M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness • Hacker News Board

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#101

Post by kzrdude » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

postalrat wrote: post #89

pmarreck wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or force Intel and AMD to pull a rabit out of their hat to match the performance/watt of ARM chips I believe I read an article the other day that explained why the M1 was so fast and efficient and basically the design it came up with is impossible to do on Intel, for many reasons including the fact that Intel instructions are variable-length (which means they need to be completely parsed every time to find the end…

Microsoft has a version of windows running on arm in the surface pro. Wouldn't that give them the headstart on apple?

Apple had versions of iOS running ARM on phones and pads since how many years? They used their head start already to launch themselves into their ARM computers.

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#102

Post by toddmorey » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

neogodless wrote: post #91

faitswulff wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a suspicion upon reading Moorhead's review that he was trying to use familiar enterprise Windows software on the M1 instead of trying to use native apps: > So far, I have experienced application crashes in Microsoft Edge, Outlook, WinZip and Logitech Camera Control. I got installation errors with Adobe Reader XI, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, a Samsung SSD backup application, and Xbox 360 Controller for Mac. What Ma…

To be a "Mac user" you have to give up the software you prefer, and use the software Mac prefers you to use. And you don't get to be unhappy if the software you prefer doesn't run OK? I am so happy to not be a Mac user, even if I'm sad I won't be trying out the great M1 CPU any time soon.

But that goes equally across platforms. When I'm on a windows machine, I miss the hell out of Keynote and Bear, for example.

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#103

Post by spamizbad » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

I wish Gruber would just let modest criticisms like this stuff fly rather than pen an overwrought argument like this.

I think it’s perfectly legitimate to raise concerns around Apple software because it’s one area where Apple has faced sustained criticism from its users and has done very little to remedy the situation. So if the software that runs on top of the M1 is shakey, it’s entirely realistic to expect these “warts” to be with the platform for a while.

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#104

Post by gjsman-1000 » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

feelix wrote: post #99

It turns out that the benchmarks for M1 vs latest generation Intel & AMD CPU's are indeed overblown, and it is an incremental improvement more than a great leap forward. The source of the confusion has been the benchmarking software. To saturate one core on an Intel processor you need to run two threads, because that's the way they are designed. So the single thread benchmarks that have been used so far have been usi…

Have you read the comments on that article? That article is not nearly of a smoking gun as the possibly clickbait title.

More discussion: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1276532-exclusive-why-apple-...

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#105

Post by username3 » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

There are no honest 8GB reviews. Gruber is selling 8GB Macs based on 16GB review units. This is the iPad 1 with 256MB all over again.

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#106

Post by damnencryption » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

kelchm wrote: post #79

damnencryption wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know that's true anymore. Overall experience feels better on android. Few things that make difference for me. 1. Notifications are leagues ahead of anything on iOS. 2. Little accessibility features like sound search, automatic caption, text selection from any screen/pictures, better integration with google assistant adds up. 3. Customizability. Yes, even now iPhone is super limited in the layout you can have…

You're 100% right on notifications -- despite having borrowed a bunch of ideas from Android on how to handle notifications, iOS still doesn't get it completely right. There was a point in time that I was pretty deep into the Android scene, but at this point in my life I just want my phone to work consistently and have great battery life. After many years of using Android devices (including many Nexus / Pixel devices)…

Yes. I have the same iPhone too. I just don't get why so many people here are fixated on chipset differences when average people care more about having better quality mic, speakers, etc. Even camera is good enough on most devices these days. The photos will not have huge differences after being compressed on online platforms in the end. How many people actually care about having raw photos?

I just don't think any flagship in 2020 is worth it for an average consumer when options like pixel 4a exists. iPhone se is not good due to the screen but otherwise it would have been a great contender as well. People notice 90hz crisp display more than faster opening apps.

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#107

Post by madeofpalk » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

Macha wrote: post #24

> because iPhones and iPads run fast and cool For certain values of "cool", for certain tasks.

Well, where "hot" means "needs a fan".

iPhones and iPads sure can run quite warm when charging and doing intensive things on them.

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#108

Post by xenocratus » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

tambourine_man wrote: post #87

ceejayoz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Timing of HN submissions seems to matter a lot. And a little luck.

There should at least be a 24h window separating submissions of the same link.

Why? Is it more important for the "first person" to post it to get more internet points, or for more people to actually see the link?

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#109

Post by pmarreck » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:41 PM UTC

postalrat wrote: post #89

pmarreck wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or force Intel and AMD to pull a rabit out of their hat to match the performance/watt of ARM chips I believe I read an article the other day that explained why the M1 was so fast and efficient and basically the design it came up with is impossible to do on Intel, for many reasons including the fact that Intel instructions are variable-length (which means they need to be completely parsed every time to find the end…

Microsoft has a version of windows running on arm in the surface pro. Wouldn't that give them the headstart on apple?

What’s the Windows app compatibility look like on those, though?

Re: M1 Macs: Truth and Truthiness

#110

Post by kzrdude » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

tootie wrote: post #78

croes wrote: post #31

Fast and hot and slow and cool is still valid. The M1 is as fast or faster as other CPU but could surely run faster. But then it's getting hot.

IDK how it actually went down at Apple HQ but I can imagine. They are so, so keen on sleek, quiet machines that it tops all other concerns. When the hardware engineers said "more performance is going to require a fan or two" the leadership said "nah, let's design and fab our own CPUs".

Well, and who's laughing now? :)