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The first conformant M1 GPU driver

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Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This year definitely because of the EU mandate. It will probably still be nerfed like the low end iPad that has USB C. But still transfers at USB 2 speeds

As long as it has DP alt-mode for HDMI, I'm happy. Unlike Lightning that doesn't do that, so they package a full h264 decoder into that HDMI adapter. The USB 2 thing is probably like the Raspberry Pi 4: the SoC only supports 2.0. Older iPads and the Pi4 have a full USB 3.0 controller external to the SoC. Apple likes to re-use the previous year's SoC and no point doing USB 3.0 before. I could see the pro models doing…

> As long as it has DP alt-mode for HDMI, I'm happy.

That would be interesting, but like you alluded to it would likely require out-of-SoC tech for the existing A-series chips.

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#472

I wonder if support for OpenGL, Vulkan, etc will improve now that Apple is partnering with nVidia, Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft, etc around the OpenUSD rendering/animation/CAD/3D-scene format? Considering the whole schtick of OpenUSD is "one file format that renders consistently everywhere" (paraphrasing), I would be surprised if Apple doesn't use it as a means to cement more 3D software vendors into macOS land. It's r…

> 1. Apple conforms to the existing standards of OpenGL and Vulkan we see gaining steam for many film and game production pipelines. Read what gamedevs have to say about this, Metal is more appreciated than Vulkan > 2. Apple tries to throw its weight around and force devs to support their Metal standards even more, ultimately hoping to force the world onto Metal + macOS. Apple was part of the Vulkan working group, kn…

I think the conversation is mixed here. Baldur’s Gate 3 was just released with first class Vulkan support. Steam is pushing hard with MoltenVK on macOS and native Vulkan drivers on the Steam Deck.

I agree there are likely a lot of game devs who like Metal, but it would appear there are a lot of heavy hitters backing Vulkan.

As well, in film, many render engines prefer Vulkan due to the flexibility to write complicated compute shaders with complex command buffers. I experienced this first hand working with VFX studios in my day job.

I think the story is mixed, there is a big interest in Vulkan still.

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#473
post #228
post #42

For clarity, this isn't the first conformant linux drivers. Apple themselves are not conformant to OpenGL® ES 3.1. So this is literally the first conformant OpenGL ES 3.1 drivers for M-Series, for any operating system (Apple or Non-Apple). Hence why the call to action to donate to the team. https://asahilinux.org/support/

I love what they're doing, but last time I clicked a link for asahilinux on hacker news I was taken to a pop up that specifically said that readers from Hacker News are not welcomed on their site and couldn't read their content.

[flagged]

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet Apple already tried and they refused due to NDA and non compete clauses, that or HR didn't validate their profile.

You also need soft skills to work in a company. There are lots of people in the open source world who are technically brilliant arseholes. Not saying that's the case here; just that "amazing programming" doesn't necessarily mean "Apple wants to employ them".

This. I am very often astounded with the straight up rude behavior of many "respected" in the open source world.

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#475

I really wish nerds would stop supporting Apple hardware and software. It is so closed and everything is a giant pain. Its one thing for the average non-techie that does not want to do anything advanced and just wants to swallow the blue pill. But for an actual techie to support a system that is the antithesis of general purpose compute...Can you even be considered a true techie anymore? I just don't get it.

With that attitude, Linux and FreeBSD would never have started and would not exist today. You're advocating the total opposite mindset of being a "true techie". It has all been developed on proprietary hardware from the beginning. Everything was reverse engineered by talented hackers like these two. Vast majority of platforms are proprietary. Open source contributions from manufacturers started relatively recently. How can you call yourself a hacker if you're too lazy or stupid to reverse engineer anything?

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple doesn't like any standards it doesn't control with an iron fist You mean like SCSI, FireWire, USB-A, USB-C, USB 3.x, Bluetooth, Qi charging, H264, AAC?

Just because they used them doesn't mean they like using them, just that they don't have the sway to move people to something of their own. FireWire was developed by Apple and some other companies, as a competitor to USB, and lost out to USB. Apple had their own video container and codec formats in quicktime, and those also lost out to others. They definitely prefer to roll their own, they just don't always succeed i…

> FireWire was developed by Apple and some other companies, as a competitor to USB, and lost out to USB.

