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Apple Silicon Chips: What to Expect This Fall

rvz 5y ago
> In conclusion, we’re expecting a faster processor, improved graphical performance due to increased GPU cores, and a larger 14” screen to replace the current 13” MacBook Pro. Good. So then there was no point in getting the M1 Macbook Pro (the one that has a fan) and it was already getting replaced less than a year ago anyway? Glad I skipped it and kept using my existing Macbook. Some of the software on there wasn't even ported, stable or even optimized on there anyway. recoveryOS didn't seem to work properly on launch day either. At least this time, I won't have to wait months for developers to finish porting their apps to Apple Silicon; unlike the November 2020 launch day fanatics.
- syspec 5y ago
  "New thing not perfect!"
  - rvz 5y ago
    Not moving at all and sitting on my existing Intel Macbook was the best decision ever. It "just works" fine. So waiting 6 months after purchase just to do your work or other things seems to be acceptable for some...
    - akmarinov 5y ago
      Depends on what you do. On the other hand, the performance gains were massive enough for all Intel Macbooks to feel like quicksand and I just can’t imagine having to work with one. It’s like going back to HDD after having an SSD.
      - rvz 5y ago
        > the performance gains were massive enough for all Intel Macbooks to feel like quicksand and I just can’t imagine having to work with one. It may depend on the user to some extent, but if I cannot run this iOS app because the developer told me so or an app that is not ported to Apple Silicon and doesn't work well in Rosetta then what is the point? What good is a system that indeed delivers on these performance gains but also doesn't run the software you need for more than 6 months after purchase? I'd rather wait with my 'already working MacBook' which runs fine, than to be part of the early adopted chaos club that went all in on the M1 and then complained for months about the SSD wearing issues themselves; only to say one benefit that 'It just runs faster!'
- CharlesW 5y ago
  > Glad I skipped it and kept using my existing Macbook. You should skip the fall MacBooks too, because the fall 2022 MacBooks will be significantly better. /s
  - rvz 5y ago
    Oh yes, I'd should actually. Because the fruit company once told me that the machine will run ALL iOS apps and games on the App Store! [0] /s Except most of your existing software wasn't available or did not work upon launch day and you had to wait 6 months for it to be stable. At that point why bother with an M1 Macbook when you can get an M1X instead. [0] Only the ones that the developers allow and is ultimately up to them. And no you cannot side-load them either as of January of this year.
    - rvz 5y ago
      Downvoters: You know [0] is absolutely true no matter how much you hate it or won't admit it [1]. This is with concrete HARD evidence from even a pro Apple website: 'At this point there’s no known workaround for side loading iOS apps on M1 Macs, so we’ll have to wait and see if Apple will once again reverse its decision or if someone else will be able to modify the operating system to install any iOS apps on compatible Macs.' It is indeed fast but if it can't run the iOS software you want then what is the point? [1] https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/09/apple-once-again-starts-blocking-m1-mac-users-from-side-loading-iphone-and-ipad-apps/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/09/apple-once-again-starts-block...
  - lalalalala777 5y ago
    Sick burn, but seriously, this first generation is the one to sit out. The current generation of M1 is IO limited. Rosetta is great but has its own limitations. Skipping the first gen buys time for devs to support Apple Silicon natively, and the second gen will solve the IO issues. Unless you want to be part of the transition or really need to replace you Mac, op has the right idea.
