141–150 of 202 posts
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Apple? Sure. What about other developers? Firefox, Chrome already use gigabytes of RAM.
It's the websites that use that RAM, not the browsers. (Often the ads on the websites.)
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100% agree the problem is modular RAM can't handle the timings of the SoC. There is a new modular RAM standard for precisely that but knowing Apple they will want to make their own. SSD should be easy but since RAM does not last that much longer you still need to resolder that after 5-10 years!
you can have a mix- 4gb embedded ram + 1-2 slots of slower layer
Otherwise, you may end up filling up your fast memory with some cold data.
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SpaceX/xAI is investing in creating their own fab. If they can, Apple certainly can.
They can’t. Operating a FAB requires employing PhDs that are willing to work 8 hours shifts with no breaks (each removal of a bunnysuit is an expensive exercise), and there’s no reason to believe SpaceX is capable of hiring such people.
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I disagree, there is low-hanging fruit Firefox is leaving on the table. The main thing that comes to mind is tab unloading. They don't unload tabs automatically like chrome can. I was pleasantly surprised at the tab unloading settings under "memory saver" in ungoogled-chromium.
I believe that Firefox does it but not as frequently as Chrome does, but don't quote me on it. However, I am using a "tab suspender" addon on firefox to control how fast the unloading happens on tabs that are not active.
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I disagree, there is low-hanging fruit Firefox is leaving on the table. The main thing that comes to mind is tab unloading. They don't unload tabs automatically like chrome can. I was pleasantly surprised at the tab unloading settings under "memory saver" in ungoogled-chromium.
Firefox unloads tabs under memory pressure since more than 4 years: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/10/tab-unloading-in-firefox-9...
"We have now approached the problem again by refining our low-memory detection and tab selection algorithm and narrowing the action to the case where we are sure we’re providing a user benefit: if the browser is about to crash."
I would prefer FF to be more proactive in unloading tabs way before "its about to crash" to keep system level memory pressure lower. Firefox is the main memory hog on my M1 mac.
Chrome can do this, there is no reason we should be stuck with "manual tab unload" and "unload when the browser is about to crash".
I am using an extension, but that just reinforces the argument: they could be doing much more here.
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you can have a mix- 4gb embedded ram + 1-2 slots of slower layer
Pretty difficult to code OS to take advantage of that. Basically need NUMA, which increases overall overhead. Otherwise, you may end up filling up your fast memory with some cold data.
Just a thought - stop bloody soldering the RAM and the SSDs. That partially transfers the burden on to the customers and makes their product more repairable ... Mac Minis (with un-soldered RAM and HDD / SSDs) used to be sold with minimum 4 GB RAM, if I remember right). This, way, you can still sell devices with lower RAM, and customers can upgrade in the future when supply increases.
This makes everyone’s computer slower, more expensive, and less power efficient, and 95-99% of people will never open their computer anyway.
If we ever want computers to be sustainably made - instead of scorching the earth with each new device - we need to stop thinking the way people treat their devices is some natural law of how things will always be.
My Guess * Absorb the impact by some margin * Slash base models (which they are already doing) * Efficient software - So, end user experience is not affected. * Direct Price hike always be an option.
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It's the websites that use that RAM, not the browsers. (Often the ads on the websites.)
Browsers still have a lot of memory usage on their own. I am running Arch Linux here. When I boot my machine into a full desktop environment it uses 1.1 GB of memory total, for everything. If I open Firefox, it in itself uses about 1.3 GB to have Firefox open with just HackerNews in 1 tab. I have no extensions except uBlock Origin.