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Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

rosenzweig.io

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Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#161
post #127
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, it is not that stable/usable. I tested it on M1 Pro and was hopeful, but after some years I realized it is not viable for daily use. Many things still don't work and I doubt that they will any time soon. Last year I was given M4 Pro at work and it is not supported at all. Looking at the drama and people stepping down, I don't think MacBooks will be properly supported on Linux in this decade.

On the other hand, I have an M2 Air and it's stable, fast, and I haven't thrown anything at it that it doesn't handle perfectly. But the fingerprint reader doesn't work. (The M3/M4 are in progress but not supported. That's public on the project's compatibility chart.)

The biggest deal breaker for me was no support for external displays (through DP alt mode/thunderbolt).

Also the infrequent random OS crashes were annoying. And sometimes WiFi would stop working after sleep (wold not show any access points) and would require a reboot.

M1 is 5 years old already and is still not fully stable and lacks features. It seems like the overall development effort started slowing down a couple years ago and while we did get the amazing audio daemon and graphics driver, development of other things seem to be stuck.

If I remember correctly, there were also some comments from Marcan (?) on social media about issues with supporting newer chips (M3/M4), hinting that M3 and M4 are vastly different and require significant effort to add Linux support.

So if M3, M4 and other future versions are too different to get supported in decent time frame, then that means that Asahi is all about supporting years old hardware. That reduces interest by Linux users looking to buy a laptop now, and thus potentially reducing available donations, developer pool, interest, etc.

I love what Marcan, Alyssa, James and others have achieved and how they have pushed Linux further. I think that their contributions will stay relevant and be useful for other hardware for many years to come.

Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#163
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would guess Apple’s goal is increasing the number of people buying recurring Apple services, such as icloud and tv+. It has been a long time since people have needed cutting edge laptops, so an M1 bought today will still work for 90% of people for the next 5+ years. Even if Apple doesn’t earn a large profit margin on the sale of the laptop, they could earn a decent amount on monthly services revenue, plus increased…

I would agree except the machines are so low spec I don’t think they’re a good experience. An M1 is great. But RAM and storage won’t hold up as long. I suspect they can sell them at that price and still make a killing, and all the equipment to make chassis/etc is already paid off.

For what purposes will the RAM and storage not hold up?

I see most people around me watching media, using a web browser to shop, maps, look at photos/videos (small storage is great for Apple, then more people buy icloud), fill out pdfs, and maybe some email or light excel.

Presumably, those are the people likely to buy a laptop at Walmart.

Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#164

This is an incredible achievement... not just for the technical depth, but for what it represents. Alyssa's work is nothing short of inspiring. The way she combined deep technical insight with years of dedication has not only brought open-source graphics to Apple Silicon, but also lit a fire under reverse engineers and open-source developers. She has shown a whole new generation that curiosity and persistence can bre…

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Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#165
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I think so. Her resume says she started working for Intel on open source graphics driver this month.

Good luck to her. That's one of the pieces of Intel I think will survive its slow motion implosion.

Hardly, Phoronix has a few reports from Linux driver folks being layed off at Intel.

Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#166
post #119
post #54

May I ask something, I want an apple silicone MacBook Air and I am probably just be running Linux on it, what are pros and cons of getting an m1 vs m2? Except for more ram or so. Thx

Are you coming from Windows? MacOS is a BSD descendant so it’s quite Unix-y. I never miss Linux on it and I used to only use Linux. Just learn how to get around the minor annoyances (eg the file explorer sucks , I use eMacs for that) and it’s a fine OS. It’s really not worthwhile trying to install anything else on the Mac.

macOS as UNIX is pretty fine for anyone that is happy with UNIX, and isn't looking for yet another Linux distribution.

Now anyone that treats it with the attitude that whatever Linux distros do is UNIX, there are enough surprises in there.

Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#167

> I’m on the board overseeing Linux graphics. Half of us are trans. If all you care about is Linux, resist the attacks on trans people. > If you have any decency, fight back. https://web.archive.org/web/20250520182445/https://rosenzwei...

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Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#168

This is an incredible achievement... not just for the technical depth, but for what it represents. Alyssa's work is nothing short of inspiring. The way she combined deep technical insight with years of dedication has not only brought open-source graphics to Apple Silicon, but also lit a fire under reverse engineers and open-source developers. She has shown a whole new generation that curiosity and persistence can bre…

[flagged]

What?

Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#169
post #60

1. student at uoft 2. a lead in a job at Collabora 3. very succesful and ambitious hobby project how tf does she juggle and managed to do all this? I can barely do one of the above properly.

One of the few people who are actually competent. Although most likely she’s well compensated, and doesn’t have to waste time on useless efforts at work, this level of discipline and striving towards a goal is just very rare in general. Possibly also no family, limited social life and no other hobbies.

Ignorant comment. I'll happily be incompetent if it means I have those things

Re: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, the end

#170

> I’m on the board overseeing Linux graphics. Half of us are trans. If all you care about is Linux, resist the attacks on trans people. > If you have any decency, fight back. https://web.archive.org/web/20250520182445/https://rosenzwei...

I'm unclear what the relevance of this comment is. It's by the same author but doesn't seem to bear any relevance to the M1 GPU.
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