    - reikonomusha 5y ago
- guscost 5y ago
  We get it, you are not an early adopter of these things. Me neither, as a matter of fact.
- bnt 5y ago
  The M1 13” Pros were supposed to replace the low end Intel 13” machines.
- akmarinov 5y ago
  The 13” Macbook Pro that they first transitioned to M1 was the cheapest, entry level 13”. Even before M1, they had that one with only 2 ports as the entry 13” MBP. Just like they transitioned the entry level Mini, but kept selling the high end Intel version. They’re now updating the higher end 13”
jayd16 5y ago
I hope we see more than 16GB of ram.
- gigatexal 5y ago
  I’m willing to put money on it at least doubling to 32GB. The rumor of HBM on the soc is insane but would be cool too
schnebbau 5y ago
They said the transition will take 2 years. Does this mean there could be an Intel version of the new MacBook Pro (alongside M1X) in H2?
- rvz 5y ago
  I only expect Apple to be supporting Intel machines through updates only as now macOS 12 is starting to make some features exclusive to Apple Silicon machines. Highly unlikely that a new Intel Macbook Pro would be released. Probably the last machine to transition to Apple Silicon would be the Mac Pro.
- akmarinov 5y ago
  Unlikely, they’ll probably update the Mac Pro with a new Intel CPU this year, but very unlikely to see anything else.
justinator 5y ago
No mention of any chip shortages? I would think that's going to delay timelines significantly. If you want an Mn Mac, you should probably get one now.
- wmf 5y ago
  Apple is somewhat exempt from the chip shortage because they booked capacity far in advance and they're willing to pay high prices. There are rumors that they're having troubling finding mini-LEDs though.
- akmarinov 5y ago
  Chip shortages came around when Covid hit the car industry and everyone dialed back their orders, manufacturers reduced their output. Now everyone wants chip as a “post-Covid” world wants to spend the money they’ve saved by staying at home last year. Apple, in the meantime, bought out all of TSMC’s initial 4nm capacity, so they’re likely fine.
  - justinator 5y ago
    That's good news for Apple. How's the rest of their supply chain looking?
    - Spartan-S63 5y ago
      If the M1 iPad Pro launch was any indication, it was about three weeks from preorder to first delivery. It could have been scheduled that way to allow some flex time, it could have been a result of supply chain constraints. Either way, that's about a one week addition to the typical pattern. That said, that's not a rigorous way to look at their supply chain situation. I'd guess Apple is pretty solid on their iPad and iPhone lineups. Mac is probably a mixed bag and M1X chips in the fall refresh may lead to longer delays in getting product than folks are used to.
- tomjen3 5y ago
  They can afford to pay to get premium access. Same reason they don't have to worry about freight prices going up: they can afford to pay more and ship it by air.
tomjen3 5y ago
It seems likely that we will see a faster processor and more RAM (to me it would make sense to have 16GB base and allow upgrades to 32GB). The last time Apple released the lower end computers and now they will release their high-end. What happened last time was just that their low-end was good enough that it covered most of what people needed, so it didn't seem as much of a low-end as it was meant to be.
AnonC 5y ago
Save time and follow one of the popular Apple rumor sites for better information. This doesn’t really say anything that hasn’t already been said on the popular sites that track better sources like Ming-Chi Kuo or Mark Gurman. It’s not even edited properly, with silly typos on Twitter handle names.

