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Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

9to5mac.com

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Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#961

Post by neop1x »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #884
Corrado wrote: post #878

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree about the upgradability/repairability. However, if you look at like a cell phone maybe it makes more sense. No one has ever complained that you couldn't update the RAM or the CPU in a iPhone. In order to upgrade the hardware of your cell phone you have to purchase another one. I'm guessing Apple is looking at the Mac hardware in the same light. "Want more power? Buy a new laptop!" The more interesting questio…

I think that is a good observation, perhaps at some point the motherboard becomes the swappable part?

It could be done but companies rather want you to buy a complete computer again and again. Same with cars. That way they sell more stuff and earn more. With proper environmental marketing tricks like the recent one with chargers and recycling robot lies, environmental impact is hidden.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#962

Post by neop1x »

beervirus wrote: post #457
dschuler wrote: post #352

The most important feature of an M1-based Mac will likely be OS support into the distant future. I'm still using a 2012 rMBP, which was the first-gen retina version, and it's held up much better than any other computer I've ever bought, partly due to OS support into 2020. I imagine Apple will stand behind this new generation for a long time as well. The new M1 SOCs max out at 16GB RAM, which seems like a major limita…

It sucks that the SSD is (presumably) not upgradeable anymore. Apple generally charges a ton for the larger SSD offerings, but it used to be that you could just buy a base model and replace the thing later.

Also good luck recovering data from a watter-damaged laptop. I have also seen some macbooks with broken SSD on eBay, sold for cheap. Soldered SSD is a ticking timebomb for your data.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#963

Post by mytec »

unethical_ban wrote: post #756
xienze wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or not I guess as it means I won't be buying anything today Honestly, people who don't use their computers as Facebook machines or have very specific things they want to do with the ML engine should probably stay away from Arm Macs for a couple years. There's bound to be plenty of software that doesn't work or doesn't work well, Docker will have ~limited usefulness until more and more people publish Arm images, etc…

Hmmm... What is the day 1 ability for, say, a systems programmer to run VSCode/golang development locally? It'd be neat to find out. The fact that they don't say doesn't tell me much, either it's "not a problem" or it's "such a problem we won't talk about it".

The Visual Studio Code team tweeted that they are targeting a release for the Insiders channel by the end of November.

https://twitter.com/code/status/1326237772860981249?ref_src=...

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#965

Post by tonyedgecombe »

Foe wrote: post #914
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #904

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I was Microsoft I'd offer some kind of Windows in the cloud for Mac users.

It's happening with Azure Virtual Desktop.

It just needs packaging in a way that doesn't require calling sales for assistance nor trying to navigate Azure.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#966

Post by gmadsen »

marta_morena_28 wrote: post #564
nrp wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At Apple's volume and level of system integration, it doesn't make sense to do assembly sharing at that level between different models. Presumably the SoC package is the same between the different products, but binned differently for the Air, Pro, and Mini. The actual logic boards would be custom to the form factor.

Not just that. At 5nm there will also be yield problems. I.e they will put the best yield into high end and the worst yield into low end.

Is that not what the parent comment said? I thought "binning" referred to this exact process.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#967

Post by [deleted] »

Deukhoofd wrote: post #902
Jtsummers wrote: post #218

Out of curiosity, how many people are actually constrained by 16GB of RAM? What applications are you using it for that 16GB vs 32GB is actually a deal breaker for you? Thinking about your average end-users, like most of my family, 8 to 16GB is about all they need for their systems (and if software were better written they'd probably need less). So is this specific work like machine learning? Video and image processin…

This comment reminds me of the classic "640K ought to be enough for anybody" quote.

[deleted]

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#968

Post by manquer »

cwhiz wrote: post #948
manquer wrote: post #939

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is literally called Pro if that is not for professionals then what is ? its $1,000+ price tag is pretty steep if exclusively targeted towards consumer market. Also the wife and kids have plenty of alternative devices including the iPad to do basic school, web and multimedia, the value prop for just that market is not convincing enough for me Why would I buy and iPad and MB Pro if they are basically going to do the…

They have pro versions of their phones. It doesn’t mean anything anymore.

True, it does not seem much in Apple any more.

While Apple's phones are not really "pro", I can see a phone being designed for the professional market primarily like the Blackberries and Nokia communicators of old.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#969

Post by novaRom »

acqq wrote: post #169
kingnothing wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

13" Pro is also 16GB.

Yes: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/specs/ “Memory 8GB unified memory Configurable to: 16GB”

How much of this 8GB of basic configuration will be available for user's processes? Kernel+GPU will take quite a bit.

Re: Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable Mac computers

#970

Post by novaRom »

sooheon wrote: post #822
kalleboo wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After seeing how big a downgrade these machines are over their intel counterparts (16 GB max RAM, max 2x thunderbolt, max 1 external display on the laptops, no 10 GbE on the mini), I'd absolutely buy an Intel machine now to tide me over until Apple can catch up in a generation or two

I'm also disappointed by 16g when my current laptop has 64g. However, Apple mobile devices have a history of being way underpowered on RAM specs and outperforming in real usage.

That's their typical approach. They released iPad 1 with 256Mb only, then iPad 2 was released in short time while iPad 1 has become literally unusable after next software update. That's the lesson. I am certain they will upgrade CPU, webcam, RAM, and connectivity in the next version very soon.
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