Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#41

Post by deergomoo » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:23 PM UTC

The interesting thing is that they've only moved their consumer models over—presumably we can expect an even more impressive chip later in the year. (I know the low-end MacBook Pro has it, but that model has never really been a "pro" machine in the traditional sense, it's always had a low power CPU and RAM constraints.)

And yet I know tons of developers, myself included, that have made the jump. I think that's indicative of both how well they've done with the M1, and how lacking the Intel models were/are in many regards. This M1 is a good bit quicker than the 16" it replaced, but I notice the improvements to thermals, noise, and battery life way more.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#42

Post by baybal2 » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:23 PM UTC

I wish Apple sold M1 on the open market.

It would've been a fine SoC for PC grade products.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#43

Post by fallingknife » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:24 PM UTC

haswell wrote: post #14

I see a myriad of comments that boil down to “duh”, but I think these comments are missing the point. Consider an alternate possibility: “sales of Apple’s new ARM macs outpaced by older models”. Had Apple not knocked M1 out of the park, this was a real possibility. Is it surprising that a well executed architecture change is now selling well? Not really. But the more interesting point is that the rest of the market a…

I can't speak to the quality of the M1 since I haven't used one yet, but I don't think the sales numbers mean that much. Basically just new shiny model outsells old standard model. Just look at the website. What would you rather buy, a standard model, or the one "supercharged by the Apple M1 chip?"

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#44

Post by userbinator » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:24 PM UTC

Cheaper, faster, more locked-down and proprietary. Unfortunately most people don't seem to care about the last point.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#45

Post by dividedbyzero » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:24 PM UTC

haswell wrote: post #14

I see a myriad of comments that boil down to “duh”, but I think these comments are missing the point. Consider an alternate possibility: “sales of Apple’s new ARM macs outpaced by older models”. Had Apple not knocked M1 out of the park, this was a real possibility. Is it surprising that a well executed architecture change is now selling well? Not really. But the more interesting point is that the rest of the market a…

I wonder how many of those who got an M1 mac recently are aware of what exactly that means, besides that it's new and fast. I could imagine a large part of those sales to fall into the "I need a new computer, I'll get another Macbook Air" category. Those buyers wouldn't have much reason to care anyway; I guess you'd have to do pretty specialized work to really notice a big difference besides "cool" and "fast".

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#46

Post by mcphage » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:26 PM UTC

dividedbyzero wrote: post #26

jbverschoor wrote: post #16

I can't wait to run macOS on the ipad pro omg

Is there any indication that's going to be possible?

The new iPads have up to 16 GB of RAM, and... well, it's a lot beefier a machine than iPadOS can do anything with. So it's not a given, but people are hoping.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#47

Post by ghaff » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:27 PM UTC

izacus wrote: post #4

You mean people aren't going to buy hardware that its manufacturer explicitly said they're not going to be building and supporting much further? The same manufacturer that's known for dropping macOS support on perfectly capable older hardware without backwards compatibility? Color us surprised!

>known for dropping macOS support on perfectly capable older hardware

?? My 5+ year old systems are still getting updates. Yes, they're probably getting near the end of their support window but that doesn't seem unreasonable.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#48

Post by imwillofficial » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:27 PM UTC

fallingknife wrote: post #43

haswell wrote: post #14

I see a myriad of comments that boil down to “duh”, but I think these comments are missing the point. Consider an alternate possibility: “sales of Apple’s new ARM macs outpaced by older models”. Had Apple not knocked M1 out of the park, this was a real possibility. Is it surprising that a well executed architecture change is now selling well? Not really. But the more interesting point is that the rest of the market a…

I can't speak to the quality of the M1 since I haven't used one yet, but I don't think the sales numbers mean that much. Basically just new shiny model outsells old standard model. Just look at the website. What would you rather buy, a standard model, or the one "supercharged by the Apple M1 chip?"

The low end new shiny model of just 2 variants are out selling all of the older and more expensive models combined. That’s big.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#49

Post by brink » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:29 PM UTC

dkarp wrote: post #13

M1 is amazing and I bought my partner one and she loves it. However, when it came to buying a new engineer on our team a laptop, we had to go with the last 2020 Intel model. We still have some uncertainty over whether or not our development tools/environment will work on M1. Many python packages will take longer to install I imagine (if there are no wheels for the M1 mac, not sure if that's an issue) and I suspect so…

As an engineer on an M1, I have to say you made the right choice. Half the stuff that I try to work on is just straight up broken, especially Python/AI related tools. I have to switch to my Linux laptop regularly to get anything done. I've wasted days just trying to get certain dev tools working.

Re: Apple Now Selling More M1 Macs Than Intel-Based Models, Says Tim Cook

#50

Post by imwillofficial » Wed, Apr 21, 2021, 1:31 PM UTC

I’ve had a pet theory that the company has spread its wings after Jonny Ive left.

More practical designs

Thicker, more performing machines

Higher quality and durability at the cost of thickness

Colors again?!

It’s possible, perhaps even likely that this was planned before Ives departure. But we are seeing a massive sea shift in the way Apple designs their gear. The old mantra was “thin and light before all else” Now it seeks back to “make stuff people love”