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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

#491

Post by seec »

MBCook wrote: post #396
tacker2000 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excel performance on Mac is a disaster, and I dont understand why. Everytime I paste something it lags for 1-2 seconds… so infuriating!!

It was originally a Mac app before Microsoft bought it too, wasn’t it?

You got it all wrong. It was developed for Macs first because Microsoft is in the business of selling software and Windows wasn't such a big thing back then, in fact it barely existed as Windows, it was mostly MS-DOS still.

Microsoft definitely didn't buy something they created themselves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel#Early_history

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

#492

Post by bogeholm »

pipodeclown wrote: post #481
bogeholm wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use macOS daily for dev and office work, and to me it doesn’t feel languishing at all. Add Homebrew and Docker or Podman, and we’re off. The only places I can see there could be features missing are: - IT management type stuff where it looks like Apple are happy just delegating to Microsoft (eg. my workstation is managed with InTune and runs Microsoft Defender pushed by IT), - CUDA support if you’re into AI on NVID…

Just basic customisation functionality is missing in MacOS. Recently bought a MacBook and am constantly amazed about the stuff you can't do. Oh you want do use normal scrolling on your external Bluetooth mouse (like everybody that uses a mouse does) and natural scrolling on the trackpad? Nah bro, choose one for both. You wanna just plug in some generic usb hub connected to multiple monitors like you did with your 500…

Scrolling, you’re right. I usually run alt-tab, rectangle and bettertouchtool to solve scrolling and a couple of other annoyances

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

#493

Post by jchw »

adrian_b wrote: post #456
jchw wrote: post #366

Well, firstly, it isn't. There are higher Geekbench 6 CPU scores, even forgetting the ones that appear to be fake or at least broken. But secondly, that would absolutely not indicate that it is the "fastest single-core performer in consumer computing". That would indicate that it is the highest scoring Geekbench 6 CPU in consumer computing. Whether or not that's actually a good proxy for the former statement is up to…

The higher single-thread GB6 scores are from overclocked Intel or AMD CPUs. The M4 core @ 4.5 GHz has a significantly higher ST GB6 performance than Lion Cove @ 5.7 GHz or Zen 5 @ 5.7 GHz (which are almost equal at the same clock frequency, with at most a 2% advantage for Lion Cove). Having higher GB6 scores should be representative for general-purpose computing, but there are application domains where the performanc…

Honestly, I do agree, it is kind of ridiculous that it is fighting neck and neck with relatively overclocked AMD and Intel CPUs. I always do a little bit of overclocking but some of these overclocks are pretty high.

Still, I do think some of Apple's inherent advantages make it less surprising that they're able to win on benchmarks. Again, the process node, the RAM directly on the chip. And hell, they are probably also able to get here because of targeting AArch64 with no 32-bit ARM compatibility.

Either way, Apple appears to be a couple years ahead of the competition right now when it comes to efficient processors, just like they were with the M1.

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

#494

Post by alemanek »

_hyn3 wrote: post #73
cloudking wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

M3 Pro user here, agree with the same points. It's nice to be able to actually have your laptop on your lap, without burning your legs.

ARM processors have always been good at handling heat and low power (like AWS Graviton), but what laptop did you have before that would overheat that much during normal usage? That seems like a very poor design.

2019 16” i9 MacBook Pro. These days it has to be on a laptop cooler when I push it so that it won’t turn itself off due to the heat.

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

#495

Post by amarshall »

SG- wrote: post #348
amarshall wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yet Intel is using TSMC for their latest chips now too.

TIL. Crazy times, at least Intel finally admitted failure in their fab, I guess. Still doesn’t get the latest nodes, though.

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

#496

Post by throwaway106382 »

TylerE wrote: post #429
throwaway106382 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is crazy, i'm more than happy with the current performance of my M1 Max Studio but an M4 Max or Ultra might actually be too good to pass up

I’m already planning on swapping mine for an M4 Ultra. I love my M1 Studio. It’s the Mac I always wanted - desktop Mac with no integrates peripherals, a ton of ports - although I still use a high end hub to plug in… lot more. Two big external SSDs, my input peripherals (I’m a wired mouse and keyboard kind of guy) then a bunch of audio and USB midi devices. It’s even a surprisingly capable gaming machine for what it i…

I haven’t dug too much into gaming since I have a Linux PC that supports all my steam games but what’s the experience of running Crossover on Apple Silicon like? Can you run x86 Windows games using Rosetta (or is it some other method)?

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

#497

Post by [deleted] »

thfuran wrote: post #426
taftster wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So long as Apple is willing to keep operating system updates available for the platform. This is by far the most frustrating thing. Apple hardware, amazing and can last for years and even decades. Supported operating system updates, only a couple of years. I'm typing this from my mid-2012 retina mac book pro. I'm on Mojave and I'm well out of support for the operating system patches. But the hardware keeps running li…

Luckily m1 has Linux.

[deleted]

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

#498

Post by tiltowait »

grahamj wrote: post #31

So Ultra used to be the max but now Max is max… until Ultra goes past the max and Max is no longer the max. Until the next Max that goes beyond Ultra!

I think I finally made sense of it in my mind:

The Max is their best CPU. The Ultra is two of their best CPUs glued together.

The Ultra isn’t a better CPU, it’s just more.

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

#499

Post by gessha »

nxobject wrote: post #176
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.

I look forward to seeing you at a conference in 20 years' time where we'll both be running Fedora 100 on our M1 MacBook Pros.

I hope the SSDs lasts long enough for you folks (the only thing + money that hold holds be back from snagging one of those)

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

#500

Post by nox101 »

alpaca128 wrote: post #461
nox101 wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe? as local LLM/SD etc get more common it might be common to push it. I've been getting my fans to come on and get burning hot quite often lately because of new tech. I get that I'm a geek but with Apple, Google and everyone else trying to run local ML it's only a matter of time.

Apple's chips already have AI accelerators for things like content-based image search. They would never retroactively worsen battery life and performance just for a few more AI features when they could instead use it as selling point for the next hardware generation. And if you regularly use local generative AI models the Pro model is the more reasonable choice. At that point you can forget battery life either way.

see above. your comment sounds like "640k is all you need". usage needs change as new usages appear
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