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Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

extremetech.com

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Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#431

Post by whynotminot »

the_duke wrote: post #189
klelatti wrote: post #150

One thing which I don't think has been commented on is the marketing effort behind the M1. It's getting a lot of prominence and its use across lots of computers means that there can be a consistent message that "M1 is great - get a new Mac and get an M1". It also provides an opportunity to distinguish between M1 and the next generation M2 (presumably). I've always thought Intel's marketing was a bit confused - i7 sta…

Yeah the marketing effort is immense, and it's really surprising to me how many eagerly lap up the angle Apple is pushing without much reflection, even on HN. Like the good old Apple hype days. Now to be fair, the M1 is an impressive iteration on the A* chip line. But the Ryzen 5000 mobile chips really don't look bad at all in comparison, and a 5nm version of those would level the field.

Sure, if we don't care about performance per watt.

(Hint: we do)

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#432

Post by [deleted] »

oblio wrote: post #235
the_duke wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the marketing effort is immense, and it's really surprising to me how many eagerly lap up the angle Apple is pushing without much reflection, even on HN. Like the good old Apple hype days. Now to be fair, the M1 is an impressive iteration on the A* chip line. But the Ryzen 5000 mobile chips really don't look bad at all in comparison, and a 5nm version of those would level the field.

I don't know why you're being downvoted. A 5nm version of the AMD stuff should be reasonably close to the M1. The main bottleneck is the production capacity, we badly need more manufacturers of high end chipsets.

[deleted]

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#433

Post by Anther »

klelatti wrote: post #150

One thing which I don't think has been commented on is the marketing effort behind the M1. It's getting a lot of prominence and its use across lots of computers means that there can be a consistent message that "M1 is great - get a new Mac and get an M1". It also provides an opportunity to distinguish between M1 and the next generation M2 (presumably). I've always thought Intel's marketing was a bit confused - i7 sta…

I ran a gadget shop for years. The amount of times people would say ‘What I have must be better because it has an i7 and that is an i5’. Then I’d have to explain that their i7 is ten years old and that they aren’t even in the same realm. Confusing marketing indeed.

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#434

Post by gumby »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #367
Grustaf wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So a future hypothetical AMD processor could be as good as the M1, and that shows how M1 is just marketing hype?

It's only "future" because Apple strongarms the whole market with their market position buying whole 5nm TSMC capacity

> strongarms the whole market

I see what you did there. Really casting shade on Intel!

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#435

Post by rswail »

raxxorrax wrote: post #362
thehnguy wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The M1 isn't what kills x86 (if it ever does completely). ARM kills x86. Microsoft is working on the ARM transition. ARM has good control of mobile hardware. And Apple will be only selling ARM hardware (in the form of Apple Silicon) in another 12-18 months. M1 and Apple Silicon are just part of the trend.

The main feature for me isn't the ARM, it is that the device is passively cooled and still very performant. If that isn't possible with x68, ARM might have a chance perhaps. But 99% of my time is still spend on that platform. I just wish I could install Linux.... If MS and Apple just provide their locked down environments, it will never be more to me than a neat device and I would still crosscompile instead of bindin…

I ran Linux for years on laptops/desktops/servers, doing OLTP software that does millions txns/day. I adopted Linux back when Solaris was the way to go for backends.

But moved to Mac (and OSX) about 8 years ago.

I don't get the "locked down" thing. On my current macs (a 2020 iMac and a 2015 MBP) I run Macports that lets me install pretty much every bit of userland software that I want. I also get the advantages of the MacOS gui environment and the availability of most "user" software.

Yes SIP and the new sandboxes lock down the MacOS part of the system, and things like VPNs (eg Wireguard) need to get a dev cert and distribution from Apple.

But the "lockdown" is very lightweight. There's nothing I can't do on this devices that I used to do on my Linux environments.

If I truly need a "native" Linux, then there are a number of VM and container environments also available.

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#436

Post by hhh »

reader_mode wrote: post #336
BadOakOx wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dave2D just reviewed the new surface laptop comparing it to the new MacBook Air: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKN9nvXTGHE ...and he got pretty good battery life (11 hours on his own benchmark). edit: form factor, performance, build quality.. is also up there, I just didn't mention it, because I think the battery life is the killer feature of the M1.

Microsoft is almost always a generation behind with tech in surface products it's ridiculous because they look so appealing otherwise. I just feel like I'm buying last years model on launch.

I haven’t really felt this way with the Surface Book. The first gen was rough, but I’ve been using an SB3 for several months now and have nothing but praise for it.

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#437

Post by kumarvvr »

Perhaps Apple has more processors in the pipeline (this almost certain, as we have seen with its mobile processors).

It may be very difficult to sell products with the same processor but different hardware forms, because the market is tuned to comparing processors.

I am not saying whether its right or wrong, just that there is a whole mindshare of the market (marketing, advertising, news articles, blogs and videos) that start comparison of two different with their core processors.

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#438

Post by asoneth »

Toutouxc wrote: post #330
nisegami wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure that Apple considers this a feature.

Funny. Except there are fully supported MacBooks from 2013 running the latest version of macOS, still on their first battery, still bringing people joy and productivity.

Or in my case, a 2012 MacBook Air. I hope they'll support Catalina for another three or four years or at which point it's more than a decade old and can finally mature into a laptop's final stage of life as a Linux machine.

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#439

Post by jrumbut »

jean_tta wrote: post #426
hutrdvnj wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've always thought Intel's marketing was a bit confused - i7 stays the same over 10+ years I think that is because the performance has been the same for the past 10+ years.

Most people have no need to compare CPUs between mobile/non mobile or generation. They just need to know if the laptop they're looking at has the high end / middle end / low end CPU. You'd be comparing a new laptop with latest(-ish) CPUs. The i3/i5/i7 makes it plain & simple to know that. You don't need to figure out what the "middle end" CPU is called this year. It's the i5, problem solved.

This definitely feels like an engineer's approach to marketing.

Re: Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

#440

Post by klelatti »

jean_tta wrote: post #426
hutrdvnj wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've always thought Intel's marketing was a bit confused - i7 stays the same over 10+ years I think that is because the performance has been the same for the past 10+ years.

Most people have no need to compare CPUs between mobile/non mobile or generation. They just need to know if the laptop they're looking at has the high end / middle end / low end CPU. You'd be comparing a new laptop with latest(-ish) CPUs. The i3/i5/i7 makes it plain & simple to know that. You don't need to figure out what the "middle end" CPU is called this year. It's the i5, problem solved.

The decision that people think about most is when to upgrade (by definition it stretches over a longer time period than the single point purchasing decision).

That's why we have iPhone 7/8/9...13 and similarly for Samsung etc.

If your i3/i5/i7 designation gives no clues then that's not helpful.

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