5 ms·

I agree with you right up to how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? A different keyboard, screen, touchpad, etc. all make a difference but why does t

I agree with you right up to how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? A different keyboard, screen, touchpad, etc. all make a difference but why does the chip make a difference?

ArgyleSound 5y ago
Power efficiency for one.
- IgorPartola 5y ago
  Was there nobody else who made power efficient chips?
  - JiNCMG 5y ago
    Not in the x86 arena. Every time Apple gets involved with a CPU developers (Motorola, IBM, Intel) their needs splits from the developers desires. This time they decided to go on their own (well after years of doing this for the iPhone). Note: They have been involved in the ARM CPU market since the days of the Newton.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    None of the other CPU manufacturers have access to the same silicon Apple does, so it's hard to say.
    - kingosticks 5y ago
      That would make sense in the context of Intel but anyone with money has access to TSMC 5nm (in 2021-2022). Do I misunderstand?
      - JiNCMG 5y ago
        Just because you have money doesn't mean you have a market. Just to run a plate to create test cpus cost in the millions. All others were happy with the incremental upgrades that they were getting from ARM. Apple needed more and started creating CPUs for the iPhones a few years back
        kingosticks 5y ago
        Looks like I did misunderstand, I thought they actually meant the silicon technology itself which is now available to the others and they all have designs coming using it.
  - PeterisP 5y ago
    Many other manufacturers had made power-efficient ARM chips, however, the mainstream computer makers (just a few years ago including Apple) did choose x86 compatibility over power efficiency.
ChuckNorris89 5y ago
>how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? Everything runs faster, cooler, quieter and battery lasts longer. Is that not part of the product UX?
- IgorPartola 5y ago
  That makes it sound like Intel, AMD, ARM, etc. we’re trying to build chips that run hotter and less efficiently.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    The end users don't care what brand of chip is under the hood, or why the UX on Apple's implementation of Intel chips sucked, they just know the new device has much better UX overall due to the more powerful and more efficient chip and will upgrade for that.
  - bzzzt 5y ago
    Seems like Intel really lost the plan there with every new generation having just a few percent better performance, trouble with moving to smaller nodes and the enormous regression from spectre/meltdown. The Apple chips are made for running macOS/iOS. Seems there are some hardware instructions that are tailor made for increasing the performance of Apple software so they can make sure everything is working toward a common goal.
  - neogodless 5y ago
    Not really They are trying to compete, and have different levers to pull with varying success. When the performance per clock or per watt levers don't work well enough, then they increase the power, and the end result is heat and inefficiency. On the flip side, integrated solutions add another lever... writing hardware that does exactly what your software needs to improve the user experience. AMD, ARM, and even Intel have some cool, efficient solutions, but not across their whole portfolio of products, and not at the higher ends of performance. But they are always competing, incrementing and working to get closer to that ideal. Apple was able to focus on their exact market segment and get there rapidly.
masklinn 5y ago
> I agree with you right up to how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? It allows apple to focus on what they want without being limited by and two their hardware provider’s strategy.

I agree with you right up to how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? A different keyboard, screen, touchpad, etc. all make a difference but why does the chip make a difference?

ArgyleSound 5y ago

Power efficiency for one.

IgorPartola 5y ago
Was there nobody else who made power efficient chips?
- JiNCMG 5y ago
  Not in the x86 arena. Every time Apple gets involved with a CPU developers (Motorola, IBM, Intel) their needs splits from the developers desires. This time they decided to go on their own (well after years of doing this for the iPhone). Note: They have been involved in the ARM CPU market since the days of the Newton.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  None of the other CPU manufacturers have access to the same silicon Apple does, so it's hard to say.
  - kingosticks 5y ago
    That would make sense in the context of Intel but anyone with money has access to TSMC 5nm (in 2021-2022). Do I misunderstand?
    - JiNCMG 5y ago
      Just because you have money doesn't mean you have a market. Just to run a plate to create test cpus cost in the millions. All others were happy with the incremental upgrades that they were getting from ARM. Apple needed more and started creating CPUs for the iPhones a few years back
      - kingosticks 5y ago
        Looks like I did misunderstand, I thought they actually meant the silicon technology itself which is now available to the others and they all have designs coming using it.
- PeterisP 5y ago
  Many other manufacturers had made power-efficient ARM chips, however, the mainstream computer makers (just a few years ago including Apple) did choose x86 compatibility over power efficiency.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

>how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? Everything runs faster, cooler, quieter and battery lasts longer. Is that not part of the product UX?

IgorPartola 5y ago
That makes it sound like Intel, AMD, ARM, etc. we’re trying to build chips that run hotter and less efficiently.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  The end users don't care what brand of chip is under the hood, or why the UX on Apple's implementation of Intel chips sucked, they just know the new device has much better UX overall due to the more powerful and more efficient chip and will upgrade for that.
- bzzzt 5y ago
  Seems like Intel really lost the plan there with every new generation having just a few percent better performance, trouble with moving to smaller nodes and the enormous regression from spectre/meltdown. The Apple chips are made for running macOS/iOS. Seems there are some hardware instructions that are tailor made for increasing the performance of Apple software so they can make sure everything is working toward a common goal.
- neogodless 5y ago
  Not really They are trying to compete, and have different levers to pull with varying success. When the performance per clock or per watt levers don't work well enough, then they increase the power, and the end result is heat and inefficiency. On the flip side, integrated solutions add another lever... writing hardware that does exactly what your software needs to improve the user experience. AMD, ARM, and even Intel have some cool, efficient solutions, but not across their whole portfolio of products, and not at the higher ends of performance. But they are always competing, incrementing and working to get closer to that ideal. Apple was able to focus on their exact market segment and get there rapidly.

masklinn 5y ago

> I agree with you right up to how exactly does the M1 chip affect the final UX? It allows apple to focus on what they want without being limited by and two their hardware provider’s strategy.