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14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

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Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#201

Post by lowbloodsugar »

oleganza wrote: post #125
beaner wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I dislike this bit. Thinness isn't everything, but it's something. I don't know that the new models really needed to look as brick-ish as they do, and the previous design was certainly sexier.

Speaking of backpacks, I was expecting that M1 energy effeciency would allow for less weight to carry rather than +10 hours of standalone time. A few hours of life, but 0.5 kg less weight would be a better tradeoff for me. (I'm talking weight, not thinness. A thicker body with better heat dispersion is fine, as long as extra space is taken up by air.)

21 hours when watching movies. When doing real work, I get a good five hours out of my MacBook Air, whereas I'd get maybe one hour out of my Dell. If you actually have work to do, and you're stuck in the arse end of a coffee shop or airport, then you can still do meaningful work for hours.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#202

Post by smoldesu »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #198
more_corn wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? USB-C adoption went fine? I have never seen a usb thing that I found superior to what it replaced. I see a lot of dongles though.

I don't get the dongle people. You can just buy USB-C to USB-B cords. They cost about the same as dongles. I replaced the cords on all my devices years ago and never looked back. https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Micro-Braided-Jacket/dp... https://www.amazon.com/JSAUX-Charger-Braided-Compatible-Exte... https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Printer-USB-C-Black/dp/...

Or they could have just put both on the laptop like Lenovo has been doing for years. Maybe that tech is too futuristic though, Apple's liable to leave it for the groundbreaking 2026 Macbook Pro that brings back pro ports like USB-A and good old RJ-45.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#203

Post by my123 »

smoldesu wrote: post #145
chrisseaton wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They really need to get on and support macOS ARM for GraalVM. It's clearly not going away - it just needs doing.

While we're asking, would it really be that much trouble getting Vulkan working? It falls in the same category of 'not going away but needs doing'.

Vulkan already works ok through MoltenVK.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#204

Post by lowbloodsugar »

_xnmw wrote: post #159

The most striking benchmark for me as a developer is the disk read/write speed. Wonder why Apple didn't highlight that. Nearly 2x as fast as last year's M1 Air or Intel macs - that sounds amazing to me. As a simple web dev, I thought I would never use any of the extra power available in an M1 Pro/Max, as I never do anything GPU-intensive. However, disk speed is a noticeable factor in day-to-day workloads, even when I…

I can walk out right now and get as fast an SSD and slot it into my Dell. Next year, I'll be able to put in a faster one, and the following year one that is yet faster.

I am surprised that the soldered in SSD speed is merely on par. And of course, for roughly 2x the price. So maybe that's why they aren't shouting about it.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#205

Post by smoldesu »

my123 wrote: post #203
smoldesu wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While we're asking, would it really be that much trouble getting Vulkan working? It falls in the same category of 'not going away but needs doing'.

Vulkan already works ok through MoltenVK.

It's far from a complete solution though, and it's still going to have worse performance than a native implementation. Apple needs to prioritize Vulkan support on these devices if they don't want to repeat the last 15 years of Mac GPU issues.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#206

Post by my123 »

immutology wrote: post #71
moneywoes wrote: post #2

Do ARM compatibility issues still exist?

Full version of MS SQL Server doesn't work. The X86-64 Docker image won't start under QEMU emulation and the installer won't install it in the ARM64 insider builds of Windows 10/11 running in Parallels. You can use the ARM64 build of Azure SQL Edge, but it lacks many features that may or may not be important depending on your use. Here's the GH issue related to the Docker issue if curious: https://github.com/microsof…

> Full version of MS SQL Server doesn't work

Stay tuned. (to avoid emulation)

> the installer won't install it in the ARM64 insider builds of Windows 10/11

Yeah, that was a bug: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb4530084-fix-erro...

The solution that works is running the SQLS installer, see that error, install that CU update, then restart the SQL Server installer that _then_ continues.

But that's an unreliable process, would need new install media to be fixed properly.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#207

Post by derekp7 »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #198
more_corn wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? USB-C adoption went fine? I have never seen a usb thing that I found superior to what it replaced. I see a lot of dongles though.

I don't get the dongle people. You can just buy USB-C to USB-B cords. They cost about the same as dongles. I replaced the cords on all my devices years ago and never looked back. https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Micro-Braided-Jacket/dp... https://www.amazon.com/JSAUX-Charger-Braided-Compatible-Exte... https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Printer-USB-C-Black/dp/...

It would be really nice if that was the case. However when you pick up a USB C cable, you can't tell if it is suitable for a particular purpose because there are so many optional features in the spec. Data transfer speed, PD, Display Port, HDMI, Thunderbolt 3/4, and probably others that I'm not remembering.

I can understand not requiring a heavy gauge wire for a cable that is just transferring data and a bit of power, but it would be really nice if the standard required cables to label the cable ends with symbols representing that cable's capabilities.

Oh, and if you have a cable with USB C on both ends, you still can't charge an i-phone since apparently USB C isn't good enough for the phones yet. That's something I really don't understand is even after all these years Apple still hasn't fully standardized on the USB C connector across their devices.

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#208

Post by lowbloodsugar »

more_corn wrote: post #197
neonscribe wrote: post #107

If I had to choose between an SD card slot and a USB-A port, I definitely would have chosen a USB-A port. I would take both, if possible. I would even give up a USB-C port for a USB-A port, but that might be a little backward-thinking. The USB-A to USB-C adapter is small and inexpensive, but it is still something I will need, mainly for the occasional flash drive.

The magic keyboard still comes with a USB-A plug. Also, my low profile USB-A Yubikey is still fantastic and there's no viable replacement. It has been 6 years since Apple removed USB-A. I think we've found the line between forcing painful but necessary change (remember when apple removed the floppy drive in 2000?) and trying to force change, but failing. In the transition to USB-C they tried replicate their success k…

There's a USB-C Yubi 5 nano.

https://www.yubico.com/product/yubikey-5c-nano

Re: 14-inch MacBook Pro review: A Mac Pro in your backpack

#209

Post by eknkc »

solarkraft wrote: post #70
eknkc wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also had everything working fine but performance is really bad when you go through rosetta. For example, discord client is still x86 and while it works without any issues, the heaviness is noticeable. Also, .NET 5 does not have an arm build (.NET 6 does but it is still in beta). The entire toolchain works but compiling a binary can be 3-4 times slower on the emulated one. Things work without any issues though. They…

I don’t notice many performance differences comparing GUI apps. Discord’s PTB is M1 optimized and, guess what: It’s just as shit.

PTB still shows up as Intel binary: https://cln.sh/5KA9Vh
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