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Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

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Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#201

Post by gcanyon »

jwr wrote: post #96

The author seems unaware of how well recent Apple laptops run LLMs. This is puzzling and puts into question the validity of anything in this article.

If Apple offered a reasonably-priced laptop with more than 24gb of memory (I'm writing this on a maxed-out Air) I'd agree. I've been buying Apple laptops for a long time, and buying the maximum memory every time. I just checked, and I see that now you can get 32gb. But to get 64gb I think you have to spend $3700 for the MBMax, and 128gb starts at $4500, almost 3x the 32gb Air's price.

And as far as I understand it, an Air with an M3 is perfectly capable of running larger models (albeit slower) if it had the memory.

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#202

Post by adrianN »

zmmmmm wrote: post #185
joshred wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paying $30-$70/day to commute is economical?

if you calculate depreciation and running costs on a new car in most places - I think it probably would be.

If Uber were cheaper than the depreciation and running costs of a car, what would be left for the driver (and Uber)?

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#203

Post by dangus »

layer8 wrote: post #118
dangus wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then idk why they say that most laptops are bad at running LLMs, Apple has a huge marketshare in the laptop market and even their cheapest laptops are capable in that realm. And their PC competitors are more likely to be generously specced out in terms of included memory. > However, for the average laptop that’s over a year old, the number of useful AI models you can run locally on your PC is close to zero. This stra…

By “PC”, they mean non-Apple devices. Also, macOS only has around 10% desktop market share globally.

It's actually closer to 20% globally. Apple now outsells Lenovo:

https://www.mactech.com/2025/03/18/the-mac-now-has-14-8-of-t...

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#204

Post by dangus »

DANmode wrote: post #152
dangus wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then idk why they say that most laptops are bad at running LLMs, Apple has a huge marketshare in the laptop market and even their cheapest laptops are capable in that realm. And their PC competitors are more likely to be generously specced out in terms of included memory. > However, for the average laptop that’s over a year old, the number of useful AI models you can run locally on your PC is close to zero. This stra…

> Apple has a huge marketshare in the laptop market Hello, from outside of California!

Global Mac marketshare is actually higher than the US: https://www.mactech.com/2025/03/18/the-mac-now-has-14-8-of-t...

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#205

Post by cjbgkagh »

adrianN wrote: post #202
zmmmmm wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you calculate depreciation and running costs on a new car in most places - I think it probably would be.

If Uber were cheaper than the depreciation and running costs of a car, what would be left for the driver (and Uber)?

The depreciation would be amortized to cover more than one person. I only travel once or twice per week, it cost me less to use an Uber than to own a car.

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#206

Post by DANmode »

dangus wrote: post #204
DANmode wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple has a huge marketshare in the laptop market Hello, from outside of California!

Global Mac marketshare is actually higher than the US: https://www.mactech.com/2025/03/18/the-mac-now-has-14-8-of-t...

Less than 1 in 5 doesn’t feel like huge market share,

but it’s more than I have!

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#207

Post by blibble »

nl wrote: post #183
m4rtink wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure the subscription will still be affordable after the venture capital flood ends and the dumping stops?

100% yes. The amount of compute in the world is doubling over 2 years because of the ongoing investment in AI (!!) In some scenario where new investment stops flowing and some AI companies go bankrupt all that compute will be looking for a market. Inference providers are already profitable so with cheaper hardware it will mean even cheaper AI systems.

> The amount of compute in the world is doubling over 2 years because of the ongoing investment in AI (!!)

which is funded by the dumping

when the bubble pops: these DCs are turned off and left to rot, and your capacity drops by a factor of 8192

Re: Local AI is driving the biggest change in laptops in decades

#209

Post by zmmmmm »

adrianN wrote: post #202
zmmmmm wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you calculate depreciation and running costs on a new car in most places - I think it probably would be.

If Uber were cheaper than the depreciation and running costs of a car, what would be left for the driver (and Uber)?

a big part of the whole "hack" of Uber in the first place is that people are using their personal vehicles. So the depreciation and many of the running costs are sunk costs already. Once you paid those already it becomes a super good deal to make money from the "free" asset you already own.
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