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How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

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Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#201

Post by davidy123 »

apexalpha wrote: post #170
harikb wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

granted they charge exorbitant prices for their hardware, but I can’t believe how my 2010 MacBook Pro is still functioning perfectly fine.. except for them making it unsupported. I can’t say that about any other pc/laptop I have had. Not even desktops

I don't know, I feel other laptops at the same price point as Apple Macbooks do this too, sometimes even better. I bought a HP 8530w in 2009 or so and it still works. Replacing the DVD drive for a SSD required just a common Philips screwdriver and battery replacements are sold by HP themselves or many others.

Exactly. Too many people compare a $400 cheap Windows laptop to a $1200 Macbook. Compare like for like, and the thing is likely to last until it's absolutely obsolete. And, while I don't really support this, some might find it an advantage to replace the computer three times for the same price. But people should be comparing to a well built, upgradable laptop (especially those that support not just RAM and disk but also display upgrades and adequate ports), running an operating system that has no arbitrary end of life.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#202

Post by geerlingguy »

post_break wrote: post #109
nikanj wrote: post #74

My 16 inch pro Intel is plenty fast - for the first 45 seconds before thermal throttling kicks in. I have a feeling the M1 is faster because it can actually do work for more than just the briefest bursts

The problem I ran into the other day, had an app crash taking 50% of cpu. I was on the couch for hours on battery. Only noticed when my battery life was at 60% when normally it would be at 85%. My intel machine would have alerted me by burning my legs and trying to create lift with the fans.

Ha, speaking of burning legs, I was doing some video editing in FCPX last night, and I had to keep changing positions trying to optimize for not burning my legs too badly and not blocking the air flow through the vents on the bottom/sides causing even more throttling.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#203

Post by CitizenKane »

ahartmetz wrote: post #35
CitizenKane wrote: post #19

This certainly makes a lot of sense, and it's a brilliant strategy to improve overall performance. But it doesn't account for the full picture either. My M1 Macbook Pro feels about as responsive as my desktop system with an AMD Ryzen 3900X, which is impressive to say the least. It doesn't quite have the raw computing power of the 3900X, but given that it's a portable device that's something else.

Try a low latency kernel on your desktop if you use Linux, that should improve responsiveness some more. Apparently the increase in power consumption is minimal - I use (K)Ubuntu's low-latency kernel even on laptops these days.

Oh very cool! I had no idea about this. I'm traveling for awhile but I'll definitely check that out once I'm back and working with my desktop machine again!

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#204

Post by CitizenKane »

smoldesu wrote: post #189
nottorp wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure? iOS has been more responsive from day 1 (I mean the first 2-3 iphone versions), when they were using an off the shelf CPU that everyone else had.

I think the commenter is saying that iOS provides no discernible performance advancements over Android. If you ran Android on an M1, it likely would score just as well as an iOS/MacOS machine.

It would be an interesting comparison. Non-apple silicon has definitely not been great and lags behind significantly. Would be very interesting to see what Android would be like on more modern CPU tech.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#205

Post by draw_down »

scoopertrooper wrote: post #21
nicoburns wrote: post #2

This is a pretty smart strategy. I'd say the majority of the time when something is slow on my machine, it's because there's a resource intensive background process (that I don't really need to complete quickly) eating up all my system resources. It seems like the same strategy would also make sense on Intel processors, although it probably requires at least 4 cores to make sense?

> It seems like the same strategy would also make sense on Intel processors Intel agrees! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alder_Lake_(microprocessor)

> Intel expects to launch Alder Lake in the second half of 2021

Let’s wait for this to actually ship first, shall we

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#206

Post by CyberDildonics »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #50

While I have my doubts whether this is the main reason for the perceived performance, it reminds me of how BeOS was able to also show incredible "apparent" performance on even m68k-level hardware.

Even windows prioritizes programs that have focus over those that don't to increase interactivity.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#207

Post by CitizenKane »

tokamak-teapot wrote: post #142
CitizenKane wrote: post #19

This certainly makes a lot of sense, and it's a brilliant strategy to improve overall performance. But it doesn't account for the full picture either. My M1 Macbook Pro feels about as responsive as my desktop system with an AMD Ryzen 3900X, which is impressive to say the least. It doesn't quite have the raw computing power of the 3900X, but given that it's a portable device that's something else.

Yes - I sold my Ryzen desktop because I no longer feel the need to go to the 'more powerful' machine. The Air is just as fast.

That's true, although I do miss the memory! And realistically, when it comes to heavy compute or multi-tasking the 3900X really shows its power. I'm honestly very interested to see AMD tech at 5nm. I think the next few years are going to be fairly mind-blowing in terms of CPU technology.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#208

Post by smoldesu »

CitizenKane wrote: post #204
smoldesu wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the commenter is saying that iOS provides no discernible performance advancements over Android. If you ran Android on an M1, it likely would score just as well as an iOS/MacOS machine.

It would be an interesting comparison. Non-apple silicon has definitely not been great and lags behind significantly. Would be very interesting to see what Android would be like on more modern CPU tech.

Non-Apple has been perfectly fine. I mean, AMD was putting higher-performing APUs in laptops half the price of the M1 Macbook Air, and they did that 18 months before the M1 even hit the market. If you wanted an 8 core, 4ghz CPU with the GPU power of a 1050ti, the R74800u was prevalent in notebooks as cheap as $400, and was even lauded for a short period as one of the best budget gaming options on the laptop market.

If you're exclusively referring to the handheld market though, then you're mostly right. Apple's big lead in this generation is mostly because of how fast they were able to buy out the world's 5nm node. The only real "Android" manufacturer doing the same thing is Samsung, which is only because they have the means to fab their own chips.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#209

Post by eldaisfish »

apexalpha wrote: post #170
harikb wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

granted they charge exorbitant prices for their hardware, but I can’t believe how my 2010 MacBook Pro is still functioning perfectly fine.. except for them making it unsupported. I can’t say that about any other pc/laptop I have had. Not even desktops

I don't know, I feel other laptops at the same price point as Apple Macbooks do this too, sometimes even better. I bought a HP 8530w in 2009 or so and it still works. Replacing the DVD drive for a SSD required just a common Philips screwdriver and battery replacements are sold by HP themselves or many others.

The point is that with mid-2010s apple laptops, >5 year lifespans are the norm. With the majority of other, even comparably priced laptops, that is the exception.

There are other laptops that are similar or superior build quality to those from Apple (N.B. - older MacBooks, not the newer ones) but those are also easy to spot. They’ll usually be ThinkPads or some XPS models from dell.

Re: How M1 Macs feel faster than Intel models: it’s about QoS

#210

Post by CyberDildonics »

varispeed wrote: post #37

People say that Ryzen is faster - but if it has a fan, then this is a deal breaker. I have become so annoyed by fans I often just stop work when they start whirling, go make a coffee etc. It seems like M1 is now the only laptop that can let you work in silence and be productive.

If fans are keeping you from working it might be time for water cooling or ear plugs.
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