Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

macworld.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 409 posts

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#361

Post by nickpp »

pentae wrote: post #350
xw3090 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> computers marketed as "Pro" devices "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Which is the problem in a nutshell. No one knows what it means. The parent worked as a dev for a year with the machine and was happy with it. I am also a dev, and am still on a M1 8gb Air that I got in early 2021, and I'm very happy with it. Probably the best laptop I've ever had the pleasure to work on.…

We can talk about what "Pro" doesn't mean - a compromised, crippled machine that has to use swap memory from day 1. https://youtu.be/hmWPd7uEYEY So watch that and tell me again why you think the difference ‘isn’t measurable’. Tell me after watching that video you think the 8gb machine which is performing up to 5x worse than the 16gb model is "Pro" Imagine the reverse - if Apple had a new cpu that performed 5x better…

In that video, it looks like the 8gb starts swapping when running blender and processing photos Lightroom?! Those are the very definition of tasks requiring a memory upgrade, IMHO. The 8gb model is meant for web browsing, communication, watching YouTube or Netflix and the such. Light computer work.

Don’t get stuck on the Pro monitor, real Professionals simply buy more memory because they know they need it and they should be able to afford it. Apple offers the 8gb models for regular folk with light computing needs who like a nicer machine, be it called Air or Pro.

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#362

Post by Zanfa »

pxmpxm wrote: post #352
Zanfa wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer my 8GB M1 Air to my 64GB Intel iMac for basically all of my Node/Rails/Swift development, with Docker running almost 100% of the time. The only time I’ve seen the iMac be “better”, was when I had a Java project that had around 20 different packages that you needed to have open IDEs for.

There is no reality where that 8gig heap machine will outperform a 64gig heap machine in any objective measure. I'm sure you will hedge with your statement with something like "well it feeels faster" or some such nonsense.

Not only does it feel faster, but it also beats the iMac at single-core performance, looking at bundle build times. If I could fully utilize all the RAM + cores of the iMac, it would obviously come out ahead, but that's not the case for most frontend dev work. Not to mention it cost about 1/3 of the iMac and the battery lasts forever.

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#363

Post by Zanfa »

cma wrote: post #324
Zanfa wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer my 8GB M1 Air to my 64GB Intel iMac for basically all of my Node/Rails/Swift development, with Docker running almost 100% of the time. The only time I’ve seen the iMac be “better”, was when I had a Java project that had around 20 different packages that you needed to have open IDEs for.

How many silicon process nodes ahead is the M1 vs your intel iMac?

A few, 14nm i9-10910 vs 5nm? M1, but that's an implementation detail. The main point is that the amount of RAM is not the limiting factor.

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#366

Post by Boatfaceing »

solarkraft wrote: post #340
vikramkr wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swap memory use is worse than actual memory use. If it just reserving a big block and not using it then fine whatever but if it's using a lot of swap that means ram is probably bottlenecking you since swap is slow.

It's of course slower than real RAM, but Apple are using pretty fast SSDs and possibly a novel model of swapping, making it effectively pretty good (certainly not perfect!).

[dead]

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#367

Post by goosedragons »

Our_Benefactors wrote: post #325
mrguyorama wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd buy $750 M1 Airs. They last longer, "just work", and have fewer support issues. As an employee of a company that runs macbook fleets, hell no they don't. Every other year we have had to replace half our inventory because of the 2015 macbooks having faulty batteries that want to explode, and then the next generations being that terrible keyboard, where every single employee needed their entire top cover replaced…

Nobody considers the final-gen intel MBPs with touchbar and stupid-ass keyboard to be reliable. M-series machines however, I have not heard of any issues with those aside from flaky MagSafe connectors.

Haven't heard the reports of spontaneous screen cracking? [0]

[0] https://www.makeuseof.com/m1-macbook-screens-cracking/

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#368

Post by TexanFeller »

goosedragons wrote: post #367
Our_Benefactors wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody considers the final-gen intel MBPs with touchbar and stupid-ass keyboard to be reliable. M-series machines however, I have not heard of any issues with those aside from flaky MagSafe connectors.

Haven't heard the reports of spontaneous screen cracking? [0] [0] https://www.makeuseof.com/m1-macbook-screens-cracking/

It's widely known that accessories like stick on camera covers can damage the screens of the new macbooks because they're designed with almost zero gap when shut. I work among a sea of macbooks and follow the macbook world rather closely and have never once heard of any common screen issue on the apple silicon models that didn't amount to someone having stuck something between the screen and the case when closing it.

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#369

Post by isleyaardvark »

pentae wrote: post #350
xw3090 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> computers marketed as "Pro" devices "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Which is the problem in a nutshell. No one knows what it means. The parent worked as a dev for a year with the machine and was happy with it. I am also a dev, and am still on a M1 8gb Air that I got in early 2021, and I'm very happy with it. Probably the best laptop I've ever had the pleasure to work on.…

We can talk about what "Pro" doesn't mean - a compromised, crippled machine that has to use swap memory from day 1. https://youtu.be/hmWPd7uEYEY So watch that and tell me again why you think the difference ‘isn’t measurable’. Tell me after watching that video you think the 8gb machine which is performing up to 5x worse than the 16gb model is "Pro" Imagine the reverse - if Apple had a new cpu that performed 5x better…

Like others here I am a dev, I'm fine with 8Gb. I skimmed through the video and the measurable slowdown was in image intensive apps like Lightroom and Blender. Why exactly should I be subsidizing those users?

Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it

#370

Post by goosedragons »

TexanFeller wrote: post #368
goosedragons wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't heard the reports of spontaneous screen cracking? [0] [0] https://www.makeuseof.com/m1-macbook-screens-cracking/

It's widely known that accessories like stick on camera covers can damage the screens of the new macbooks because they're designed with almost zero gap when shut. I work among a sea of macbooks and follow the macbook world rather closely and have never once heard of any common screen issue on the apple silicon models that didn't amount to someone having stuck something between the screen and the case when closing it.

There's loads of threads on Apple's own site, reddit, etc. of it happening. Some users have claimed it happened while the laptop was OPEN.

But hey, it's not like Apple has a history of denying problems, right?

Post reply on HN