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Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

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Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#581

Post by nomel »

xiphias2 wrote: post #97

Apple still has the best hardware so I moved to it for the last few years, but the closed software ecosystem is terrible for taking advantage of it. I wasn't able to debug network errors (restartin my Mac worked), Metal was missing low level disassembly / debugging tools (there is some hard to use UI), but the worst thing was the inflexible windowing system. Even getting all the window handles on all screens/desktops…

> but the closed software ecosystem

There's aren't really any alternative OS [1], but I don't think it's fair to say there's a closed software ecosystem. You can install/compile/run whatever you want, including kernel extensions. The hardware isn't locked.

[1] Hardware isn't locked: https://asahilinux.org/about/

> Apple allows booting unsigned/custom kernels on Apple Silicon Macs without a jailbreak! This isn’t a hack or an omission, but an actual feature that Apple built into these devices.

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#582

Post by greenowl »

alluro2 wrote: post #525

I was blown away by M1 Pro, and used it for 4 years before it became a little sluggish, and replacing it with an Asus S16 running on Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (an excellent laptop). One of the main reasons was missing my old Linux setup. I've briefly tested M5 Pro in an Apple store and was surprised by how quick it felt and did anything. A tangible and significant difference, and I really feel it would be good getting it, or…

Still rocking an M1 Air - 2020 build. 8GB ram. No slowdown or deterioration at all. Battery health reports the battery max capacity at 84%. Best computer I've ever owned, by far.

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#583

Post by whalesalad »

dcow wrote: post #534
alluro2 wrote: post #525

I was blown away by M1 Pro, and used it for 4 years before it became a little sluggish, and replacing it with an Asus S16 running on Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (an excellent laptop). One of the main reasons was missing my old Linux setup. I've briefly tested M5 Pro in an Apple store and was surprised by how quick it felt and did anything. A tangible and significant difference, and I really feel it would be good getting it, or…

Can you characterize the deterioration more specifically? I only ask because every time I run this exercise for myself I end up back on macOS, despite any hiccups.

If you have not tried it this is an absolute game changer for Mac users moving to Linux. https://github.com/RedBearAK/toshy

I've been running it for 3 years now. I am so macpilled that I had to install it on my new Framework 13 pro.

The Mac muscle memory was always my biggest hurdle with Linux. I always felt handicapped by it. But Toshy eliminates that.

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#584

Post by whalesalad »

amelius wrote: post #548
alluro2 wrote: post #525

I was blown away by M1 Pro, and used it for 4 years before it became a little sluggish, and replacing it with an Asus S16 running on Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (an excellent laptop). One of the main reasons was missing my old Linux setup. I've briefly tested M5 Pro in an Apple store and was surprised by how quick it felt and did anything. A tangible and significant difference, and I really feel it would be good getting it, or…

Apple should just switch to making servers instead.

https://x.com/hsuchingpo/status/2091724431785861353

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#585

Post by tiahura »

alluro2 wrote: post #525

I was blown away by M1 Pro, and used it for 4 years before it became a little sluggish, and replacing it with an Asus S16 running on Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (an excellent laptop). One of the main reasons was missing my old Linux setup. I've briefly tested M5 Pro in an Apple store and was surprised by how quick it felt and did anything. A tangible and significant difference, and I really feel it would be good getting it, or…

40+ years of guis and I'd rate MacOS usability around early 90s Openwindows. Something about being wedded to Fitts's law and 1985 design docs.

Everyday I check on Fedora M4 progress.

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#586

Post by pornel »

logotype wrote: post #219

Damn. I just bought a maxed out MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB 8TB, still waiting for it to be delivered. I could get 256GB RAM M5 Ultra 1TB for roughly the same price, and it's double the memory bandwidth. Which one would you recommend? I do plan to run local LLMs.

You should be able to cancel it for free.

In EU you also have 14 days to return products bought online, for any reason.

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#587

Post by giantrobot »

ripharamberip wrote: post #495
f6v wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but even the M5 laptops are consistently beat on performance and battery life by Intel Windows laptops The real question is whether all these Intel Windows laptops spin their fans at full speed when doing absolutely nothing. That’s something I can never go back to. I do some light gaming on my M2 Pro MBP and it gets hot when trying to push 120 fps. But my Lenovo Legion (that’s now collecting the dust) is so loud I…

Yeah, as a somewhat new MacBook air user I'm also sceptical when people claim that any windows laptop is now better or at least as good as a MacBook. I'm still traumatized by my windows laptop randomly turning on in my backpack, heating itself up and draining the battery because of windows. Aside from that I'm now used to MacOS for my daily needs aside from gaming so windows laptop have to do a lot of work convincing…

Those Windows laptops always have a dealbreaker for me (besides Windows itself). If they have decent screens, sound, and battery life then the trackpad or keyboard will suck. If it's cheap it'll creak and groan like a Tesla interior...and have a terrible trackpad.

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#588

Post by nomel »

ActorNightly wrote: post #453
mark_l_watson wrote: post #363

I run a lot of local models (I am always experimenting) on my 32G M2-Pro MacMini - I would love to upgrade. The financial aspects don’t work however: I can learn and experiment with what I have for local models, and I pay as I go on FireWorks.ai for open model inferencing and no matter how much I use this service my monthly bill is between $10 and $40 and much faster than any reasonable home rig. Hybrid ‘small local’…

Honest question - why are you so stuck on Macs for local inference? A 4 GPU linux box with 3090s, which are $1500 a piece right now, will blow this thing out of the water. Even 2x3090 rig will run most of the good local models like Gemma4:31b at 100+ tok/sec The VRAM of the GPUs are MUCH faster than the unified ram within Apple Silicon. The only difference is the initial model load, which takes longer from disk to VR…

That's 6 YEARS of their cloud inference!

And, you have to include power. Where I am, the power for a rig with 2x 3090, running for four hours a day, would be around $70/month!

It's kinda like datacenter only exist to optimize compute cost through oversubscription of hardware/time share, cheaper business energy rates, and bulk discounts, compared to self hosting. ;)

Re: Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra

#590

Post by teaearlgraycold »

SilverSlash wrote: post #25

The 512GB Ultra is amazing, sure. But who is it for exactly? VC funded big spender founders? In that case why would they need local AI? The ultra rich enthusiast? But there can't be too many of those. So who actually buys these?

My friend plans to get the 512GiB M5 Ultra ASAP. He makes money by selling synthetic data and training models for companies in San Francisco and it's the cheapest way to be able to do that on your own local hardware. It's also a bit irrational as he could save money by just renting, but I get the appeal of owning something outright.
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