How can Apple deal with the memory shortage? • Hacker News Board

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#81

Post by michaelt » Thu, May 14, 2026, 6:14 AM UTC

melonpan7 wrote: post #49

dweekly wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And by "places orders" we mean "helps TSMC acquire plots of land on which their next facilities will be constructed" kind of level of scope, timing, and commitment.

Yes I believe that’s what being a manufacturer partner entails

In my experience, the corporate-speak "partnering with" can mean almost anything.

Apple gives TSMC a billion dollars to build a cutting edge fab dedicated to making Apple's chips, a deal they repeat several times over more than a decade? Partnership.

Youtuber takes $300 to read an ad, giving viewers a 10% discount code? Also a partnership.

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#82

Post by s5300 » Thu, May 14, 2026, 6:16 AM UTC

CuriousRose wrote: post #78

shye wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can’t. Operating a FAB requires employing PhDs that are willing to work 8 hours shifts with no breaks (each removal of a bunnysuit is an expensive exercise), and there’s no reason to believe SpaceX is capable of hiring such people.

There was a point made recently by Musk that the whole clean room idea is outdated if you can just ensure the path the silicon takes from wafer to lidding is clean. Seems solvable to me, but leaves me wondering why it hasn’t been done before. I assume there is no human handling of raw/etched silicon now anyway, so why does the whole room need to be clean?

[dead]

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#83

Post by CuriousRose » Thu, May 14, 2026, 6:27 AM UTC

deadfoxygrandpa wrote: post #80

CuriousRose wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a point made recently by Musk that the whole clean room idea is outdated if you can just ensure the path the silicon takes from wafer to lidding is clean. Seems solvable to me, but leaves me wondering why it hasn’t been done before. I assume there is no human handling of raw/etched silicon now anyway, so why does the whole room need to be clean?

hmm yeah. its cool that musk knows more about this than the entire industry

You could probably apply that logic to any innovation in any industry no?

Reusable rockets likely got the same ridicule, as did fast satellite internet, self driving and fully electric vehicles.

I can understand that Musk does not have the most palatable personality, but floating ideas and at least attempting innovation regardless of outcome over a long time is a net positive for society and should not be discouraged.

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#84

Post by Jap2-0 » Thu, May 14, 2026, 6:29 AM UTC

clumsysmurf wrote: post #61

astrange wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the websites that use that RAM, not the browsers. (Often the ads on the websites.)

I disagree, there is low-hanging fruit Firefox is leaving on the table. The main thing that comes to mind is tab unloading. They don't unload tabs automatically like chrome can. I was pleasantly surprised at the tab unloading settings under "memory saver" in ungoogled-chromium.

Firefox has been unloading tabs for several months or so (at least on nightly).

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#85

Post by upmostly » Thu, May 14, 2026, 6:40 AM UTC

nikhizzle wrote: post #43

Ex-Apple kernel engineer here, Apple will deal with the memory shortage by making software more efficient in ram usage. Apple will just make every aspect of the system more and more memory efficient. They've done it before over and over and can do it again.

I read this as satire.

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#86

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 14, 2026, 6:48 AM UTC

nikhizzle wrote: post #43

Ex-Apple kernel engineer here, Apple will deal with the memory shortage by making software more efficient in ram usage. Apple will just make every aspect of the system more and more memory efficient. They've done it before over and over and can do it again.

[deleted]

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#87

Post by jorisw » Thu, May 14, 2026, 7:10 AM UTC

upmostly wrote: post #85

nikhizzle wrote: post #43

Ex-Apple kernel engineer here, Apple will deal with the memory shortage by making software more efficient in ram usage. Apple will just make every aspect of the system more and more memory efficient. They've done it before over and over and can do it again.

I read this as satire.

Because

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#88

Post by NitpickLawyer » Thu, May 14, 2026, 7:12 AM UTC

upmostly wrote: post #85

nikhizzle wrote: post #43

Ex-Apple kernel engineer here, Apple will deal with the memory shortage by making software more efficient in ram usage. Apple will just make every aspect of the system more and more memory efficient. They've done it before over and over and can do it again.

I read this as satire.

I've been running an M1 Air w/ 8GB for a few years, and it's still working fine.

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#89

Post by jorisw » Thu, May 14, 2026, 7:13 AM UTC

tardedmeme wrote: post #76

szmarczak wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple? Sure. What about other developers? Firefox, Chrome already use gigabytes of RAM.

Fortunately, Apple devices only run approved software. Google will be forced to optimize memory or become unavailable on those devices.

Signed software. Not approved software. Mac apps can be installed after being downloaded from the web.

And as if Apple would ever block/pull/disapprove the world’s most popular browser.

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

#90

Post by zarzavat » Thu, May 14, 2026, 7:21 AM UTC

ls65536 wrote: post #13

coredog64 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple bought PA Semi as the starting point to getting off of Intel. Theoretically, memory seems like something Apple could figure out how to fab. And it's not like they don't have any capital reserves.

They bought P.A. Semi, but it was for their design capability; they never had fabs anyway, and Apple still depends on TSMC and others for manufacturing chips. Apple building fabs to ensure a guaranteed supply of memory (or logic) chips would be an unprecedented level of vertical integration, even for them.

No RAM, no profits. Apple has vertically integrated in the past for less reason than this.

Moreover it's a massive economy of scale, while their consumer electronics competitors are busy fighting a losing battle against the server market for chips, Apple can undercut them, grow their market share and get even more service revenue.