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Apple introduces M4 chip

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Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#81

Post by hedora »

paxys wrote: post #17

They keep making iPads more powerful while keeping them on the Fisher-Price OS and then wonder why no one is buying them for real work. Who in their right mind will spend $1300-$1600 on this rather than a MacBook Pro?

You can install linux on the one with a fixed hinge and keyboard, but without a touchscreen. It’s the “book” line instead of the “pad” line.

I’m also annoyed that the iPad is locked down, even though it could clearly support everything the macbook does.

Why can’t we have a keyboard shortcut to switch between the iPad and Mac desktops or something?

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#82

Post by boplicity »

lopkeny12ko wrote: post #54

I always wonder how constraining it is to design these chips subject to thermal and energy limitations. I paid a lot of money for my hardware and I want it to go as fast as possible. I don't want my fans to be quiet, and I don't want my battery life to be 30 minutes longer, if it means I get more raw performance in return. But instead, Apple's engineers have unilaterally decided to handicap their own processors for n…

Why not go with a Windows based device? There are many loud and low-battery life options that are very fast.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#83

Post by naravara »

Laaas wrote: post #43
EduardoBautista wrote: post #13

The 256gb and 512gb models have 8gb of ram. The 1tb and 2tb models have 16gb. Not a fan of tying ram to storage. https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/

The economic reasoning behind this doesn't make sense to me. What do they lose by allowing slightly more freedom in configurations?

Logistical efficiencies mostly. It ends up being a lot of additional SKUs to manage, and it would probably discourage people from moving up a price tier if they would have otherwise. So from Apple’s perspective they’re undergoing more hassle (which costs) for the benefit of selling you lower margin products. No upside for them besides maybe higher customer satisfaction, but I doubt it would have moved the needle on that very much.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#84

Post by izacus »

praseodym wrote: post #10

"With these improvements to the CPU and GPU, M4 maintains Apple silicon’s industry-leading performance per watt. M4 can deliver the same performance as M2 using just half the power. And compared with the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop, M4 can deliver the same performance using just a fourth of the power." That's an incredible improvement in just a few years. I wonder how much of that is Apple engineering a…

Apple usually massively exaggerates their tech spec comparison - is it REALLY half the power use of all times (so we'll get double the battery life) or is it half the power use in some scenarios (so we'll get like... 15% more battery life total) ?

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#85

Post by anentropic »

sroussey wrote: post #15

“The next-generation cores feature improved branch prediction, with wider decode and execution engines for the performance cores, and a deeper execution engine for the efficiency cores. And both types of cores also feature enhanced, next-generation ML accelerators.”

I wish there was more detail about the Neural Engine updates

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#86

Post by izacus »

Laaas wrote: post #43
EduardoBautista wrote: post #13

The 256gb and 512gb models have 8gb of ram. The 1tb and 2tb models have 16gb. Not a fan of tying ram to storage. https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/

The economic reasoning behind this doesn't make sense to me. What do they lose by allowing slightly more freedom in configurations?

They push you to buy the more expensive model with higher margins.

This is what they did when I was buying iPad Air - it starts with actually problematically low 64GB of Storage... and the 256GB model is the next one with massive price jump.

It's the same kind of "anchoring" (marketing term) that car dealers use to lure you into deciding for their car based on the cheapest 29.999$ model which with "useful" equipment will end you costing like 45.000$

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#87

Post by freedomben »

mewpmewp2 wrote: post #64
PreInternet01 wrote: post #18

> M4 makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence Yeah, well, I'm an enthusiastic M3 user, and I'm sure the new AI capabilities are nice , but hyperbole like this is just asking for snark like "my RTX4090 would like a word". Other than that: looking forward to when/how this chipset will be available in Macbooks!

Although as I undserstand m3 chips with more VRAM handle larger LLMs better because they can load more into VRAM compared to 4090.

This is true, but that is only an advantage when running a model larger than the VRAM. If your models are smaller, you'll get substantially better performance in a 4090. So it all comes down to which models you want to run.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#88

Post by 999900000999 »

I'm extremely happy with my M1 iPad.

The only real issue is aside from the screen eventually wearing out ( it already has a bit of flex), I can't imagine a reason to upgrade. It's powerful enough to do anything you'd use an iPad for. I primarily make music on mine, I've made full songs with vocals and everything ( although without any mastering - I think this is possible in Logic on iPad).

It's really fun for quick jam sessions, but I can't imagine what else I'd do with it. IO is really bad for media creation, you have a single USB C port( this bothers me the most, the moment that port dies it becomes E Waste), no headphone jack...

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#89

Post by jwells89 »

vbezhenar wrote: post #40
ramboldio wrote: post #3

if only macOS would run on iPad..

Please no. I don't want no touch support in macOS.

It might work if running in Mac mode required a reboot (no on the fly switching between iOS and macOS) and a connected KB+mouse, with the touch part of the screen (aside from Pencil usage) turning inert in Mac mode.

Otherwise yes, desktop operating systems are a terrible experience on touch devices.

Re: Apple introduces M4 chip

#90

Post by ls612 »

pier25 wrote: post #47

This is great but why even bother with the M3? The M3 Macs were released only 7 months ago.

Probably they had some contractual commitments with TSMC and had to use up their N3B capacity somehow. But as soon as N3E became available it’s a much better process overall.
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