4 ms·

What are the honest chances that Apple is prepping to move off of x86 to ARM for their computers? They are basically the undisputed leader in ARM processors at

by fhood 8y ago

What are the honest chances that Apple is prepping to move off of x86 to ARM for their computers? They are basically the undisputed leader in ARM processors at the moment right?

postalrat 8y ago
Didn't they already announce it?
- cronix 8y ago
  Yes. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16737072 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16737072
  - dbbk 8y ago
    That's not an announcement, that's a rumour.
Razengan 8y ago
The writing is definitely on the wall in a number of ways, including the deprecation of "legacy" stuff like OpenGL and 32-bit. I would guess that ARM Macs, if not some iPad+Mac hybrid, might come one year after they finally release the UIKit-on-macOS API that they showed off at WWDC 2018. I'm curious as to how they might solve x86 compatibility.
- SpikeDad 8y ago
  They already have a history of cross platform "emulation" from the PowerPC to X86 move. You know they've already figured it out and it's down to a business decision not a technical one. I could even imagine they've gotten Parallels involved - an ARM prototype perhaps?
- kbenson 8y ago
  > I'm curious as to how they might solve x86 compatibility. Didn't Microsoft already demo how to do this, where they emulate x86 on ARM? Then again, Intel apparently isn't too happy about that.[1] 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14523587 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14523587
rbanffy 8y ago
There is an immense corpus of software that is optimized for x86. It's not easy stuff a compiler can optimize - it's stuff that checks and uses SSE and AVX when available that need to have NEON (I forgot the new name) support added in order to be on par with the x86 stuff. Backblaze did a fine post on porting Xeon/SSE code to NEON a couple months back. Apple now benefits from being on the x86 bandwagon - by the time it launches a new computer with a new Intel processor, there are already people checking what the new parts can do and optimizing software for them. If Apple is the only company that uses their own processors, they need to bring all that optimization work in-house and manage it in a way it stays competitive with the world outside. The final point is that I'm not sure how much cheaper for them it'd be. Of course they could get the chips at cost, but they'd need to bankroll their development and all the fine tuning that goes with it.

by fhood 8y ago

What are the honest chances that Apple is prepping to move off of x86 to ARM for their computers? They are basically the undisputed leader in ARM processors at the moment right?

postalrat 8y ago

Didn't they already announce it?

cronix 8y ago
Yes. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16737072 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16737072
- dbbk 8y ago
  That's not an announcement, that's a rumour.

Razengan 8y ago

The writing is definitely on the wall in a number of ways, including the deprecation of "legacy" stuff like OpenGL and 32-bit. I would guess that ARM Macs, if not some iPad+Mac hybrid, might come one year after they finally release the UIKit-on-macOS API that they showed off at WWDC 2018. I'm curious as to how they might solve x86 compatibility.

SpikeDad 8y ago
They already have a history of cross platform "emulation" from the PowerPC to X86 move. You know they've already figured it out and it's down to a business decision not a technical one. I could even imagine they've gotten Parallels involved - an ARM prototype perhaps?
kbenson 8y ago
> I'm curious as to how they might solve x86 compatibility. Didn't Microsoft already demo how to do this, where they emulate x86 on ARM? Then again, Intel apparently isn't too happy about that.[1] 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14523587 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14523587

rbanffy 8y ago

There is an immense corpus of software that is optimized for x86. It's not easy stuff a compiler can optimize - it's stuff that checks and uses SSE and AVX when available that need to have NEON (I forgot the new name) support added in order to be on par with the x86 stuff. Backblaze did a fine post on porting Xeon/SSE code to NEON a couple months back. Apple now benefits from being on the x86 bandwagon - by the time it launches a new computer with a new Intel processor, there are already people checking what the new parts can do and optimizing software for them. If Apple is the only company that uses their own processors, they need to bring all that optimization work in-house and manage it in a way it stays competitive with the world outside. The final point is that I'm not sure how much cheaper for them it'd be. Of course they could get the chips at cost, but they'd need to bankroll their development and all the fine tuning that goes with it.