3 ms·

Note that the comparison is also compiling to ARM vs compiling to Intel, so its partly to do with the simplicity of the compilation process between the two arch

Note that the comparison is also compiling to ARM vs compiling to Intel, so its partly to do with the simplicity of the compilation process between the two architectures. https://twitter.com/rikarends/status/1328762958118346753 https://twitter.com/rikarends/status/1328762958118346753

rualca 6y ago
I'm also curious to learn where was the bottleneck in both tests. I've read stuff about how the M1-packing MacBook Air shipped with a SSD whose burst write speed was far higher than the one shipped in older MacBooks. The bottleneck on build jobs tends to lie on disk access, specially with projects comprised of a significant number of small files whose build also outputs a bunch of small files. This is one of the reasons behind doing builds on RAM drives. If that's the case then these weird speedups might not be due to magic properties on Apple's M1 professor but due to the fact that the processor doesn't idle as much while waiting for all those reads and writes to finish. If anyone has any data on this, please do share.
- bydo 6y ago
  The SSDs are faster, but only by ~20%: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BlackMagic-Disk-Speed.png https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BlackMagic... From the TechCrunch review, which is pretty breathless but also contains a lot of good data: https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/17/yeah-apples-m1-macbook-pro-is-powerful-but-its-the-battery-life-that-will-blow-you-away/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/17/yeah-apples-m1-macbook-pro...
  - spronkey 6y ago
    Sequential performance is only one facet of overall SSD performance. Some older Apple SSDs weren't the greatest at random reads and writes - it's possible these new ones are quite a bit faster in that department, FWIW.
an_opabinia 6y ago
Well that pretty much settles the matter, doesn't it.
stingraycharles 6y ago
Can’t you just instruct the compiler to compile for Intel on ARM and vice versa? We do this all the time, build ARM artifacts on an x86 CPU with GCC.
- codeulike 6y ago
  Yes, but that isn't what was done in this case.
urmish 6y ago
You can get better optimizations with CISC. If anything, compiling to a RISC ISA and expecting the same optimizations is actually tougher.
ChrisRR 6y ago
This should be a higher up. A fairer comparison would be compiling for the same target There could be all manner of processor optimisations that are taking time to process. Like for like would be much more indicative

rualca 6y ago

I'm also curious to learn where was the bottleneck in both tests. I've read stuff about how the M1-packing MacBook Air shipped with a SSD whose burst write speed was far higher than the one shipped in older MacBooks. The bottleneck on build jobs tends to lie on disk access, specially with projects comprised of a significant number of small files whose build also outputs a bunch of small files. This is one of the reasons behind doing builds on RAM drives. If that's the case then these weird speedups might not be due to magic properties on Apple's M1 professor but due to the fact that the processor doesn't idle as much while waiting for all those reads and writes to finish. If anyone has any data on this, please do share.

bydo 6y ago
The SSDs are faster, but only by ~20%: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BlackMagic-Disk-Speed.png https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BlackMagic... From the TechCrunch review, which is pretty breathless but also contains a lot of good data: https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/17/yeah-apples-m1-macbook-pro-is-powerful-but-its-the-battery-life-that-will-blow-you-away/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/17/yeah-apples-m1-macbook-pro...
- spronkey 6y ago
  Sequential performance is only one facet of overall SSD performance. Some older Apple SSDs weren't the greatest at random reads and writes - it's possible these new ones are quite a bit faster in that department, FWIW.

an_opabinia 6y ago

Well that pretty much settles the matter, doesn't it.

stingraycharles 6y ago

Can’t you just instruct the compiler to compile for Intel on ARM and vice versa? We do this all the time, build ARM artifacts on an x86 CPU with GCC.

codeulike 6y ago
Yes, but that isn't what was done in this case.

urmish 6y ago

You can get better optimizations with CISC. If anything, compiling to a RISC ISA and expecting the same optimizations is actually tougher.

ChrisRR 6y ago

This should be a higher up. A fairer comparison would be compiling for the same target There could be all manner of processor optimisations that are taking time to process. Like for like would be much more indicative