Crazy how HN flips out over the Intel ME then turns around and applauds this.
This has interesting implications in many aspects of computing while Intel ME largely serves to attack and spy on the user.
iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
21–30 of 81 posts
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#22This is huge. While it starts with just powering things like boot security and Hey Siri, I guarantee you this is the first step toward Apple getting rid of Intel on the Mac. How much longer before they release MB/MBPs with the same chip, doing the same thing? How much longer after that before we see SDKs released for writings apps that run on Mac, but are completely executed within the ARM processor? I think this is…
I guarantee you this is the first step toward Apple getting rid of Intel on the Mac. ...and making Macs even more closed and proprietary, moving away from the (semi-open, but also quickly closing[1]) PC again. This is huge, and scary . [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15730113
Apple never bothered with EFI secure boot, and even go out of their way to do BIOS emulation for other OSs.
Apple knows that on desktop computers, the genie is out of the bottle. They wouldn't block booting other OSs, just like they they still give options to disable Gatekeeper and SIP despite the FUD.
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Converging the Mac and the i products sounds like a terrible idea, as long as iOS insists on running non-windowed apps. Serious workloads is very inefficient without a proper windowed desktop environment combined with a Finder and a Terminal that can access files across all apps. Also, having an x86-compatible CPU at the core enables high enough performance for virtualbox/vmware, which is a huge enabler in that it al…
Well I don't think Apple will be as senseless as they have been with the iPad Pro. I think they will converge them, but continue to support classic Mac interaction models (keyboard + mouse). With all the competition from Microsoft's Surface lineup we'll probably see the iPad shift even more towards the Mac side of interaction as well. To your second point about performance: have we really seen what a high wattage ARM…
I'm sure we'll see ARM CPUs with native performance on par with x86 soon, but not for running x86 binaries at full speed (i.e. windows/linux VMs).
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#24Always-on Siri is a very creepy feature, and who even needs it in a "Pro" workstation?
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not a switch from Intel to ARM for Mac, but a ARM coprocessor in Mac similar to new MacBook Pro that handles the Touchbar and Secure Enclave for TouchID. Apple don't even like the idea of touch interface for Mac apps, so its unlikely they will open up running of iOS apps on the Mac. Curious to see if new Mac from now onwards will still support TouchID as Apple has said that they are abandoning Touch ID on the…
I don't think we really know what it could be yet. Looks to be a inroad to phasing in ARM chips in Mac products.
It could just be about doubling the battery life automatically for typical workloads.
The A10 could even be running OSX like the Apple TV allowing Apple to port their own apps to it making the experience pretty seemless.
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#26The last thing I want is to talk to my turned off computer... Comedy sketches of the past are becoming reality, and will be propelled by "Apple can't do no wrong" crowd.
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here is what I think will occur : New Macbook Pro (not a refresh) will probably have this chip in but it will be probably only be used initially for iOS emulator for developers. The next release of macOS will probably have iOS apps that you can run on a mac. Then they will replace the Macbook Air line in to a Macbook Arm as a new product launch at the beginning of 2019.
> it will be probably only be used initially for iOS emulator for developers This is quite a large technical undertaking, with a very small pay-off given the tiny percentage of users who develop on their Mac for iOS devices. I can't see this being something that happens until x86 CPUs have been removed entirely.
>with a very small pay-off given the tiny percentage of users who develop on their Mac for iOS devices.
If they go that way, the pay off obviously wont be "helping iOS developers have faster simulations", but as the parent already implied, beta testing and driving forward the eventual mix of iOS apps and macOS. So the "faster simulations" would just be a step in that process helping with perfecting it in a low stakes situation.
Plus, if it indeed happen, as the article also states, it would be used for another payoff, always on (at least when on mains power) Hey Siri, plus controlling the touch strip perhaps.
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#28Could handle Face ID, etc. Possibly offload video encoding/transcoding? The A10 can handle 4K HEVC. Not sure what the point would be with dedicated graphics doing the same.
Article mentions secure enclave so FaceID is very likely. It doesn’t make much ergonomic sense to put fingerprint reader like you do on macbook.
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#29Will be interesting to see if native iOS apps will be able to run for development or regular use. This is a good sign for the convergence of the Mac and "i" products. For fun here's the "transitions" talk Steve Jobs gave announcing the switch from PowerPC to Intel processors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghdTqnYnFyg
Every iOS app already runs natively on Intel. Adding an ARM co-processor to the Mac doesn't change that situation.
Re: iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On ‘Hey Siri’
#30Please stop saying that Apple is secretly recording your conversations for nefarious purposes with Hey Siri. It’s been around for 2 years and there has been nothing world-ending found about the feature.
A reminder about how Hey Siri privacy works: https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/11/apple-addresses-privacy-qu...
> In no case is the device recording what the user says or sending that information to Apple before the feature is triggered,” says Apple.
> Instead, audio from the microphone is continuously compared against the model, or pattern, of your personal way of saying ‘Hey Siri’ that you recorded during setup of the feature. Hey Siri requires a match to both the ‘general’ Hey Siri model (how your iPhone thinks the words sound) and the ‘personalized’ model of how you say it. This is to prevent other people’s voices from triggering your phone’s Hey Siri feature by accident.
> Until that match happens, no audio is ever sent off of your iPhone. All of that listening and processing happens locally.