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Apple Unveils M2

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Re: Apple Unveils M2

#651

Post by imposterr »

herpderperator wrote: post #332
imposterr wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few. They are able to do this by using something called Display Stream Compression. While it may be find for some, a lot of us would prefer not to have a diminished experience with a compressed stream.

DSC doesn't solve the hardware limitation of only being able to drive a single external display on the M1, that's a hardware thing that cannot be changed. You have confused it with DisplayLink, which is basically another graphics card, hence why it "solves" this problem, but the experience is worse because it's CPU-intensive/software rendered.

Good catch. Definitely meant DisplayLink.

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#652

Post by maliker »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #547
furyg3 wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is downvoted, but my intel MacBook Pro (maxed out specs) from 2015 really was dying on zoom / MS teams calls. Probably says a lot about those two apps, but this was one of the main reasons I upgraded to an M1 Mac during corona.

The only thing my 2015 pro had trouble with was Teams. No problem with Zoom for me. But Teams was a nightmare of dropped sound and video in both directions.

I have had luck running Teams in the safari web app instead of the native (ahem Electron) app. Cuts the CPU usage down to 25% instead of 75%.

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#653

Post by mwcampbell »

intrasight wrote: post #641
hedora wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty price insensitive, but nothing on the market comes close to what I'd like: - One week suspend, resume under linux (reliable). - Keyboard and trackpad centered under display, and as good as best of class from 10 years ago. - 4K / hidpi display - no/minimal fan, cool running - 12+ hour "typical" battery life; at least 4 when running slack and zoom (and maybe compilation jobs) - as fast as a 10 year old midra…

How about replacing with a "real" computer? I stopped accepting these compromises around 2004, and since then have built my own computers from discrete components.

As semiconductor technology advances, increasing miniaturization and integration become normal and expected. I imagine that in the 70s and early 80s, some people thought that the only "real" computers were minicomputers such as those made by DEC, or even mainframes. Highly integrated computers such as the Apple Silicon Macs are the logical continuation of the trend that began with the first microcomputers.

Having said that, the desktop form factor has its place. My next PC will be a desktop. But it will also be a Windows PC. I wish there was a Windows PC that had the same level of integration, and performance per watt, as the M1 Mac mini.

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#654

Post by BackBlast »

WithinReason wrote: post #303
skohan wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Windows seems like a terrible option for minimal hardware?

Why? Unofficial ports work OK. Besides, imagine how efficient Windows on ARM software would be if it was developed on a Rpi

Because using poor/slow tools means we end up with better end results? In my experience using poor tools ends up with higher costs. I don't see how higher costs are going to result in better software in the end.

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#655

Post by danielscrubs »

anonymouse008 wrote: post #105

It's very interesting to think the processor releases were holding back the Mac for so long. They are on the cusp on turning Macs into annual upgrades - with meaningful performance upgrades tied to the OS, just like they've done for a decade with the A series / iOS releases. This is firing on all cylinders. The organizational structure and performance is a marvel for this.

On the software side things have gone so much worse though. You have the Swift compiler that uses heuristics which makes it unreliable (a compiler that times out!), and even Apples most basic software seems to crash constantly. If you have a budget Intel MacBook the compiling time are horrendous. Just yesterday the Contacts app on macOS crashed for me.

I think Rosetta + Swift + SwiftUI might have been a bit much change for the developers at Apple and the users are now paying the price.

I hope they focus on some principles behind stable software next.

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#656

Post by supergeek »

cloudengineer94 wrote: post #48

Still only supports one display. Also they increased the prices across the board.. Quite happy with my M1 Pro, a beat and a hell of a purchase.

Really disappointing considering they now support up to a 6k external display. Yet you can't do 2x 1080p, or 2x 4k.

I think Apple knows a lot of customers care about this and want it to be a barrier getting them into a pro machine. The cheapest laptop they sell with multi-external-monitor support is $1k more than their cheapest laptop overall ($2k vs $1k).

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#657

Post by ttul »

top_sigrid wrote: post #346
cloudengineer94 wrote: post #48

Still only supports one display. Also they increased the prices across the board.. Quite happy with my M1 Pro, a beat and a hell of a purchase.

This is disappointing. It has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports but can only drive one external display. So unnecessary, this would be the perfect machine for my home and work setup, but I have 2 external displays in both cases.

They are 100% doing this intentionally. They want to drive power users toward spending more and they know that many of us will…

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#658

Post by AgentOrange1234 »

smoldesu wrote: post #528
gwbas1c wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spend a few minutes talking with someone who designs hardware. Often when they release something, there are TONs of incremental improvements that they just didn't have time to get to when a new product is released. I remember having a conversation with someone who worked on hard drives in the 80s. He got so ^%$^$# excited telling me about all the improvements he worked on between generations; they were mostly things…

This comment sounds like the exact same hopium I heard about Intel in 2016. I get what you're saying, and there are definitely smaller changes packed in here, but my point is that Apple's performance crown is looking mighty easy to usurp right about now. Hell, they even showed a graph with the i7 1280p beating the M2's single-core performance by ~20% at the WWDC today; they know they're on notice.

That 20% better perf was at 4x the power though?

Re: Apple Unveils M2

#659

Post by rrss »

cjaybo wrote: post #404
smlacy wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly how do you quantify "two orders of magnitude of build quality"? What units are you using for this analysis?

I think "maybe" is an important part of the text you quoted, and the rest of the comment goes into decent detail regarding the specific areas where the experience fell short of their expectations. Did you stop reading after the first paragraph?

How does one distinguish a build quality that is 100x better from a build quality that is only 10x better?

I think the point is that it seems silly to say “two orders or magnitude” when there’s no quantitative metric. Is it more informative than “way better”

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