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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

#321

Post by jki275 »

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.

I went from an i9 MBP to an M1 Max earlier this year. I can't even describe it. Blows my mind.

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

#322

Post by philistine »

collinvandyck76 wrote: post #250
philistine wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Factorio: Space Age is the first piece of software that my M1 shows performance issues with. I'm not building xCode projects or anything, but it is a great Mac. Maybe even the greatest.

There's a known issue on arm macs with external monitors that messes with the framerates. Hopefully it gets fixed soon because pre-space age factorio was near flawless in performance on my m2.

What! That's exactly what I'm doing. Woah, I can't wait for the inevitable fix, those guys have been releasing patches like crazy.

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

#323

Post by philistine »

0x457 wrote: post #307
wing-_-nuts wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. It's been the case for a while now that if someone just wants a general computer, they buy a laptop (even commonly a mac). That's why the default advice if you're looking for 'value' is to buy a gaming console to complement your laptop. Both will excel at their separate roles for a decade without requiring much in the way of upgrades. The desktop pc market these days is a luxury 'prosumer' market that doesn't r…

Unless you play games where you stare at the map while balancing exel spreadsheets.

That's okay, Factorio has awesome Apple Silicon support.

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

#324

Post by samatman »

macintux wrote: post #22
yalogin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they will get there in time. They like to focus on things and not spread themselves thin. They always wanted to get the gaming market share but AI is taking all their time now.

I'm not sure how many chances they'll get to persuade developers that this time they really mean it. It sounds like Apple Arcade is a flop.

Is this one of those cases where "flop" means "this product would have a billion dollar market cap if it was a company, but since it's Apple, it's a flop".

It is isn't it.

https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/234969/apple-arca...

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

#325

Post by corimaith »

philistine wrote: post #124
wing-_-nuts wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder if PC desktops will eventually move to a similar design. I have a 7800x3d on my desktop, and the thing is a beast but between it and the 3090 I basically have a space heater in my room

I sincerely believe that the market for desktop PCs is completely coopted by the gaming machines. They do not care one whit about machine size or energy efficiency, with only one concern in mind: bare performance. This means they buy ginormous machines, incredibly inefficient CPUs and GPUs, with cavernous internals to chuck heat out with no care for decibels. But they spend voriously. And so the desktop PC market is…

The price of a high end gaming pc (7800x3d and 4080) is around 2k USD. That's comparable to the MacBook Pro.

Yeah sure, if you start buying unnecessary luxury cases, fans and custom water loops it can jump up high, but that's more for clueless rich kids or enthusiasts. So I wouldn't place pc gaming as an expensive hobby today, especially considering Nvidia money grubbing practices that won't stay forever.

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

#326

Post by SparkyMcUnicorn »

solardev wrote: post #296
dialup_sounds wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something is fishy when the top two claim to be Android phones running Ryzen chips, and the third is allegedly a 13GHz Core i3.

Gosh, back in my day, we were lucky to squeeze out a few extra MHz. The overclockers today must be really skilled.

This is a short and fascinating peek into that world: https://youtu.be/qr26jxPIDm0

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

#327

Post by [deleted] »

nottorp wrote: post #87
LorenDB wrote: post #40

How many people does this actually affect? Gamers are better off with AMD X3D chips, and most productivity workloads need good multicore performance. Obviously MR is great silicon and I don't want to downplay that, but I'm not sure that best singlecore performance is an overly useful metric for the people who need performance.

> Gamers are better off with AMD X3D chips Yeah but then you'd have to use Windows. I'd rather just play whatever games can be emulated and take the performance penalty. It helps that most AAAs put me to sleep...

[deleted]

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

#328

Post by amarshall »

dwayne_dibley wrote: post #234

How impressed should I be. In terms of Apples history of manufacturing chips compared to, say, intel. This is their 4th generation of the M chip and it seems to be so far ahead of intel, a company with significant bigger history of chip production.

It’s not quite a fair comparison, given Intel has their own fab, while Apple uses TSMC—and pays them a lot to get exclusive access to new nodes before anyone else.

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

#329

Post by amarshall »

ttul wrote: post #26
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?

My assessment is that ARM is running away from the competition. Apple is indeed designing the chip, but without the ARM architecture, Apple would have nothing to work with. This is not to diminish the incredible work of Apple’s VLSI team who put the chip architecture together and deftly navigated the Wild West of the fabrication landscape, but if you look at the specialized server chip side, it’s now dominated by ARM…

Is this really about the architecture itself, or about the licensing of it? AMD and Intel are, afaik, the only ones legally allowed to use x86, and likely have no plans to allow anyone else.

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

#330

Post by lostlogin »

philistine wrote: post #120
mortenjorck wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, the $1599 M4 Pro Mac mini beats the current $3999 M2 Ultra Mac Studio on GeekBench 6 multi-core: https://www.macrumors.com/2024/10/31/m4-pro-chip-benchmark-r...

Back in the early 90s, when Apple was literally building their first product line with the Mac, they would come out with their second big honking powerhouse Mac: the Macintosh IIx. It blew everything out of the water. Then they would come out with their next budget all-in-one machine. But computing was improving so fast, with prices for components dropping so quickly, that the Macintosh SE/30 ended up as impressive a…

Playing Chuck Yeager’s air combat or Glider Pro on the SE/30 was great.
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