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Apple introduces M4 chip

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71–80 of 1001 posts

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#71

Why even have an event at this point? There's literally nothing interesting.

Video showing Apple Pencil Pro features was pretty sick, and I ain't even an artist

I think they are over-engineering it. I have never liked gestures because it's difficult to discover something you can't see. A button would have been better than an invisible squeeze gesture.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#72
I've got a Mac Pro paperweight because the motherboard went. It's going to the landfill. I can't even sell it for parts because I can't erase the SSD. If they didn't solder everything to the board you could actually repair it. When I replace my current Dell laptop, it will be with a repairable framework laptop.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#73
post #38

Seeing an M series chip launch first in an iPad must be result of some mad supply chain and manufacturing related hangovers from COVID. If the iPad had better software and could be considered a first class productivity machine then it would be less surprising but the one thing no one says about the iPads is “I wish this chip were faster”

My guess is that the market size fit current yields.

I think this is the most likely explanation. Lower volume for the given product matches supply better, and since it's clocked down and has a lower target for GPU cores it has better yields.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#74
post #24

> M4 makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence. Isn’t there a ToS prohibition about “custom coding” in iOS? Like, the only way you can ever use that hardware directly is for developers who go through Apple Developer Program, which last time I heard was bitter lemon? Tell me if I’m wrong.

Well, this is the heart of the "appliance" model. iPads are appliances . You wouldn't ask about running custom code on your toaster or your blender, so you shouldn't ask about that for your iPad. Also all the common reasons apply: Security and Privacy, Quality Control, Platform Stability and Compatibility, and Integrated User Experience. All of these things are harmed when you are allowed to run custom coding. (discl…

> You wouldn't ask about running custom code on your toaster or your blender, so you shouldn't ask about that for your iPad.

Of course I would, and the only reason other people wouldn't is because they're conditioned to believe in their own innate powerlessness.

If you sell me a CPU, I want the power to program it, period.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#75

I always wonder how constraining it is to design these chips subject to thermal and energy limitations. I paid a lot of money for my hardware and I want it to go as fast as possible. I don't want my fans to be quiet, and I don't want my battery life to be 30 minutes longer, if it means I get more raw performance in return. But instead, Apple's engineers have unilaterally decided to handicap their own processors for n…

The overwhelming majority of people who buy these devices will just use them to watch netflix and tiktok. Apple is well aware of this.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#76
post #53
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The economic reasoning behind this doesn't make sense to me. What do they lose by allowing slightly more freedom in configurations?

It forces you to buy multiple upgrades instead of just the one you need.

But why does this make them more money than offering separate upgrades at higher prices?

I do think there is a price discrimination story here, but there are some details to be filled in.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#77
post #50

“The next-generation cores feature improved branch prediction, with wider decode and execution engines for the performance cores, and a deeper execution engine for the efficiency cores. And both types of cores also feature enhanced, next-generation ML accelerators.”

I wonder to what degree this also implies, "More opportunities for speculative execution attacks".

I thought the same thing when I read it, but considering the attacks were known when doing this improvement, I hope that it was under consideration during the design.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#79
post #24

> M4 makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence. Isn’t there a ToS prohibition about “custom coding” in iOS? Like, the only way you can ever use that hardware directly is for developers who go through Apple Developer Program, which last time I heard was bitter lemon? Tell me if I’m wrong.

It means you can deliver AI apps to users. E.g. generate images.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#80

> M4 makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence Yeah, well, I'm an enthusiastic M3 user, and I'm sure the new AI capabilities are nice , but hyperbole like this is just asking for snark like "my RTX4090 would like a word". Other than that: looking forward to when/how this chipset will be available in Macbooks!

Disclosure: I personally don't own any apple devices, except a work laptop with an M2 chip

I think a comparison to the 4090 is unfair, as there is no laptop/tablet with an rtx 4090 and the power consumption of a 4090 is at ~450W on average

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