Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks • Hacker News Board

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#21

Post by spideymans » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:29 AM UTC

dawnerd wrote: post #4

post_break wrote: post #2

They can benchmark all they want. My M1 macbook pro is silent, even during a facetime or zoom call. The battery lasts more than a day which is incredible, and has never burned my legs while watching a youtube video. Every laptop I've ever owned has been Intel and has never been able to do what this machine can do.

Yeah same, this laptop is super snappy and makes my desktop pc that on paper should run circles around the M1 feel slow. Chrome is the only thing on M1 that still feels 'legacy'. Pixelmator pro is damn near instant which is just nuts.

Going from the M1 to any Intel-based system feels like downgrading from an SSD to an HDD. I really don't care what the benchmarks say, the user experience of the M1 feels a generation ahead of whatever the hell Intel is doing. I've yet to see any perceptible drop in the performance of the M1, even when doing the most demanding tasks in my workflow .

Every time I've gone back to one of my Intel-based systems, I've been shocked at how sluggish they feel. I catch myself debating whether these Intel PCs were really this slow two weeks ago, or if the M1 Air just completely upended my expectations of PC performance (hint: it's the latter).

And then there's the fact that no matter what I do, this notebook remains completely cool to the touch. Doesn't matter if I'm using Xcode, VScode, emulators, VMs, this machine always remains cool to the touch. I've yet to see this computer get above room temperature. It's remarkable. Meanwhile I cannot depend on my two generation old Intel MacBook Pro to stream a simple YouTube video without the fans revving up.

And the battery life is so good that I actually get disappointed when it lasts "only" 12 hours on a charge.

Then there's the little niceties. Such as how my windows instantly rearrange when docking my M1 Air to an external USB-C display. Or how animations are consistently 60 fps no matter what I'm doing. Or how the system instantly wakes from sleep.

The M1 MacBook Air is without doubt the best computer I have ever used. I never thought using a computer could ever be so pleasant. This thing feels magical.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#22

Post by cosmotic » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:29 AM UTC

AdamJacobMuller wrote: post #9

post_break wrote: post #2

They can benchmark all they want. My M1 macbook pro is silent, even during a facetime or zoom call. The battery lasts more than a day which is incredible, and has never burned my legs while watching a youtube video. Every laptop I've ever owned has been Intel and has never been able to do what this machine can do.

Yeah I really don't understand why a zoom/skype video call absolutely MURDERS the battery on my laptop. It's basically just video playback. How is it so hard on the CPU?

Software support for the hardware encoding/deciding is very not good. Webcam streams mpeg to electron, electron probably decodes in software, reencodes in sofware, then decodes incoming stream(s) in software. If there's any client side encryption or filtering, that probably also happens in software. It's probably all JS software too. It's like the worst possible case for how to architect an app for performance. At least it's JITed these days.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#23

Post by brian-armstrong » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:30 AM UTC

Not a good look. It's like trash talking opponent after they beat the shit out of you. Is there anyone at Intel who can actually make computer chips rather than slides and talking points?

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#24

Post by visarga » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:32 AM UTC

throwaway888abc wrote: post #8

dawnerd wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah same, this laptop is super snappy and makes my desktop pc that on paper should run circles around the M1 feel slow. Chrome is the only thing on M1 that still feels 'legacy'. Pixelmator pro is damn near instant which is just nuts.

Hell Intel said it in of the slide: More than performance - It's about choice Would love to know to whom Intel is presenting this ? Super excited to see next M1 iterations and what Apple pull of with sw/os updates.

It's also exciting to see a little fire kindled under Intel's ass.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#25

Post by Causality1 » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:33 AM UTC

It feels like it's been a long time since Intel gave a shit, especially on mobile. Look at their latest mobile cpus and they don't get any more performance per dollar than give year old processors. There's been absolutely zero excitement factor from Intel in, jeez, five or six years? When's the last time you saw a link to new Intel benchmarks and thought "oh hell yeah"?

Its sad, because I used to be hungry for it. I remember reading page after page about Sandy Bridge. I remember being wowed by Bay Trail with its cool, silent operation and its thirty dollar msrp.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#26

Post by dollarbill » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:35 AM UTC

This was more of Windows over Mac rather than Intel Vs M1. All the slides about gaming, creation, plugging in XBOX controller ? Looking at the slides - Intel is desperate.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#27

Post by visarga » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:36 AM UTC

dis-sys wrote: post #17

Intel is desperate.

Good. Let them work their way back.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#28

Post by ytch » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:39 AM UTC

ashtonkem wrote: post #14

totalZero wrote: post #5

"Gaming was a mix, with Intel and Apple trading blows with integrated graphics. But Intel also got a little snarky, placing Apple at 0 frames per second for a number of games that don't currently work on macOS and the M1 CPU." That's actually pretty funny.

Yeah, that’s a pretty good troll on their part.

Maybe we can also compare Visual studio and Xcode on compiling XNU and mark VS as infinite time, since VS cannot compile XNU?

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#29

Post by 43920 » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:42 AM UTC

cosmotic wrote: post #22

AdamJacobMuller wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I really don't understand why a zoom/skype video call absolutely MURDERS the battery on my laptop. It's basically just video playback. How is it so hard on the CPU?

Software support for the hardware encoding/deciding is very not good. Webcam streams mpeg to electron, electron probably decodes in software, reencodes in sofware, then decodes incoming stream(s) in software. If there's any client side encryption or filtering, that probably also happens in software. It's probably all JS software too. It's like the worst possible case for how to architect an app for performance. At le…

Zoom doesn’t use Electron, and AFAIK it’s all native code.

Re: Intel Fires Back at Apple's M1 Processors with Benchmarks

#30

Post by theluketaylor » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 4:44 AM UTC

post_break wrote: post #2

They can benchmark all they want. My M1 macbook pro is silent, even during a facetime or zoom call. The battery lasts more than a day which is incredible, and has never burned my legs while watching a youtube video. Every laptop I've ever owned has been Intel and has never been able to do what this machine can do.

Agreed; my M1 macbook air is the best and fastest computer I have ever owned and it isn't even close. Instantly being on from sleep has made my work intel macbook pro feel old. Teams meetings turn the intel fan into a jet engine. My M1 macbook joins zoom meetings in utter silence for many, many hours without plugging in. I have yet to see a stutter or dropped frame in the M1 UI. My work intel mac pauses when swiping between workspaces on a regular basis.

Intel should be panicking; the M1 is incredible.