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Apple introduces M4 chip

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Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#371

Post by Aurornis »

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…

It's a marketing trick. They're talking about NPUs specifically, which haven't really been rolled out on the PC side.

So while they're significantly slower than even casual gaming GPUs, they're technically the fastest NPUs on the market.

It's marketing speak.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#372

Post by notatoad »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #42

Call me crazy, but I want all that power in a 7" tablet. I like 7" tablets most because they feel less clunky to carry around and take with you. Same with 13" laptops, I'm willing to sacrifice on screen real estate for saving myself from the back pain of carrying a 15" or larger laptop. Some of this is insanely impressive. I wonder how big the OS ROM (or whatever) is with all these models. For context, even if the en…

a 7" tablet was a really cool form factor back in the day when phones were 4".

but when 6.7" screens on phones are common, what really is the point of a 7" tablet?

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#373

Post by 0x457 »

a_vanderbilt wrote: post #216
mvkel wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here it is in an OS that can't even max out an M1! That said, the function keys make me think "and it runs macOS" is coming, and THAT would be extremely compelling.

We've seen a slow march over the last decade towards the unification of iOS and macOS. Maybe not a "it runs macOS", but an eventual "they share all the same apps" with adaptive UIs.

I will settle for: you can connect 2 monitors to iPad and select audio device sound is going through. If can run IntelliJ and compile rust on the iPad, I would promise to upgrade to the new iPad Pro as soon as it is released every time.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#375

Post by smith7018 »

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…

You’re calling $3,600 worth of GPUs “quite common for hobbyist use” and then comparing an iPad to a $40,000 AI-centric GPU.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#376

Post by _akhe »

marinhero wrote: post #318

I get frustrated seeing this go into the iPad and knowing that we can't get a shell, and run our own binaries there. Not even as a VM like [UserLAnd]( https://userland.tech ). I could effectively travel with one device less in my backpack but instead I have to carry two M chips, two displays, batteries, and so on... It's great to see this tech moving forward but it's frustrating to not see it translate into a more si…

Think the play is "consumer AI". Would you really write code on an iPad? And if you do, do you use an external keyboard?

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#377

Post by al_borland »

asow92 wrote: post #332

Why are we running these high end CPUs on tablets without the ability to run pro apps like Xcode? Until I can run Xcode on an iPad (not Swift Playgrounds), it's a pass for me. Hear me out: I don't want to bring both an iPad and Macbook on trips, but I need Xcode. Because of this, I have to pick the Macbook every time. I want an iPad, but the iPad doesn't want me.

WWDC is a month away. I’m hoping for some iPadOS updates to let people actually take advantage of the power they put in these tablets. Apple has often released new hardware before showing off new OS features to take advantage of it.

I know people have been hoping for that for a long time, so I’m not holding my breath.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#379

Post by drexlspivey »

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”

Meanwhile the mac mini is still on M2

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#380

Post by halgir »

praseodym wrote: post #69
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On one hand, it's crazy. On the other hand, it's pretty typical for the industry. Average performance per watt doubling time is 2.6 years: https://newsroom.arm.com/blog/performance-per-watt#:~:text=T... .

M2 was launched in June 2022 [1] so a little under 2 years ago. Apple is a bit ahead of that 2.6 years, but not by much. [1] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/06/apple-unveils-m2-with...

If they maintain that pace, it will start compounding incredibly quickly. If we round to 2 years vs 2.5 years, after just a decade you're an entire doubling ahead.
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