Apple to introduce the first ARM-powered Macs on November 17

16 October 2020
The AirPods Studio, Apple's first over-ear headphones (not counting Beats models) will be the "one more thing" at that event.

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Avi Wadhwa, 17 Oct 2020hmm, in what way is macOS handicapped? It's perfectly ... moreHandicapped in every way compared to Windows.
Don't even get me started on how much better Windows ecosystem of applications and services is.

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    • AnonD-804996
    • puk
    • 17 Oct 2020

    Anonymous, 17 Oct 2020GPU is not X86 😖🥱😂 Anyone can copy Nvida or Ryzen Archit... more"GPU is not x86 XD :D"

    You literally know NOTHING about chip design, do you? I was talking about fundamental stuff and how targeting a sweet spot is important. And how going past it causes all sorts of problems. And desktop chips are usually pushed far beyond the sweet spot just to be the max performance possible. And that's what I was talking about Vega. I guess I was talking with a wall...

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      • Anonymous
      • vG@
      • 17 Oct 2020

      AnonD-804996, 17 Oct 2020And that's literally my point. People just making wild... moreGPU is not X86 😖🥱😂

      Anyone can copy Nvida or Ryzen Architecture to ARM based system.

      Show how little knowledge you have regarding computer systems.

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        • AnonD-804996
        • M}3
        • 17 Oct 2020

        JDK, 17 Oct 2020No, you were comparing ARM mobile processors that are desig... moreI don't think people were comparing apples to apples. No pun intended. They way I understood it people were bragging how ARM just solves all the problems everywhere. Also I have doubts ARM will be better just across the board. Apple can afford such stuff because they own their ecosystem. If they decided to run everything on a potato and everyone will have to follow or be left behind. Microsoft on the other hand doesn't own the x86 ecosystem, they just happen to have the largest consumer OS built on it. They don't dictate how ecosystem evolves, at least not in direct way as Apple does. If Microsoft decide to go all out with ARM, there is no way ANYONE will follow that. It's why they are struggling with x86 and ARM split markets/ecosystems and they just can't get things to work. Apple made emulation work because they dictate how things work, what API's will be available and all that. Microsoft doesn't. Not only that, Apple also designs own chips to work best with their software. Microsoft again doesn't have that luxury and has to rely on off the shelf components like Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets that are used in some Surface devices. People just think you just throw in ARM and everything just magically gets better. Maybe with Apple, but this sure as hell won't work with pretty much anyone else.

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          • JDK
          • ybx
          • 17 Oct 2020

          AnonD-804996, 17 Oct 2020And that's literally my point. People just making wild... moreNo, you were comparing ARM mobile processors that are designed to be on laptops/phones with x86 desktop processors that sit on the desk and don't go anywhere.

          What they meant by "destroy everything in it's path" is that it will destroy other laptops with x86, not that ARM mobile will destroy x86 desktop. That comparison would be unfair since desktops don't have to worry about battery life.

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            • rKC
            • 17 Oct 2020

            Android Authority, 17 Oct 2020First of all, no 45W cpu from Intel or AMD is afraid of gar... moreDude intel is already scared due to loss in market from ps5 and x box and now apple

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              • AnonD-804996
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              • 17 Oct 2020

              JDK, 17 Oct 2020Yeah. You expect a laptop-class a14x to compete with those ... moreAnd that's literally my point. People just making wild assumptions how ARM will just destroy everything in its path at anything you throw at it. You can't just assume something just scales into infinity just because it works great in low power designs. AMD Vega GPU cores are super efficient at lower clocks and have huge compute power. But you can see from RX Vega 64 card design how scaling works in reality. That super efficiency when small turned into massive heat and power consumption issue and it wasn't that fast in the end. Intel had similar issues with Pentium 4 back in the day.

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                • AnonD-804996
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                • 17 Oct 2020

                Anonymous, 17 Oct 2020Yup you admitted it, you haven't seen a proper 16 core... moreYeah, I haven't seen one. Have you? Coz no one uses them on desktop systems in high power configurations. It's all phones, tablets and laptops. Which are always low power configurations.

                  It's been said by Apple that all their iOS apps would be compatible with their ARM powered laptops. But, this would become meaningful only if their laptops employ touch screen interfaces with Stylus support. To be precise, I am really interested.

                    If it can edit 4k video with included video editing app, if I can get fee and native Python, Java and C IDE, if i has 16GB RAM, then I'm in.

