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All-new iMac features the M1 chip

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Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#211

Post by protomyth »

websites2323 wrote: post #164
protomyth wrote: post #27

I am not excited at all for the Ethernet port to be part of the power supply. It just makes my job harder. I will probably be buying external 10Gbe adapters anyway. The memory is also a concern. They didn't show the memory in the summary slide like they did with the MacBooks and Mac mini. This is just disappointing. I hope 16gb an option. I really wish we could get back to 32gb. [edit] 16GB is an option according to…

I think you’re a holdout for the pro version. This one is only 24” anyway.

For myself, yes. I am waiting for the first 32GB to jump. We have bought 16GB models of the iMac and MacBook Air with the people receiving them being quite happy. I don't see any of our iMacs getting replaced just yet. Most of those people are running Parallels and that opens a whole class of worms.

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#212

Post by asdff »

jfk13 wrote: post #77
glup wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read that quality is largely limited by optics, and optics are limited by space in the MacBook line (just a few mm). Not sure why Apple wouldn't improve it on the iMac (a few cm depth to work with!).

They don't have "a few cm depth", according to the page; it's "11.5 millimeters thin".

That's on them for putting that constraint upon themselves. Not sure why a desktop computer needs to be razor thin, it lives on a desk...

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#213

Post by jeffbee »

protomyth wrote: post #199
jeffbee wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's on the Air, though. Nobody has been able to thermally modulate performance of the M1 mini, at least not without a heat gun.

The Air has an M1. Let's not say something doesn't happen when it does. We also don't know the exact setup of the iMac in this regard.

We don't, but their marketing photos clearly show a fan, which would lead to a reasonable conclusion that the thermal design is more along the lines of the Mini, and not similar to the Air.

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#214

Post by floatboth »

ssijak wrote: post #132

Now that all the devices across the line have the M1 chips, it would be interesting to see on which other features will Apple differentiate the products across the line after the full switch happens. Artificially limiting the RAM options in air/pro13 vs pro14-16 laptops? What else could be different except maybe 1-2 ports? Same for iMac 24 vs 27 coming in the fall? IPhone pro v's iPad pro difference is the big screen…

Most likely 14-16 laptops (and iMac Pro if they decide to do that again) will have a larger chip (say "M1X") that supports more memory. The M1 only supports two LPDDR4X chips (physically on the package there's only space for two).

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#215

Post by paulmd »

charlesju wrote: post #25
giarc wrote: post #3

Is it just me, or should the front facing camera be better then 1080p by now?

Even most external webcams are limited to 1080p. It's not practical to stream 1440p or higher right now, on demand streaming is super computationally heavy.

it's too bad Apple has an irrational vendetta against the company that makes the best hardware video encoders on the market. NVENC is really, really good, at 1080p you need to be running 6-12 dedicated cores (depending on settings) in order to match the quality.

AMD chips would have failed if they had used them too - that was the era of "baking your GPU" due to failed solder bumps and that definitely applied to AMD too, Apple is just such a clientzilla that they demanded payment for an industry-wide problem caused by the switch to RoHS-compliant solders. I think it's much more about control - CUDA is a third-party ecosystem that Apple doesn't want its clients getting dependent on, because then that would constrain apple's choices in hardware. Nobody locks in Apple's clients except Apple.

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#217

Post by therealmarv »

codezero wrote: post #162

Look how big the escape key is on that keyboard, finally, revenge for the touch bar! I like the direction Apple is going here, I assume they will have higher end iMacs later this year or early next year, and that's what I'll be waiting for. I'd like 27 inches of screen, at least 16GB of ram, but preferably 32, and that's about all I'd ask for. My current workstation is a 2013 27" iMac fully upgraded (fusion drive, 16…

Could not find the keyboard to buy anywhere. Somebody more luck? Want to have it for my macbook.

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#218

Post by fastball »

speedgoose wrote: post #174
fastball wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kinda software are you running?

Classic devops stuff : - A web browser with many open tabs. - An audio player - A few code editors / IDE - A chat / video conference software since COVID-19 - An email client once in a while that I tend to leave open - Various development tools - The software stack of my company for development in a Linux VM

Fair, my setup is almost identical, except I also do some video editing and I have been very happy with the 16GB MBP 13" (coming from a 32GB MBP 16"). So maybe consider trying to swap your 8GB for a 16GB before thinking you absolutely need 32GB.

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#219

Post by tachyonbeam »

websites2323 wrote: post #130
dschuetz wrote: post #35

Why the chin bar? The could have easily removed it now that there is no logo on it, and the logic board footprint is now next to nothing. Their design decisions are just plain weird. Also, why is there no black version? No network ports? No USB type A ports? Really?

I’m going to go ahead and say if you haven’t gotten onboard with USB C by now you’re behind. It’s been half a decade since the USB A port went away on Mac. I know everyone has their legacy peripherals they love but... it’s time to move on.

Well, this is supposed to be a professional desktop machine. I don't want to run my work machine off of wifi that could randomly disconnect in the middle of meetings though. I know I'm not the only one. They could have spent the 3 dollars per machine it would cost them to add an ethernet jack, but instead they're going to have you spend $20 on some adapter dongle.

As for USB-A, there are tons of peripherals still in existence out there. Maybe you're fucking loaded and you don't care about just buying everything USB-C, but that's definitely not the case for everyone. Suppose I have a nice USB-A optical mouse and mechanical keyboard that I like for example, or a really nice $200 audio interface. I guess I need to buy yet more dongles, or throw them away and replace everything with USB-C peripherals because some 20yo on HN says that USB-A is legacy. Thanks Apple. You definitely value user experience above all else.

Re: All-new iMac features the M1 chip

#220

Post by kllrnohj »

vmception wrote: post #81

Can someone explain the 8gb obsession (edit: 16gb is possible, but why not more) ? is there a real limitation with this architecture or are they just making a business decision so they can sell multiple models over 2-3 years instead of creating what the market wants immediately

The M1 is using LPDDR4X-4266. It's possible that packages bigger than 8GB just don't exist (8GB was all that was announced just a few years ago, and the RAM announcements usually come far ahead of shipping usages https://www.anandtech.com/show/11021/sk-hynix-announces-8-gb... ).

That'd then be 1 module = 8GB, and 2 modules in a daisy chain or T-topology gets you 16GB, and there just isn't anything more to be done without a bigger memory controller (more channels) or bigger DRAM modules.

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