The 512GB Ultra is amazing, sure. But who is it for exactly? VC funded big spender founders? In that case why would they need local AI? The ultra rich enthusiast? But there can't be too many of those. So who actually buys these?
Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
121–130 of 1001 posts
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think there's some mental inertia around what a computer is and what it's worth. This thing can build custom software for you, mostly autonomously. It can monitor things happening on the internet that are relevant to you, in a holistic and flexible way. We have one crawling the web for local events we'll like, and it judges them based on what it knows about us, and it tells us about the best matches every weekend,…
I like this train of thought. The inverse is saying that the cost of this computer is the value we give away to AI companies by doing compute on their servers with our data. And to take it another way, is the value to you, the cost of a small used car?
For me personally, not quite that valuable yet, but I think it's getting there quickly. Deepseek V4 Flash massively increased the value of local AI to me, to the point where it's displaced most of my Claude Code usage, its upcoming vision enabled version should bump it further, and it's only going to get better from there.
It's a lot faster, but a lot of it is also feeling free to discuss things I wouldn't be comfortable sending to Claude, with the idea that that info is now theirs in perpetuity. I got my genome fully sequenced recently (it's cheap now!), and I get a battery of blood tests every year. Wouldn't do processing on any of that with Claude, but local AI? Totally great.
And if I was running a company with a large cloud AI bill, I'd probably buy a wheelbarrow full of these macs. Cheaper, but also a more solid/predictable base to build on.
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#123The 512GB Ultra is amazing, sure. But who is it for exactly? VC funded big spender founders? In that case why would they need local AI? The ultra rich enthusiast? But there can't be too many of those. So who actually buys these?
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
1.2TB/s is 2/3 the speed of an nVidia 5090. But you get a generic computer and much more RAM. And you lose a couple of organs.
is it still effectively 2/3rds? Don't know enough to compare a discrete GPU/CPU setup to something like this where it's more integrated
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#125Even w/the pricing spike, inflation adjusted we are back to roughly the prices of a new Mac SE/30 for something that can beat a turing test w/o sweating. I yield the floor to no one when it comes to pessimism, but that's incredible.
Sigh.. Is there anything better now though? All I see from AI, is an amplification of the enshittification of the internet. And people being even more alone.
These times are exciting and rough seas make good sailors. Find your path forward.
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#126Apple Studio with maxed out M5 Ultra, 256GB RAM and 16TB storage is 18,299$. The 512GB RAM version apparently is coming in October, considering that the difference between 96GB and 256GB is priced at 4000$, the 512GB upgrade must be eye watering. So, on the mini the RAM upgrade runs at 25$ per GB on all tiers, the same as the Studio therefore the upgrade to 512 will probably cost 6400$. The fully maxed out Apple Stud…
So is downpayment on a house. I would buy the house and just pay for tokens as needed. The house will get more valuable and that wealth would buy a lot of tokens in the future - which will probably get cheaper. EDIT: or buy AAPL. If I had bought Apple stock instead of buying a Mac LC II in 1992, then I would have about $2 million in Apple stock.
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
when was the turing test beaten?
1966 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA_effect It turns out the limiting factor isn't how sophisticated algorithms are, it's how gullible humans are.
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#128> M6 supports up to 32GB of unified memory Is this a joke? > Additionally, M5 Ultra features a massive amount of high-bandwidth unified memory, up to 512GB Now we're talking. But at what cost?
Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#129Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
when was the turing test beaten?
It depends who takes the test. I am not yet, to my knowledge, fooled by AI. I've tried [1] and I almost 100% detect which is the AI. I really want to convince myself I have failed, does anyone know of a better site/resource for this? I know it might be moving goalposts but I would consider AI to have passed in a well and truly undisputed manner when [2] is resolved. But in a more practical sense, if AI can impersonat…