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An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

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Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#201

Post by javier2 »

attendant3446 wrote: post #170
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I noticed in the M4 macbook announcement comments was how many people were happy with their M1 laptop, and second, how many people kept their Macbooks for nearly a decade; these devices are built to last, and I applaud long-term support from Apple itself and the Linux community. Second, since it's open source, Apple themselves are probably paying attention; I didn't read the whole thing because it's going o…

I have the opposite experience. Apple is incredibly difficult and expensive to repair. But I have been pleasantly surprised by the longevity and repairability of ThinkPads. I like those Apple M processors, but I know where I'm spending my money.

Yes, modern macs are stupidly hard to repair. But I am never using any Lenovo product again since the whole rootkit incident.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#202

Post by samus »

flykespice wrote: post #46
kachapopopow wrote: post #15

I always wondered about these /SubscriberLink/ links. Is sharing them considered unethical?

It's not different from shared articles here from subscriber-only newsletters being accompanied by the archived link in the topmost comment. Users here seem to not care about those "ethics"

It's really not such a big deal since everything on LWN becomes public after some weeks. Rather the opposite, it ensures that the site remains well-known.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#203

Post by pxc »

adastra22 wrote: post #64

> frankly, I think ray tracing is a bit of a gimmick feature That's incredibly arrogant. The whole industry is adopting ray tracing, and it is a very desired feature people are upgrading video cards to get working on games they play.

> it is a very desired feature people are upgrading video cards to get working on games they play.

Ray tracing is also extremely heavily marketed, and at a time when GPU upgrades have become infrequent for most people due to extremely high prices and relatively weak overall performance gains year over year.

The industry is adopting ray tracing because they need to be able to offer something new when the overall performance gains generation over generation have been slowing for years. They've been leveraging marketing hard to try to generate demand for upgrades among gamers, knowing cryptocurrency won't buoy them forever.

That ray tracing is cited as a reason among gamers who do upgrade their GPUs is unsurprising and not really a strong indicator that ray tracing is a great feature.

At any rate, both the gaming industry and the wider tech industry are known to be extremely faddish at times. So is consumer behavior. Things 'the whole industry is doing' has always been a category that includes many gimmicks.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#204

Post by pjmlp »

duxup wrote: post #165
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I noticed in the M4 macbook announcement comments was how many people were happy with their M1 laptop, and second, how many people kept their Macbooks for nearly a decade; these devices are built to last, and I applaud long-term support from Apple itself and the Linux community. Second, since it's open source, Apple themselves are probably paying attention; I didn't read the whole thing because it's going o…

People talk about Apple prices being higher but the longevity of their devices really erases that price difference for me. I still have an old iPhone 8 that I test with that runs well, I’ve had numerous Android devices die in that timeframe, slow to a crawl, or at best their performance is erratic.

I still manage PC that are about 15 years old, working happily for what their users care about.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#205

Post by samus »

worstspotgain wrote: post #73
dividuum wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's these two files? The original 2600+ lines of C++: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/asahi/mesa/-/blob/main/src/ga... The translated code: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/asahi/mesa/-/blob/main/src/as...

Is there a blog post about what specifically she found to be inscrutable? The C++ doesn't look all that terse at a syntactic level, and has plenty of comments. Are the problems at the domain level?

I can imagine she was glad it took only some gentle massaging to make it work. If she had encountered road blocks there, she would have had to dig in for real.

The code is quite low on comments and doesn't really explain the math there. It probably makes sense if you have background in the lofty math side of computer graphics, but that's a slightly different skillset than being able to reverse-engineer and bring up exotic hardware.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#206

Post by goosedragons »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #152
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I noticed in the M4 macbook announcement comments was how many people were happy with their M1 laptop, and second, how many people kept their Macbooks for nearly a decade; these devices are built to last, and I applaud long-term support from Apple itself and the Linux community. Second, since it's open source, Apple themselves are probably paying attention; I didn't read the whole thing because it's going o…

Underrated point, maybe it's aluminum unibody or more stable OS, but in my experience average MBP lifetime is meaningfully higher compared to a windows machine. My longest lasting windows machine was T400 Thinkpad which lasted 5 years before Core 2 Duo architecture stopped being able to keep up. It got replaced with HP Envy with great specs but made out of plastic which barely lasted 1.5 years before screen fell off…

Wouldn't an equivalent Core 2 Duo Mac be just as bad if not worse in the same time frame due to Apple's constant OS updates?

I have quad core W520 from 2011, it's still VERY serviceable for modern usage. Not the fastest, but it even has USB 3 and a 1080p screen which an equivalentish MBP from the time would have not.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#207

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

windowsrookie wrote: post #180
attendant3446 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the opposite experience. Apple is incredibly difficult and expensive to repair. But I have been pleasantly surprised by the longevity and repairability of ThinkPads. I like those Apple M processors, but I know where I'm spending my money.

Yes, MacBooks are generally more expensive to repair, but they also tend to not need repairs. It’s quite normal to hear from people who are using their 7+ year old MacBook without any issues and are still perfectly happy with it. I myself still use my 2018 MacBook Pro as my main device. When considering longevity, I will agree that Thinkpads are probably the only device that can compete with MacBooks. But there are t…

MacBooks are some of the heaviest laptps on the market.

The Air is the "light" one at 2.7 lbs 13" and 3.3 lbs for the 15"

For reference, there are several 13" laptops on the market that are around 2 - 2.5 lbs and 15"+ that are less than 3 lbs

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#208

Post by bluGill »

bityard wrote: post #192
bluGill wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those machines should have been retired long ago because modern machines use much less power. (the Pentium4 was really bad) Of course there is a difference between a machine that you turn on for an hour once a week and a machine you leave on 24x7. The later use would pay for a new computer in just a few years just from savings on the electric bill (assuming same workload, if you then load the new computer with more t…

The non-trivial environmental damage of building the new computer AND disposing of the old one should not be ignored. There are plenty of us who would rather pay a few extra bucks on our power bill rather than send e-waste to the landfill before it needs to be.

You are instead sending CO2 into the atmosphere. (depending on how your get your power, but for most of us burning things is how we get our power. Renewables are coming online fast though)

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#209

Post by jrochkind1 »

attendant3446 wrote: post #170
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I noticed in the M4 macbook announcement comments was how many people were happy with their M1 laptop, and second, how many people kept their Macbooks for nearly a decade; these devices are built to last, and I applaud long-term support from Apple itself and the Linux community. Second, since it's open source, Apple themselves are probably paying attention; I didn't read the whole thing because it's going o…

I have the opposite experience. Apple is incredibly difficult and expensive to repair. But I have been pleasantly surprised by the longevity and repairability of ThinkPads. I like those Apple M processors, but I know where I'm spending my money.

Agreed, hard to repair (which is a problem), but my experience is owning one for 8 years, and another for 4 years now (with hopes to keep it another 6), which never once needed a repair.

Re: An Update on Apple M1/M2 GPU Drivers

#210

Post by Dah00n »

whitehexagon wrote: post #128

What I really respect is the dedication to completing support for the M1/M2. Too many projects get dropped the moment the next shiny ray-traced toy comes along. I know this type of work can be challenging to say the least. My own dabble with Zig and Pinephone hardware drivers reminded me of some of the pain of poorly documented hardware, but what a reward when it works. My own M1 was only purchased because of this pr…

>Too many projects get dropped the moment the next shiny ray-traced toy comes along.

Well.... (from the article):

>"frankly, I think ray tracing is a bit of a gimmick feature"

I couldn't agree more, on both counts.

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