I would rather reconcile this rumour to this patent filed last year about a “Peer-to-peer distributed computing system for heterogeneous device types”
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/08/apple-researching...
Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
31–40 of 43 posts
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know, but my guess: Apple Exec: "Build an external display for the iPhone and/or iWatch." Apple Engineers: "Ok, but we will need a GPU built into the display or it'll look like shit. It'll also need a lot of RAM/SSD to store textures, etc. Additionally, a high bandwidth, low latency wireless connection between the iDevice and the display (e.g. UWB)." Previously to support an enormous external display the iDev…
macOS uses a PDF-like canvas as the core display engine^, upon which everything writes object layers that have refresh loops independent from the main canvas 'flatten layers into the display' loop. This is all inside WindowServer, and is why lets you select an entire window including the shadowed border, without picking up anything from above or beneath it, because Spacebar activates object selection mode. And we kno…
I have rarely ever learned this much from a single comment here.
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Arguably what's an appropriate GPU bandwidth is largely defined by the display attached to it, primarily its resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. But I still don't think it makes sense to physically merge the two. Displays wear out far faster than the GPUs driving them, and just have much higher failure rates in general, being physical targets for thrown handheld controllers and what not. Doesn't seem wise to m…
> Displays wear out far faster than the GPUs driving them Do they? In my experience they both last forever until you decide to upgrade to better specs. And in that case it's quite likely you upgrade both together. Displays don't really "wear out" these days in normal usage. Although I guess I'm not really sure why you say they're a target for thrown handheld controllers ha... are you speaking about yourself or about…
Regular LCD displays last a long time, but OLED displays definitely wear out.
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#34Why would you want your external GPU built into the display? When I saw the headline, I thought maybe it had a webcam and the A13 would do things like portrait mode, before the image reached the computer.
My first thought was that a built-in GPU could measure certain parameters about the display and adjust the color profile to be "pro" level accurate.
Most default / "auto" profiles for monitors and TVs are accurate enough for lay people out of the box. But for people who really need color accuracy, you need a calibration device. So maybe Apple is trying to obviate the need for a calibration device and have the "smart" monitor calibrate itself.
(The built-in GPU might even use data from an iPhone like the "color balance" feature Apple announced at the "Spring Loaded" keynote recently.[1] The AppleTV uses information from the IR array on the front of the iPhone to help calibrate your TV for use with AppleTV.)
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#35Why would you want your external GPU built into the display? When I saw the headline, I thought maybe it had a webcam and the A13 would do things like portrait mode, before the image reached the computer.
Because if your GPU is in the display, the display can be 8K at 120Hz and still be driven by a single cable using any Mac from the last five years.
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#36People are also missing the obvious: a gpu is needed for AirPlay to work directly from an iPhone.
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
macOS uses a PDF-like canvas as the core display engine^, upon which everything writes object layers that have refresh loops independent from the main canvas 'flatten layers into the display' loop. This is all inside WindowServer, and is why lets you select an entire window including the shadowed border, without picking up anything from above or beneath it, because Spacebar activates object selection mode. And we kno…
I have rarely ever learned this much from a single comment here.
I do my best, I just hope I got everything right enough. I should add: EDR is https://developer.apple.com/wwdc21/10161
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know, but my guess: Apple Exec: "Build an external display for the iPhone and/or iWatch." Apple Engineers: "Ok, but we will need a GPU built into the display or it'll look like shit. It'll also need a lot of RAM/SSD to store textures, etc. Additionally, a high bandwidth, low latency wireless connection between the iDevice and the display (e.g. UWB)." Previously to support an enormous external display the iDev…
macOS uses a PDF-like canvas as the core display engine^, upon which everything writes object layers that have refresh loops independent from the main canvas 'flatten layers into the display' loop. This is all inside WindowServer, and is why lets you select an entire window including the shadowed border, without picking up anything from above or beneath it, because Spacebar activates object selection mode. And we kno…
> as now macOS would only need to shuttle specific layer changes over the wire.
All this makes me think they're about to introduce wireless connection to display, akin to what is now possible with Sidekick and an iPad, especially given the recent improvements in Continuity.
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know, but my guess: Apple Exec: "Build an external display for the iPhone and/or iWatch." Apple Engineers: "Ok, but we will need a GPU built into the display or it'll look like shit. It'll also need a lot of RAM/SSD to store textures, etc. Additionally, a high bandwidth, low latency wireless connection between the iDevice and the display (e.g. UWB)." Previously to support an enormous external display the iDev…
macOS uses a PDF-like canvas as the core display engine^, upon which everything writes object layers that have refresh loops independent from the main canvas 'flatten layers into the display' loop. This is all inside WindowServer, and is why lets you select an entire window including the shadowed border, without picking up anything from above or beneath it, because Spacebar activates object selection mode. And we kno…
This comment here is what I come to HN for.
I think that OS X was the first OS that did hardware compositing. How come that WindowServer consumes so much CPU instead of GPU?
Re: Apple testing new external display with A13 chip
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
macOS uses a PDF-like canvas as the core display engine^, upon which everything writes object layers that have refresh loops independent from the main canvas 'flatten layers into the display' loop. This is all inside WindowServer, and is why lets you select an entire window including the shadowed border, without picking up anything from above or beneath it, because Spacebar activates object selection mode. And we kno…
This comment here is what I come to HN for. I think that OS X was the first OS that did hardware compositing. How come that WindowServer consumes so much CPU instead of GPU?
The CPU isn't compositing, it's rendering 2D objects, I think—text, vector graphics, etc.