Firewire existed for years before USB: it was designed in the late 80's, roughly 10 years before USB. Development was mostly Apple and Sony, but numerous others were involved in the IEEE-hosted process.

As USB became more capable (Firewire vs USB1 was no contest), it gradually began to replace it. But ultimately, Thunderbolt was its real replacement.

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#477
post #12

"Of course, Asahi Lina and I are two individuals with minimal funding. It’s a little awkward that we beat the big corporation…" Love the euphemism. This puts Apple to shame, plain and simple. They obviously don't care about standards, or compliance, because they like people to be walled in their own little private garden (still waiting for the facetime standard, or any kind of cross-platform technology created in the…

I agree with you completely and yet it's practically impossible finding a worthwhile alternative. I've tried finding alternatives on my last upgrade cycle and it's like having to live with endless amounts of compromises just to get away from Apple. For the iPhone, I tried looking at the Pixel for the Vanilla Android experience and long support, yet it seems like people are fighting battery life issues all the time. N…

>I tried looking at the Pixel for the Vanilla Android experience and long support, yet it seems like people are fighting battery life issues all the time.

my pixel has good battery life.....I know it's anecdotal but it's been fine.

I've always been an android user on smartphones. Was samsung in the past but now I have a pixel. I like the pixel and vanilla android experience overall. Android allows some freedom to customize, I like their call screening, and the wide choice of apps. Pixels are also starting to be supported for longer; maybe not as long as iphones but it's always been an android issue and they're finally starting to address it. Stability is there imo. I have all the apps I need to do what I do everyday but obviously everyone is different.

I own a variety of different hardware including apple products, but I'm not 100% reliant on their ecosystem, so I'm keeping the pixel for now.

>Also, couldn't find anything coming near the value of a baseline Macbook Air M1 as far as build quality, battery life, stability etc. is concerned.

Agreed

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the closest option to M1 on build quality and battery will be the AMD version of the Framework laptop... if you want can run Windows or Linux without issue. Will probably go that direction on my next purchase. Later this year and next year AMD are releasing new laptop CPU/APU that will absolutely kill on performance:watt, while they're a bit ahead of Intel at the moment, they're going to leap a bit further a…

In terms of "premium finish" feeling, I think that the Starbook from Star Labs might be in the convo - they actually make their own chassis, unlike so many other vendors. https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/starbook (I know Framework isn't rebranding stuff - just throwing another in the mix) Good luck getting one though, wait times seem bad every time I look.

my starbook arrived about a year after I purchased it, and was DOA.

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The M1 won't, the SSD will wear out before that and with no way to swap, it will be landfill as well.

In 2013, TechReport did an SSD endurance test: for months, it ran non-stop write operations, a much more strenuous use case than what a regular laptop would experience, which will be primarily read operations. 4 months in, after writing 300TB, all the tested devices were still working without issue. If the characteristics of the SSD in an M1 are sufficiently similar to the SSDs that were used back then (I have no clu…

Since 2013 there have been multiple iterations of SSD technology that increased storage density but sacrificed storage durability: https://www.howtogeek.com/444787/multi-layer-ssds-what-are-s...

This is why people are concerned about SSD endurance. An old SLC SSD's NAND would be good for many, many writes, tho the controller would often fail. Nowadays the NAND fails, but the controller is fine.

Re: The first conformant M1 GPU driver

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you completely and yet it's practically impossible finding a worthwhile alternative. I've tried finding alternatives on my last upgrade cycle and it's like having to live with endless amounts of compromises just to get away from Apple. For the iPhone, I tried looking at the Pixel for the Vanilla Android experience and long support, yet it seems like people are fighting battery life issues all the time. N…

I still don't understand why people think in 2023 that Android can not be a viable alternative to an iPhone. I would never use an iPhone for certain software and UX related issues (biggest is the missing back gesture/button). My Pixel does better photos than ANY iPhone on the market. Macbook Air M1, just look at Dell XPS series. Samsung S9 tablets have an OLED display. OLED... you don't get that on any iPad. Apple Wa…

Macbook Air M1 > Dell XPS or whatever alternative

can't speak to other tablets but iPads get the job done. I have one of the oldest generation ipad Air that still gets updates. Got it secondhand. It does the basics well enough. I'm not sure an android tablet would even be getting that support.

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