4 ms·

But now they are locking down their software hard. So there is really no free lunch.

the_lucifer 6y ago
Someone here posted when the M1 powered Macs launched that they're essentially ASICs now and that made me do a double take. Since you cannot change the operating systems anymore, aren't these essentially ASICs?
- asimpletune 6y ago
  Not even close. An ASIC is a program on a chip. These are still general purpose, programmable computing machines.
  - qeternity 6y ago
    An FPGA is a program on a chip. An ASIC is literally just a chip. Calling the M1 an ASIC is insulting to the Apple hardware team.
    - guax 6y ago
      Yes, M1 is not just a chip, is a magical piece of the rib of steve jobs himself. I agree though its not an ASIC even though it have ASIC things inside of it, just like any other modern processor. It is much more complete SoC then other procs which makes its performance even more impressive if this indications hold up, I am still very skeptical, nothing comes for free and the real world is a b
    - zaro 6y ago
      ASIC stands for application specific, and since thei IC is application specific - used only in certain hardware along certain software, it's kind of correct to call it ASIC.
      - rusticpenn 6y ago
        I am unsure, since the application here is general purpose computing.
avalys 6y ago
In what respect is Apple “locking down their software hard” with respect to these new Macs?
- sooheon 6y ago
  As a long time Mac user, the last few OS updated caused me to have to good some permission error or other just trying to run simple tools like emacs. They know they can't control the web and web apps, but they are making moves to lock down apps that run on their OS.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  Its likely the end of the days of installing an alternative OS. Bootcamp support has been dropped and Linux support will likely not exist. And then there is the OS which is getting more and more locked down so that you can not run unsigned software without increasingly difficult workarounds. On one hand, alternative OS support on macbooks has gotten worse and worse over the last few years but it is sad to see the final nail in the coffin.
- josteink 6y ago
  > In what respect is Apple “locking down their software hard” with respect to these new Macs? Locked bootloader only booting stuff signed by Apple. So these CPUs can only be used to run MacOS, no Linux or other alternate open platforms.
  - xenadu02 6y ago
    Where are you people getting this from? This is not accurate. You can in fact downgrade security from recovery OS. ARM doesn't have a generic platform like PC but I'm sure someone will figure out how the device tree works if they haven't already.
    - cesarb 6y ago
      ARM does have a generic platform like the PC, it's the BSA (https://developer.arm.com/documentation/den0094/a https://developer.arm.com/documentation/den0094/a).

Someone here posted when the M1 powered Macs launched that they're essentially ASICs now and that made me do a double take. Since you cannot change the operating systems anymore, aren't these essentially ASICs?

asimpletune 6y ago
Not even close. An ASIC is a program on a chip. These are still general purpose, programmable computing machines.
- qeternity 6y ago
  An FPGA is a program on a chip. An ASIC is literally just a chip. Calling the M1 an ASIC is insulting to the Apple hardware team.
  - guax 6y ago
    Yes, M1 is not just a chip, is a magical piece of the rib of steve jobs himself. I agree though its not an ASIC even though it have ASIC things inside of it, just like any other modern processor. It is much more complete SoC then other procs which makes its performance even more impressive if this indications hold up, I am still very skeptical, nothing comes for free and the real world is a b
  - zaro 6y ago
    ASIC stands for application specific, and since thei IC is application specific - used only in certain hardware along certain software, it's kind of correct to call it ASIC.
    - rusticpenn 6y ago
      I am unsure, since the application here is general purpose computing.

avalys 6y ago

In what respect is Apple “locking down their software hard” with respect to these new Macs?

sooheon 6y ago
As a long time Mac user, the last few OS updated caused me to have to good some permission error or other just trying to run simple tools like emacs. They know they can't control the web and web apps, but they are making moves to lock down apps that run on their OS.
Polylactic_acid 6y ago
Its likely the end of the days of installing an alternative OS. Bootcamp support has been dropped and Linux support will likely not exist. And then there is the OS which is getting more and more locked down so that you can not run unsigned software without increasingly difficult workarounds. On one hand, alternative OS support on macbooks has gotten worse and worse over the last few years but it is sad to see the final nail in the coffin.
josteink 6y ago
> In what respect is Apple “locking down their software hard” with respect to these new Macs? Locked bootloader only booting stuff signed by Apple. So these CPUs can only be used to run MacOS, no Linux or other alternate open platforms.
- xenadu02 6y ago
  Where are you people getting this from? This is not accurate. You can in fact downgrade security from recovery OS. ARM doesn't have a generic platform like PC but I'm sure someone will figure out how the device tree works if they haven't already.
  - cesarb 6y ago
    ARM does have a generic platform like the PC, it's the BSA (https://developer.arm.com/documentation/den0094/a https://developer.arm.com/documentation/den0094/a).