6 ms·

I just don't understand. How can you be excited to silo off computing technology? Because you're impressed by benchmarks? Another comment mentions margins - 200

I just don't understand. How can you be excited to silo off computing technology? Because you're impressed by benchmarks? Another comment mentions margins - 200 dollar ram upgrades. What's exciting about that? We need competition and an open play field or I fear the barrier to entry for new hackers will grow too large.

greedo 6y ago
The alternative is worse; continued stagnation of CPU performance. At least Apple is pushing the boundary higher. Now AMD/Intel/Microsoft will have to up their game. Competitive pressure is almost always a good thing in an industry, at least for customers.
- Nomokis 6y ago
  I'm okay with 5% yearly increases in performance if it means I don't have to pay Apple $200 for an 8GB RAM upgrade. If I can choose which SSD to buy or which GPU or CPU. Nobody else is capable of doing what Apple has achieved here. That's not a good thing for customers, considering how authoritarian Apple behaves as a company over its customers.
  - Nomokis 6y ago
    As usual, the HN hivemind downvotes without providing any constructive criticism or discussion. Typical.
- Macha 6y ago
  Intel have stagnated, but in their last 3 generations AMD has gone: * from miles behind to ahead in multi-tasking workloads (ryzen 1000) * drew "close enough" to Intel but Intel had a immediate counter (ix-8xxx vs ryzen 2000) * Cut the feet from under Intel's HEDT CPUs and rendered them mostly pointless, and managed to keep a "close enough" position despite Intel releasing a new CPU generation soon after (Ryzen 3000 vs Intel 10xxx) * Took a convincing lead which Intel has no answer for (Ryzen 5000 vs Intel 10xxx) Intel have certainly stagnated but are promising any day now they'll be out of their slump and on a new process for mainstream CPUs. Maybe, maybe not, but their failures are no guarantee AMD are also going to hit a wall, especially since unlike when Intel planted themselves firmly on top, there are challengers in sight still for AMD.
Klonoar 6y ago
Being angry at Apple for this is misplaced, though - the anger should be directed at the PC industry for essentially wasting their time with subpar products. It is absolutely absurd that one company kicks the rest in the ass.
- fartcannon 6y ago
  No one is angry. I'm perplexed.
Macha 6y ago
Yeah, as long as Windows on ARM is planned to be a stepping stone for a more locked down computing future, I'm kind of happy that it continues to flounder.
2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
Apple are delivering performance that beats so many other setups running off a battery. And x86 emulation comes close to the real hardware. And at this price point who cares about the RAM upgrades anymore? The lowest end system matches systems far more expensive than an extra $200. All of this is great for most end users.
- fartcannon 6y ago
  In the short term, perhaps it's fun. What happens when open computing goes away? When creativity is dictated by one company. Certainly competition with that company will be banned, as it is on iOS. The term 'most users' will slowly shrink until it encompasses no one but consumers. This is the wrong direction. We should be trending to even more open computers. Not appliances that can also run python scripts.
  - ulisesrmzroche 6y ago
    Is linux dying off or something? How is open computing going to die away?
  - 2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
    I use Linux myself at work and currently as my daily driver. But I can’t in good conscience recommend it to regular people. If you want more competition, open source has to be competitive.
    - tracker1 6y ago
      I've taken half a step back on advocacy this past year... I've been deploying on Linux servers and using containers a lot more, that's got uptake from work. But Linux desktops have been a no-go and beyond this, WSL2 has been pretty decent. I am concerned that Apple will close all paths for open software to keep adding life to unsupported older hardware though. I feel the same about Phones and mobile devices as well. Reduce and Reuse come before Recycle for a reason.
  - EricE 6y ago

greedo 6y ago

The alternative is worse; continued stagnation of CPU performance. At least Apple is pushing the boundary higher. Now AMD/Intel/Microsoft will have to up their game. Competitive pressure is almost always a good thing in an industry, at least for customers.

Nomokis 6y ago
I'm okay with 5% yearly increases in performance if it means I don't have to pay Apple $200 for an 8GB RAM upgrade. If I can choose which SSD to buy or which GPU or CPU. Nobody else is capable of doing what Apple has achieved here. That's not a good thing for customers, considering how authoritarian Apple behaves as a company over its customers.
- Nomokis 6y ago
  As usual, the HN hivemind downvotes without providing any constructive criticism or discussion. Typical.
Macha 6y ago
Intel have stagnated, but in their last 3 generations AMD has gone: * from miles behind to ahead in multi-tasking workloads (ryzen 1000) * drew "close enough" to Intel but Intel had a immediate counter (ix-8xxx vs ryzen 2000) * Cut the feet from under Intel's HEDT CPUs and rendered them mostly pointless, and managed to keep a "close enough" position despite Intel releasing a new CPU generation soon after (Ryzen 3000 vs Intel 10xxx) * Took a convincing lead which Intel has no answer for (Ryzen 5000 vs Intel 10xxx) Intel have certainly stagnated but are promising any day now they'll be out of their slump and on a new process for mainstream CPUs. Maybe, maybe not, but their failures are no guarantee AMD are also going to hit a wall, especially since unlike when Intel planted themselves firmly on top, there are challengers in sight still for AMD.

Klonoar 6y ago

Being angry at Apple for this is misplaced, though - the anger should be directed at the PC industry for essentially wasting their time with subpar products. It is absolutely absurd that one company kicks the rest in the ass.

fartcannon 6y ago
No one is angry. I'm perplexed.

Macha 6y ago

Yeah, as long as Windows on ARM is planned to be a stepping stone for a more locked down computing future, I'm kind of happy that it continues to flounder.

2muchcoffeeman 6y ago

Apple are delivering performance that beats so many other setups running off a battery. And x86 emulation comes close to the real hardware. And at this price point who cares about the RAM upgrades anymore? The lowest end system matches systems far more expensive than an extra $200. All of this is great for most end users.

fartcannon 6y ago
In the short term, perhaps it's fun. What happens when open computing goes away? When creativity is dictated by one company. Certainly competition with that company will be banned, as it is on iOS. The term 'most users' will slowly shrink until it encompasses no one but consumers. This is the wrong direction. We should be trending to even more open computers. Not appliances that can also run python scripts.
- ulisesrmzroche 6y ago
  Is linux dying off or something? How is open computing going to die away?
- 2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
  I use Linux myself at work and currently as my daily driver. But I can’t in good conscience recommend it to regular people. If you want more competition, open source has to be competitive.
  - tracker1 6y ago
    I've taken half a step back on advocacy this past year... I've been deploying on Linux servers and using containers a lot more, that's got uptake from work. But Linux desktops have been a no-go and beyond this, WSL2 has been pretty decent. I am concerned that Apple will close all paths for open software to keep adding life to unsupported older hardware though. I feel the same about Phones and mobile devices as well. Reduce and Reuse come before Recycle for a reason.
- EricE 6y ago