3 ms·

Also, Apple has gotten to a point where it doesn't really need to support Bootcamp anymore unlike in 2006ish when it released the first intel Macs.

by pier25 6y ago

akmarinov 6y ago
Also they probably have to consider how much money they're willing to throw at this. Switching to ARM on macOS will save them money as they don't have to pay Intel and can reuse existing designs and relationships with TSMC. But actively investing money and personnel to support Windows, NVIDIA and AMD GPUs, virtualization, etc on a platform that sells 20ish million units in an year, compared to the hundreds of million of units that iPhones/iPads/Apple TVs, etc sell - probably doesn't make financial sense. Especially with how they've treated macOS lately, enabling easy transitioning via Catalyst, SwiftUI support, making it easy to reuse code for iOS. Switching to and getting more revenue from services, thus them being a bigger priority. And there's the argument of doing all of that instead of investing more time into macOS with the whole Vistalina thing going on. Again no idea whether it makes financial sense, they've more than likely done the math and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
I saw some stats a couple of days ago that said Bootcamp usage had fallen from 15% of users to just 2%.
- pier25 6y ago
  Interesting. Any source? Personally I only used bootcamp for gaming a couple of years ago but then I just ended up building a desktop PC. It's just the better option as it will probably outlive all my Macs and I can upgrade parts as needed.
- mrkstu 6y ago
  I would assume part of that is the improvement in virtualization. Those with adequate RAM can run Windows apps in a VM performantly. You really only need Bootcamp for gaming, and with Nvidia support waning on the Mac, you're going to have a second rate gaming experience even in Bootcamp.
  - fomine3 6y ago
    And I assume that because Windows hardwares getting better and Macs not or getting worse. Around 2010-2014, MacBooks are great hardware even for Windows. But after that, some good Windows devices are released (like XPS 13) and Apple starts failing (like TouchBar, keyboard, USB-C only, ...).

Also, Apple has gotten to a point where it doesn't really need to support Bootcamp anymore unlike in 2006ish when it released the first intel Macs.

by pier25 6y ago

Also, Apple has gotten to a point where it doesn't really need to support Bootcamp anymore unlike in 2006ish when it released the first intel Macs.

akmarinov 6y ago

Also they probably have to consider how much money they're willing to throw at this. Switching to ARM on macOS will save them money as they don't have to pay Intel and can reuse existing designs and relationships with TSMC. But actively investing money and personnel to support Windows, NVIDIA and AMD GPUs, virtualization, etc on a platform that sells 20ish million units in an year, compared to the hundreds of million of units that iPhones/iPads/Apple TVs, etc sell - probably doesn't make financial sense. Especially with how they've treated macOS lately, enabling easy transitioning via Catalyst, SwiftUI support, making it easy to reuse code for iOS. Switching to and getting more revenue from services, thus them being a bigger priority. And there's the argument of doing all of that instead of investing more time into macOS with the whole Vistalina thing going on. Again no idea whether it makes financial sense, they've more than likely done the math and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

I saw some stats a couple of days ago that said Bootcamp usage had fallen from 15% of users to just 2%.

pier25 6y ago
Interesting. Any source? Personally I only used bootcamp for gaming a couple of years ago but then I just ended up building a desktop PC. It's just the better option as it will probably outlive all my Macs and I can upgrade parts as needed.
mrkstu 6y ago
I would assume part of that is the improvement in virtualization. Those with adequate RAM can run Windows apps in a VM performantly. You really only need Bootcamp for gaming, and with Nvidia support waning on the Mac, you're going to have a second rate gaming experience even in Bootcamp.
- fomine3 6y ago
  And I assume that because Windows hardwares getting better and Macs not or getting worse. Around 2010-2014, MacBooks are great hardware even for Windows. But after that, some good Windows devices are released (like XPS 13) and Apple starts failing (like TouchBar, keyboard, USB-C only, ...).