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M4 MacBook Pro

apple.com

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Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#981

Post by ezfe »

talldayo wrote: post #950
ezfe wrote: post #726

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy most parts officially from Apple - I just bought a new set of keycaps to replace some on my MacBook Air. Couldn't do that 5 years ago. You can install whatever OS you want on your computer - Asahi Linux is the only one that's done the work to support that. You can disable the system lockdowns that "tighten the screws" you refer to and unlock most things back to how they used to be.

> You can buy most parts officially from Apple But very distinctly, not all. Apple deliberately makes customers buy more than what they need while refusing to sell board-level ICs or allow donor boards to be disassembled for parts. If a $0.03 Texas Instruments voltage controller melts on your Macbook, you have to buy and replace the whole $600 board if you want it working again. In Apple's eyes, third party repairs s…

Yeah, I know you can't buy every component. But five years ago you couldn't buy any.

We're clearly talking about Macs for the software parts so I'm not sure why you're bringing in iPhone/iPad/Apple Watch where the status quo has remained unchanged since they were introduced. I'd love those to be opened up but that's another conversation.

Regarding system restrictions on macOS (putting aside the fact it fully supports otehr operating systems on Apple hardware), the ability to disable the system restrictions hasn't changed for years. System Integrity Protection is still a toggle that most users never need to touch.

> Most importantly, none of this is a real an option on Apple's business-critical products.

I don't understand what this means?

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#982

Post by rtaylorgarlock »

seandoe wrote: post #899
asp_hornet wrote: post #786

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats the alternative? Linux? Maybe OP likes that their OS doesnt crash when they close their laptop lid.

Crash? I understand people's gripes with ui, hardware compatibility, etc, but stability? All my Linux machines have always been very stable.

Me too. So stable that I'm becoming less and less tolerant for annoying issues in Windows, and further more motivated to make consumer linux even more available and reliable.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#983

Post by FractalHQ »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #540
lukev wrote: post #535

I really respect Apple's privacy focused engineering. They didn't roll out _any_ AI features until they were capable of running them locally, and before doing any cloud-based AI they designed and rolled out Private Cloud Compute. You can argue about whether it's actually bulletproof or not but the fact is, nobody else is even trying, and have lost sight of all privacy-focused features in their rush to ship anything a…

> to purchase a machine that feels like it really belongs to me How true is this when they devices are increasingly hostile to user repair and upgrades? MacOS also tightens the screws on what you can run and from where, or at least require more hoop jumping over time.

My MacBooks are built like a tank and outperform/outlive everything else easily for a decade. I don’t need more than 128GB of RAM or 2TB of storage… and I don’t need to repair what doesn’t break. It would be nice to have the option, but the time I save using an OS that just works like MacOS is worth more to me. And the best software in the world always runs on it. It’s a no brainier for me.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#984

Post by aorth »

jsnndjxjd wrote: post #949
aorth wrote: post #886

Four generations into the new platform and there is no answer from anyone else in the industry. Incredible.

There are both more powerful and more battery efficient offers available. The Apple ARM laptops are just on an arbitrary point belong the power/efficiency scale. If it happens to match your needs: great But it's not like it's ahead of the industry in any way ^^

It's suspicious that your account created 1 day ago and you say there are more powerful and more battery efficient offers available but don't give an example.

P.S. writing to you from a six year old ThinkPad running Linux. I'm not an Apple fanboy. It is my opinion that Apple's products are leagues ahead of the rest of the industry and it's not even close: performance, efficiency, and build quality are incredible.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#985

Post by qwertox »

lukev wrote: post #535

I really respect Apple's privacy focused engineering. They didn't roll out _any_ AI features until they were capable of running them locally, and before doing any cloud-based AI they designed and rolled out Private Cloud Compute. You can argue about whether it's actually bulletproof or not but the fact is, nobody else is even trying, and have lost sight of all privacy-focused features in their rush to ship anything a…

"10:24 – Flushed the toilet" is certainly more easy to transmit than an audio file which then must be analyzed in a datacenter.

Let's see if they really care so much about privacy in 10 years, once LLM/AI has settled. But they do seem to respect it a lot more than Microsoft.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#986

Post by rbanffy »

rbanffy wrote: post #183
RobinL wrote: post #154

Can anyone comment on the viability of using an external SSD rather than upgrading storage? Specifically for data analysis (e.g. storing/analysing parquet files using Python/duckdb, or video editing using divinci resolve). Also, any recommendations for suitable ssds, ideally not too expensive? Thank you!

The USB-C ports should be quite enough for that. If you are using a desktop Mac, such as an iMac, Mini, or the Studio and Pro that will be released later this week, this is a no-brainer - everything works perfectly.

Sorry. No Studios or Pros this turn. I’m as disappointed as everyone else.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#987

Post by sfmike »

zamadatix wrote: post #907
sfmike wrote: post #902

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I maybe don't understand but isn't an intel at 5.5ghz faster in terms of bits processed then the 4.4ghz m4? wouldn't that be fastest as more data can be processed?

GHz represents the number of cycles per second, not the number of bits actually processed per second. On different CPUs the same instruction can take a different number of cycles, a different number of the instruction can be in flight at the same time, a different number of several different instructions can be issued at once, a different amount of data can be pulled from cache to feed these instructions, a different…

Thank you for a great comment and answer

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#988

Post by kvakkefly »

nkmskdmfodf wrote: post #764
lukev wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course I wish the hardware were somehow more open, but to a large extent, it's directly because of hardware based privacy features. If you allowed third-party components without restraint, there'd be no way to prevent someone swapping out a component. Lock-in and planned obsolescence are also factors, and ones I'm glad the EU (and others) are pushing back here. But it isn't as if there are no legitimate tradeoffs.…

> to a large extent, it's directly because of hardware based privacy features. First, this is 100% false. Second, security through obscurity is almost universally discouraged and considered bad practice.

What do you mean by considered bad practice? By whom? I would think this is one of the reasons that my Macs since 2008 have just worked without any HW problems.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#989

Post by xandrius »

baggachipz wrote: post #910
nobodyandproud wrote: post #898

I suspect that like many here, I’m often tech support for my family. I found a Mac to be just as simple and troublefree to support as a Chromebook, but more capable. I was very pleasantly surprised, coming from mostly Windows (and a dash of Linux).

My parents simply refuse to consider anything but Windows, even though the ever-changing Windows UI keeps pissing them off. It's like a mental block or something.

No support then.

But when I gave my mom OSX, she used it and managed to survive. Even Ubuntu was ok for her.

And if she managed, I'm sure most people can.

Re: M4 MacBook Pro

#990

Post by aiisjustanif »

theshrike79 wrote: post #862
heraldgeezer wrote: post #783

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am thrilled to shell out thousands and thousands of dollars to purchase a machine that feels like it really belongs to me, from a company that respects my data and has aligned incentives. Build a desktop PC, yes like a nerdy gamer. ^_^ Install Linux Been the way for years.

Gamer + Linux is asking for trouble though.

When is the last time you tried it? I did yesterday and outside of Activision and some EA games it’s great.
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