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Apple introduces M4 chip

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Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#281

Post by mort96 »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #21

Seeing an M series chip launch first in an iPad must be result of some mad supply chain and manufacturing related hangovers from COVID. If the iPad had better software and could be considered a first class productivity machine then it would be less surprising but the one thing no one says about the iPads is “I wish this chip were faster”

To be honest, I wish my iPad's chip was slower! I can't do anything other than watch videos and use drawing programs on an iPad, why does it need a big expensive power hungry and environmentally impactful CPU when one 1/10 the speed would do?

If I could actually do something with an iPad there would be a different discussion, but the operating system is so incredibly gimped that the most demanding task it's really suited for is .. decoding video.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#282

Post by ben-schaaf »

freedomben wrote: post #52
dsign wrote: post #24

> M4 makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence. Isn’t there a ToS prohibition about “custom coding” in iOS? Like, the only way you can ever use that hardware directly is for developers who go through Apple Developer Program, which last time I heard was bitter lemon? Tell me if I’m wrong.

Well, this is the heart of the "appliance" model. iPads are appliances . You wouldn't ask about running custom code on your toaster or your blender, so you shouldn't ask about that for your iPad. Also all the common reasons apply: Security and Privacy, Quality Control, Platform Stability and Compatibility, and Integrated User Experience. All of these things are harmed when you are allowed to run custom coding. (discl…

I appreciate the steel-man. A strong counter argument for me is that you actually can run any custom code on an iPad, as long as it's in a web-browser. This is very unlike an appliance where doing so is not possible. Clearly the intention is for arbitrary custom code to run on it, which makes it a personal computer and not an appliance (and should be regulated as such).

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#283

Post by teaearlgraycold »

atonse wrote: post #162
snapcaster wrote: post #16

Apple was really losing me with the last generation of intel macbooks but these m class processors are so good they've got me locked in all over again

The M1 Max that I have is easily the greatest laptop I've ever owned. It is fast and handles everything I've ever thrown at it (I got 32 GB RAM), it never, ever gets hot, I've never heard a fan in 2+ years (maybe a very soft fan if you put your ear next to it). And the battery life is so incredible that I often use it unplugged. It's just been a no-compromise machine. And I was thinking of upgrading to an M3 but will…

Now that there's the 13 inch iPad I am praying they remove the display notch on the Macbooks. It's a little wacky when you've intentionally cut a hole out of your laptop screen just to make it look like your phones did 2 generations ago and now you sell a tablet with the same screen size without that hole.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#284

Post by bagels »

izacus wrote: post #84
praseodym wrote: post #10

"With these improvements to the CPU and GPU, M4 maintains Apple silicon’s industry-leading performance per watt. M4 can deliver the same performance as M2 using just half the power. And compared with the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop, M4 can deliver the same performance using just a fourth of the power." That's an incredible improvement in just a few years. I wonder how much of that is Apple engineering a…

Apple usually massively exaggerates their tech spec comparison - is it REALLY half the power use of all times (so we'll get double the battery life) or is it half the power use in some scenarios (so we'll get like... 15% more battery life total) ?

CPU is not the only way that power is consumed in a portable device. It is a large fraction, but you also have displays and radios.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#285

Post by bluescrn »

shepherdjerred wrote: post #153

Am I wrong, or is raytracing on an iPad an _insane_ thing to announce? As far as I know, raytracing is the holy grail of computer graphics. It's something that became viable on consumer gaming desktops just a few years ago, and now we have real-time ray tracing on a tablet.

Gotta make the loot boxes look even shinier, keep the gamblers swiping those cards.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#286

Post by mort96 »

akshayt wrote: post #273
NorwegianDude wrote: post #264

> M4 has Apple’s fastest Neural Engine ever, capable of up to 38 trillion operations per second, which is faster than the neural processing unit of any AI PC today. I always wonder what crazy meds Apple employees are on. Two RTX 4090s is quite common for hobbyist use, and that is 1321 TOPS each, making two over 69 times more than what Apple claims to be the fastest in the world. That performance is literally less tha…

They are referring to integrated npus in current cpus like in the intel cote ultra. They explicitly mentioned in the event that the industry refers to the neural engine as a NPU

But the word they used isn't "NPU" or "neural engine" but "AI PC"??? If I build a PC with a ton of GPU power with the intention of using that compute for machine learning then that's an "AI PC"

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#287

Post by dialup_sounds »

baq wrote: post #217
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it just feels like a soft launch. You probably have people (like myself) trying to keep up with the latest MacBook Air who get fatigued having to get a new laptop every year (I just upgraded to the M3 not too long ago, from the M2, and before that... the M1... is there any reason to? Not really...), so now they are trying to entice people who don't have iPads yet / who are waiting for a reason to do an iPad upg…

I feel like I bought the M1 air yesterday. Turns out it was ~4 years ago. Never felt the need to upgrade.

Interestingly, Apple still sells M1 Airs through Walmart, but not their own website.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#288

Post by tootie »

999900000999 wrote: post #88

I'm extremely happy with my M1 iPad. The only real issue is aside from the screen eventually wearing out ( it already has a bit of flex), I can't imagine a reason to upgrade. It's powerful enough to do anything you'd use an iPad for. I primarily make music on mine, I've made full songs with vocals and everything ( although without any mastering - I think this is possible in Logic on iPad). It's really fun for quick j…

I have an iPad that predates M1 and it's also fine. It's a media consumption device and that's about it.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#289

Post by dragonwriter »

Laaas wrote: post #43
EduardoBautista wrote: post #13

The 256gb and 512gb models have 8gb of ram. The 1tb and 2tb models have 16gb. Not a fan of tying ram to storage. https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/

The economic reasoning behind this doesn't make sense to me. What do they lose by allowing slightly more freedom in configurations?

> What do they lose by allowing slightly more freedom in configurations?

More costs everywhere in the chain; limiting SKUs is a big efficiency from manufacturing to distribution to retail to support, and it is an easy way (for the same reason) to improve the customer experience, because it makes it a lot easier to not be out of or have delays for a customer’s preferred model, as well as making the UI (online) or physical presentation (brick and mortar) for options much cleaner.

Of course, it can feel worse if you you are a power user with detailed knowledge of your particular needs in multiple dimensions and you feel like you are paying extra for features you don't want, but the efficiencies may make that feeling an illusion — with more freedom, you would being paying for the additional costs that created, so a higher cost for the same options and possibly just as much or more for the particular combination option you would prefer with multidimensional freedom as for the one with extra features without it. Though that counterfactual is impossible to test.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#290

Post by cooper_ganglia »

daniel31x13 wrote: post #46

Well at the end of the day the processors are bottlenecked by its OS. What real value does an iPad bring that a typical iPhone + Mac combo misses? (Other than being a digital notebook…)

Digital artist's can get a lot of use out of it, I'd assume. The Apple Pencil seems pretty nice with the iPad.
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