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Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

9to5mac.com

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Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#341

Post by zamadatix »

stcredzero wrote: post #200
Dunedan wrote: post #145

I honestly expected more. While compute performance and power efficiency seems to be really good, the M1 chip is apparently limited to 16GB RAM, 2TB storage and 2 Thunderbolt/USB4 controllers. Comparing the new 13" MacBook Pro with the previous one that's a regression in every aspect as the Intel-based ones allow up to 32GB RAM and 4TB storage and offer 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports.

While compute performance and power efficiency seems to be really good, the M1 chip is apparently limited to 16GB RAM, 2TB storage and 2 Thunderbolt/USB4 controllers. In other words, M1 is for the majority of consumers. - power efficiency - 16GB RAM - 2TB storage - 2 Thunderbolt/USB4 That looks like a really good feature set for ordinary consumers. My guess is that there's going to be 2 "Pro" variants for a high powe…

If every model had the 16 GB I'd say it's a really good feature set for ordinary consumers but a new MacBook Pro having 8 GB of shared memory seems quite limiting even just for ordinary browsing. It's a great step but I think the 2nd gen of this is going to be what knocks it out of the park.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#342

Post by wmf »

Dunedan wrote: post #250
AnonHP wrote: post #49

All the Macs looked quite impressive! It was well worth waiting for these (at least for me). But I was disappointed that the maximum RAM is 16GB. I would’ve preferred a 32GB option for better future proofing (especially with web applications needing more and more memory). Edit: Considering the fact that the RAM won’t be upgradeable (it’s part of the SoC), this limitation is a big bummer. What may be worse is that all…

> Considering the fact that the RAM won’t be upgradeable (it’s part of the SoC) While I agree that RAM won't be upgradeable (as it hasn't been in all new models the past few years), are you sure that the RAM is part of the SoC? I believe what they labelled with "DRAM" in the M1 schmatics is very likely the L3 cache instead. Adding RAM to the SoC would make little sense from a cost and yield perspective. I also believ…

It's on the SoC package not the die, just like in phones.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#344

Post by fabianhjr »

I am somewhat skeptical about total performance claims as many notebook manufacturers have been moving to ARM for efficiency and not total performance.

Current top of the line for notebooks would be the Qualcomm 8cx (ARM, 7? Watts) and AMD 4800U (x86-64, 15 Watts TDP) from quick search around. Would be interesting to see independent reviewers benchmarking those 2 in comparison to Apple's first in-house processor.

Here are some spec comparisons for the time being:

- https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-apple_m1-1804-vs-a...

- https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-apple_m1-1804-vs-q...

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#345

Post by saagarjha »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #275
293984j29384 wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

8GB and 16GB configurations seem more than enough..

For pro users, the fact that 32GB isn’t even an option is pretty surprising

I don't think today's computers were aimed at those kinds of usecases.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#346

Post by tgv »

Jtsummers wrote: post #218

Out of curiosity, how many people are actually constrained by 16GB of RAM? What applications are you using it for that 16GB vs 32GB is actually a deal breaker for you? Thinking about your average end-users, like most of my family, 8 to 16GB is about all they need for their systems (and if software were better written they'd probably need less). So is this specific work like machine learning? Video and image processin…

I develop, and make music with rather substantial sample libraries, but 16GB is still comfy. 32GB is not worth it, IMO.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#347

Post by dotBen »

PolCPP wrote: post #266
rewtraw wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you compare the M1 Air and Pro, the only difference seems to be the addition of the Touchbar, 10% better battery life, and a "studio" speaker/mic on the Pro. https://www.apple.com/mac/compare/ I assume the addition of a fan on the Pro gives it better performance under load, but there doesn't seem to be a hugely compelling reason to not just get the Air.

My guess is different clock speeds, also base air has one gpu core less...

And this might be the old production trick where one part of the core fails QA and so they shut it out and make it a cheaper part.

The GPU parts might be the tightest silicon and highest rate of failure so this approach reduces waste.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#348

Post by beezle »

kevindong wrote: post #251
nimeshneema wrote: post #82

No mention of processor speeds, just like iOS devices. This is the new normal now for Macs.

Processor speeds are not necessarily a good comparator anyway given that things like caches and core counts are a thing.

To first order processor speed is a very good indicator of performance when comparing similar core count products.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#349

Post by taf2 »

Amazing when Steve announced the transition to Intel, he also mentioned the transition to Mac OS X and how that should set up up for at least the next 20 years... That was almost 20 years ago... I can see a new OS for Mac soon that maybe brings OSX even closer to iOS?
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