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                      • m2J
                      • 17 Oct 2020

                      Annas, 17 Oct 2020Sorry, but i see you are without any knowledge Apple is do... moreWhat the heck are you reading out of your own fantasy ? What has Surface Pro got to do with anything or what has gaming have to do anything that there are laptops that are made to run on Snapdragon 835 processor that is same like you have in a mobile phone ? And 4 years apple have done it is like a big deal while SD835 is around 5 years old too.

                      You dont exactly show off that you have much of more knowledge about anything if you start of insulting and then start to talk about different things and about gaming and what not. I dont think these apple ARM powered Macs can run any good AAA game anyways if they even have access to these games as there are not much games out there that port to Macs too and never mind that these things are not even made for gaming

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                        • 17 Oct 2020

                        This could be a game changer but not because of CPU instruction set.

                        The game changer here is an always online 5G laptop and being able to make and receive calls from the device. Seeing that ms keeps screwing this up on their surface line.

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                          • Avi Wadhwa
                          • YQB
                          • 17 Oct 2020

                          Android Authority, 17 Oct 2020First of all, no 45W cpu from Intel or AMD is afraid of gar... morehmm, in what way is macOS handicapped? It's perfectly capable, well maybe not for 32bit legacy applications or for gaming, but otherwise as a desktop OS it's easily the best one I've ever used (compare to tonnes of Linux distributions, Chrome OS, Windows)

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                            • JDK
                            • ybx
                            • 17 Oct 2020

                            AnonD-804996, 17 Oct 2020Again MOBILE parts. Those usually go up to 45W. Giving chip... moreYeah. You expect a laptop-class a14x to compete with those chonky ultra-heavy CPUs?

                            Professionals don't need 5G connectivity anyways.

                              Payas, 17 Oct 2020Yup A14 and it's subsequent iterations can definitely ... moreIt's quite funny how many people are being dismissive about the performance of Apple's SoC compared to higher end desktop i series or Xeon series Intel processors, despite not having seen their 16-32 CPU core implementations AT ALL yet. This first batch of Apple Silicon Macs with 8-12 cores will be a good opportunity for them to showcase what they are really capable of.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • vG@
                                • 17 Oct 2020

                                AnonD-804996, 17 Oct 2020Again MOBILE parts. Those usually go up to 45W. Giving chip... moreYup you admitted it, you haven't seen a proper 16 core processor in ARM 😉 and along with proper native desktop apps.

                                Apple is already planning a 12 core and 16 core Desktop class ARM Processors for iMacs with higher power limit.

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                                  • Payas
                                  • vG@
                                  • 17 Oct 2020

                                  JDK, 17 Oct 2020a12z already on par with intel core i7. iPad pro: https... moreYup A14 and it's subsequent iterations can definitely challenge 28 core Xeon processor and put them to absolute shame on Power Efficiency.

                                    A transition to Apple Silicon will not only gives the main audience of Apple users (= Creative professionals) a huge benefit in a long run, but also forces Intel and AMD to stay awake and not to become lazy with lithography/architecture improvements. It should also pressure MS to be more serious about ARM version of Windows whose situation is quite frankly laughable at this moment. It's a win-win for us end consumers, and I'm keen to see what Apple will bring to the table next month.

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                                      • AnonD-804996
                                      • M}3
                                      • 17 Oct 2020

                                      JDK, 17 Oct 2020a12z already on par with intel core i7. iPad pro: https... moreAgain MOBILE parts. Those usually go up to 45W. Giving chips additional 60W is like bolting another 60W desktop chip on top of that 45W. People don't seem to comprehend how much compute muscle something like desktop Ryzen 3950X has. At 105W. Again, ARM is great for low power usage and huge clusters of low power chips. As a single unit, they can't quite compete with x86 chips. I haven't seen a 16 cores high power ARM yet. It's always something with smaller core count and way smaller power envelope.

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                                        • JDK
                                        • ybx
                                        • 17 Oct 2020

                                        AnonD-804996, 16 Oct 2020There is no way 15W mobile chip will beat 105W desktop one.... morea12z already on par with intel core i7.

                                        iPad pro: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/4215756
                                        Macbook pro core i7 15-inch mid-2019: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/macbook-pro-15-inch-mid-2019
                                        Macbook pro core i7 13-inch 2020: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/macbook-pro-13-inch-mid-2020-intel-core-i7-1068ng7-2-3-ghz-4-cores
                                        MOST recent Dell xps 13 with intel core i7 11th gen proccesor:
                                        https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/4199263

                                        It's a little bit off the macbook pro core i7 15 inch, but faster than the core i7 13 inch. And this is a 11-inch chassis.
                                        Even if the improvement of the a14x is ONLY 17%, it's pretty much on par with the most recent 11th gen core i7.

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