rvz 5y ago

> In conclusion, we’re expecting a faster processor, improved graphical performance due to increased GPU cores, and a larger 14” screen to replace the current 13” MacBook Pro. Good. So then there was no point in getting the M1 Macbook Pro (the one that has a fan) and it was already getting replaced less than a year ago anyway? Glad I skipped it and kept using my existing Macbook. Some of the software on there wasn't even ported, stable or even optimized on there anyway. recoveryOS didn't seem to work properly on launch day either. At least this time, I won't have to wait months for developers to finish porting their apps to Apple Silicon; unlike the November 2020 launch day fanatics.

syspec 5y ago
"New thing not perfect!"
- rvz 5y ago
  Not moving at all and sitting on my existing Intel Macbook was the best decision ever. It "just works" fine. So waiting 6 months after purchase just to do your work or other things seems to be acceptable for some...
  - akmarinov 5y ago
    Depends on what you do. On the other hand, the performance gains were massive enough for all Intel Macbooks to feel like quicksand and I just can’t imagine having to work with one. It’s like going back to HDD after having an SSD.
    - rvz 5y ago
      > the performance gains were massive enough for all Intel Macbooks to feel like quicksand and I just can’t imagine having to work with one. It may depend on the user to some extent, but if I cannot run this iOS app because the developer told me so or an app that is not ported to Apple Silicon and doesn't work well in Rosetta then what is the point? What good is a system that indeed delivers on these performance gains but also doesn't run the software you need for more than 6 months after purchase? I'd rather wait with my 'already working MacBook' which runs fine, than to be part of the early adopted chaos club that went all in on the M1 and then complained for months about the SSD wearing issues themselves; only to say one benefit that 'It just runs faster!'
CharlesW 5y ago
> Glad I skipped it and kept using my existing Macbook. You should skip the fall MacBooks too, because the fall 2022 MacBooks will be significantly better. /s
- rvz 5y ago
  Oh yes, I'd should actually. Because the fruit company once told me that the machine will run ALL iOS apps and games on the App Store! [0] /s Except most of your existing software wasn't available or did not work upon launch day and you had to wait 6 months for it to be stable. At that point why bother with an M1 Macbook when you can get an M1X instead. [0] Only the ones that the developers allow and is ultimately up to them. And no you cannot side-load them either as of January of this year.
  - rvz 5y ago
    Downvoters: You know [0] is absolutely true no matter how much you hate it or won't admit it [1]. This is with concrete HARD evidence from even a pro Apple website: 'At this point there’s no known workaround for side loading iOS apps on M1 Macs, so we’ll have to wait and see if Apple will once again reverse its decision or if someone else will be able to modify the operating system to install any iOS apps on compatible Macs.' It is indeed fast but if it can't run the iOS software you want then what is the point? [1] https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/09/apple-once-again-starts-blocking-m1-mac-users-from-side-loading-iphone-and-ipad-apps/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/09/apple-once-again-starts-block...
- lalalalala777 5y ago
  Sick burn, but seriously, this first generation is the one to sit out. The current generation of M1 is IO limited. Rosetta is great but has its own limitations. Skipping the first gen buys time for devs to support Apple Silicon natively, and the second gen will solve the IO issues. Unless you want to be part of the transition or really need to replace you Mac, op has the right idea.
  - reikonomusha 5y ago
guscost 5y ago
We get it, you are not an early adopter of these things. Me neither, as a matter of fact.
bnt 5y ago
The M1 13” Pros were supposed to replace the low end Intel 13” machines.
akmarinov 5y ago
The 13” Macbook Pro that they first transitioned to M1 was the cheapest, entry level 13”. Even before M1, they had that one with only 2 ports as the entry 13” MBP. Just like they transitioned the entry level Mini, but kept selling the high end Intel version. They’re now updating the higher end 13”

jayd16 5y ago

I hope we see more than 16GB of ram.

gigatexal 5y ago
I’m willing to put money on it at least doubling to 32GB. The rumor of HBM on the soc is insane but would be cool too

schnebbau 5y ago

They said the transition will take 2 years. Does this mean there could be an Intel version of the new MacBook Pro (alongside M1X) in H2?

rvz 5y ago
I only expect Apple to be supporting Intel machines through updates only as now macOS 12 is starting to make some features exclusive to Apple Silicon machines. Highly unlikely that a new Intel Macbook Pro would be released. Probably the last machine to transition to Apple Silicon would be the Mac Pro.
akmarinov 5y ago
Unlikely, they’ll probably update the Mac Pro with a new Intel CPU this year, but very unlikely to see anything else.

justinator 5y ago

No mention of any chip shortages? I would think that's going to delay timelines significantly. If you want an Mn Mac, you should probably get one now.

wmf 5y ago
Apple is somewhat exempt from the chip shortage because they booked capacity far in advance and they're willing to pay high prices. There are rumors that they're having troubling finding mini-LEDs though.
akmarinov 5y ago
Chip shortages came around when Covid hit the car industry and everyone dialed back their orders, manufacturers reduced their output. Now everyone wants chip as a “post-Covid” world wants to spend the money they’ve saved by staying at home last year. Apple, in the meantime, bought out all of TSMC’s initial 4nm capacity, so they’re likely fine.
- justinator 5y ago
  That's good news for Apple. How's the rest of their supply chain looking?
  - Spartan-S63 5y ago
    If the M1 iPad Pro launch was any indication, it was about three weeks from preorder to first delivery. It could have been scheduled that way to allow some flex time, it could have been a result of supply chain constraints. Either way, that's about a one week addition to the typical pattern. That said, that's not a rigorous way to look at their supply chain situation. I'd guess Apple is pretty solid on their iPad and iPhone lineups. Mac is probably a mixed bag and M1X chips in the fall refresh may lead to longer delays in getting product than folks are used to.
tomjen3 5y ago
They can afford to pay to get premium access. Same reason they don't have to worry about freight prices going up: they can afford to pay more and ship it by air.

tomjen3 5y ago

It seems likely that we will see a faster processor and more RAM (to me it would make sense to have 16GB base and allow upgrades to 32GB). The last time Apple released the lower end computers and now they will release their high-end. What happened last time was just that their low-end was good enough that it covered most of what people needed, so it didn't seem as much of a low-end as it was meant to be.

AnonC 5y ago

Save time and follow one of the popular Apple rumor sites for better information. This doesn’t really say anything that hasn’t already been said on the popular sites that track better sources like Ming-Chi Kuo or Mark Gurman. It’s not even edited properly, with silly typos on Twitter handle names.