop chips.

When the next one comes out, probably when they release their refreshed 16" machine, it'll continue to convert people who are looking for great performance/battery/temps without having to compromise between then. The M1 MBP 13 is my first Apple daily driver for these reasons.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#118

Post by wait_a_minute »

alwillis wrote: post #109
CoconutPilot wrote: post #91

For a counter argument, I don't think M1 is going to disrupt anything. Its a great performer for sure, but its locked to a proprietary and closed ecosystem controlled by a single entity. Its a new direction for Apple in their laptop architecture, and a solid first step, but the raw performance is not up to the fastest from AMD and Intel, and it lacks the ability to upgrade any of its components. I get it, its a lapto…

For a counter argument, I don't think M1 is going to disrupt anything. Its a great performer for sure, but its locked to a proprietary and closed ecosystem controlled by a single entity. You could have said (and many did) the same thing about the iPhone in 2007 and it clearly disrupted the phone industry. It was only available on AT&T for its first few years but people had no problem switching carriers. The major inc…

My M1 is my first Apple daily driver and I'm going to be selling it so I can upgrade to the 16" whenever they have an M1 variant for that. Great post!

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#119

Post by d3nj4l »

bee_rider wrote: post #99
gabereiser wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, it’s not a new form factor. It doesn’t have that shiny “new thing” feeling. My Air looks like every other 2018+ air. What’s different is what you don’t see. Being able to code all day on battery and only using 18%. The CPU-core power to watt ratio is just unbelievable. I get it though, without the new form factor it lacks that defining moment. The moment came for me when I realized I wasn’t plugged in all day a…

It isn't just the "new thing" feeling, the smartphone form factor opened up new computing tasks that weren't really possible previously. The M1 is a quantitative, not qualitative improvement. That's why it won't be as memorable. The battery life is impressive, but it should be noted that you could have essentially the same experience with an older device by keeping the heavy computations on another machine -- remote…

> The M1 is a quantitative, not qualitative improvement. That's why it won't be as memorable.

You're missing the forest for the trees. The quantitative improvements allow for advances in the qualitative experience. GP pointed out feeling impressed by coding all day and spending just 18% battery life. That's a qualitative experience. M1 (and chips like it that we'll see come up) will allow for a qualitative transformation like that. I remember when, if I had to get a powerful computer in the $1000 range, I'd either have to give up some power to get portability and battery life, or get a bulky powerful laptop with ~2-3 hours of battery life. With the M1 macs, you can get both, and that will set expectations that the rest of the market will have to follow if they want to survive. It's not as "revolutionary" as a new form factor, but it's a step towards a broader change in portable computing.

Re: Apple Silicon M1 Disruption

#120

Post by wait_a_minute »

gabereiser wrote: post #80
bee_rider wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone was a basically new form factor that over the course of the next 13 years (after trickling out to the lower priced Android phones), became the primary way that billions of people interact with technology. The M1 is a really good new processor. We've been doing really good new processors for the last couple decades. It's great to have more competition in the CPU space, which was seeming to stagnate, but not…

True, it’s not a new form factor. It doesn’t have that shiny “new thing” feeling. My Air looks like every other 2018+ air. What’s different is what you don’t see. Being able to code all day on battery and only using 18%. The CPU-core power to watt ratio is just unbelievable. I get it though, without the new form factor it lacks that defining moment. The moment came for me when I realized I wasn’t plugged in all day a…

Yeah, I push mine hard and it barely uses battery. I never hear the fan (I'm on the M1 MBP 13) and it remains cool to the touch. I was skeptical about it until I noticed that it stayed this way for...basically 13 hours when pushing it really hard and nearly the 20 hours they advertise when using it for browsing/email/videos.

That convinced me for sure.

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