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Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

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Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#251

Post by hhejrkrn »

carlgreene wrote: post #11
post_break wrote: post #8

What's crazy is that the M4 Pro is in the Mac mini, something so tiny can handle that chip. The Mac Studio with the M4 Max will be awesome but the Mini is remarkable.

I am still astounded the huge change moving from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac (M1) has had in terms of battery performance and heat. I don't think i've heard the fans a single time I've had this machine and it's been several years. Nor have I had any desire to upgrade.

Lol ... You were not around for the ppc -> Intel change ... Same thing happened then ... Remarkable performance uplift from the last instruction set ... And we had Rosetta which allowed compatibility... The m1 and arm took power efficiency to another level .... But yeah what has happened before will happen again

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#252

Post by gamblor956 »

whynotminot wrote: post #7
eigenspace wrote: post #4

I'll admit to some reflexive skepticism here. I know GeekBench at least used to be considered an entirely unserious indicator of performance and any discussion relating to its scores used to be drowned out by people explaining why it was so bad. Do those criticisms still hold? Are serious people nowadays taking Geekbench to be a reasonably okay (though obviously imperfect) performance metric?

You’re not the only one — but just curious where this skepticism comes from. This is M 4 — Apple has now made four generations of chips and each one were class leading upon release. What more do you need to see?

As demonstrated by the M1-M3 series of chips, essentially all of that lead was due to being the first chips on a smaller process, rather than to anything inherent to the chip design. Indeed, the Mx series of chips tend to be on the slower side of chips for their process sizes.

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#253

Post by Affric »

grahamj wrote: post #188
drcongo wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that machine is this M1 Pro MBP I'm using right now, and will probably still be using in 20 years.

Agreed. It might share the title with the M1 Air which was incredible for an ultraportable, but the M1MBP was just incredible period. Three generations later it's still more machine than most people need. M2/3/4 sped things up but the M1 set the bar.

My only regret is getting base RAM.

It’s not a server so it’s not a crime to not always be using all of it and it’s not upgradable so it needs to be right the first time. I should have got 32GB to just be sure.

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#254

Post by spockz »

carlgreene wrote: post #5

I have been out of the PC world for a long time, but in terms of performance efficiency, is Apple running away from the competition? Or are AMD and Intel producing similar performing chips at the same wattage?

For many workloads I think they are pulling definitely ahead. However, I think there is still much to gain in software. For example, my Linux/Fedora desktop with 5900X is many times more responsive than my 16” M1 Pro.

Java runs faster. GraalVM native generated native images run way waster. Golang runs faster. X86_64 has seen more love from optimalisations than aarch64 has. One of the things I hit was different GC/memory performance due to different page sizes. Moreover, docker runs natively on Linux, and the network stack itself is faster.

But even given all of that, the 16” M1 PRO edges close to the desktop. (When it is not constrained by anti virus.) And it does this in a portable form factor, with way less power consumption. My 5900X tops out at about 180W.

So yes, I would definitely say they are pulling ahead.

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#256

Post by rconti »

zjp wrote: post #224
thfuran wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 90s, you probably wouldn't want to be using a desktop from 4 years ago, but the M1 is already 4 years old and will probably be fine for most people for years yet.

No kidding. The M1 MacBook Pro I got from work is the first time I've ever subjectively considered a computer to be just as fast as it was the day I got it.

I think by the time my work-provided M1 MacBook Pro arrived, the M2s were already out, but of course I simply didn't care. I actually wonder when it will be worth the hassle of transferring all my stuff over to a new machine. Could easily be another 4 years.

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#257

Post by microtherion »

Tagbert wrote: post #175
Aurornis wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am still astounded the huge change moving from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac (M1) has had in terms of battery performance and heat The battery life improvements are great. Apple really did a terrible job with the thermal management on their last few Intel laptops. My M1 Max can consume (and therefore dissipate) more power than my Intel MBP did, but the M1 thermal solution handles it quietly. The thermal so…

Those MacBooks were designed when Intel was promising new, more efficient chips and they didn’t materialize. Apple was forced to use the older and hotter chips. It was not a good combination.

Another factor might be that Intel MacBook Pros got thinner and thinner. The M1 MBP was quite a bit thicker than its Intel predecessors, and I think the form factor has remained the same since then.

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#258

Post by stouset »

hu3 wrote: post #115
selectodude wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's robustly faster at the things that Geekbench is measuring. You can find issue with the test criteria (measures meaningless things or is easy to game) but the tests themselves are certainly sound.

> You can find issue with the test criteria (measures meaningless things or is easy to game). That's exactly their point.

On the other hand, I have yet to see any benchmark where people didn’t crawl out of the woodwork to complain about it.

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#259

Post by FactKnower69 »

miohtama wrote: post #193
8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #178

Too bad it's still sluggish for latest tech game dev with engines like UE :( It'd be great to ditch the Windows ecosystem, at least at dev time.

Game performance is often GPU bound, not CPU bound.

1. parent is talking about Unreal Editor, not playing games

2. yes, different pieces of software have different bottlenecks under different configurations... what is the point of a comment like this?

Re: Apple's M4 Max chip is the fastest single-core performer in consumer computing

#260

Post by rahkiin »

jihadjihad wrote: post #98
carlgreene wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am still astounded the huge change moving from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac (M1) has had in terms of battery performance and heat. I don't think i've heard the fans a single time I've had this machine and it's been several years. Nor have I had any desire to upgrade.

I've got a coworker who still has an Intel MacBook Pro, 8-core i9 and all that, and I've been on M chips since they launched. The other day he was building some Docker images while we were screensharing and I was dumbfounded at how long it took. I don't think I can even remember a recent time when building images, even ones pushed to CDK etc., takes more than a minute or so. We waited and waited and finally after 8 m…

Oh I know the feeling… when using ict-managed windows laptops at work
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