3 ms·

I'm not arguing for or against, but we've hit a fairly stable period of diminishing returns on specs. We've solved the storage latency and throughout bottlenec

I'm not arguing for or against, but we've hit a fairly stable period of diminishing returns on specs. We've solved the storage latency and throughout bottlenecks, scheduling, and CPU core counts, so we don't really need beaucoups of RAM for a functional laptop. RAM bandwidth doubles with each generation and throughout and latency improve, so less is needed for the same performance. Batteries are relatively inexpensive to replace through the vendor are improved in energy density, energy density, and cycles, so there's not a big advantage to buying aftermarket even though you can. For 2014-2016 Macs with flash storage, they're still pretty great to excellent machines. The greatest detriment to the longevity of 2017-2019 Macs is that they contain Intel components, and that every release of MacOS since High Sierra has been designed adversarial against their security flaws. Costco was practically giving away Intel iMacs recently, offering them almost half off. Also, I remember benchmarking on apfs post-mitigations and seeing up to a 40% performance loss on some syscalls, which translated to an unusable computer on dual core Intels or anything with mechanical storage. How would upgrading components have helped then?

Miraste 5y ago
Apple is rather good at planned obsolescence. Intel handed them a few years of unusable machines on a platter (thanks Intel) but I’m sure they’ll find new reasons for MacOS updates to degrade performance on old machines regardless of hardware capability.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  They lead the industry in how long they provide OS update support for phones/tablets and desktops/laptops. They downclock the CPU on mobile devices as the battery ages, to keep the CPU from browning out so you My system, made in 2013, won't be supported by the next OS release this coming fall, but they usually continue security updates at least one release behind. That's basically ten years of hardware support. Keep in mind that Windows 10 came out in 2015. A ton of manufacturers simply did not support windows 10 on hardware sold before it, because win10 coming out helps them move new PCs.
  - fartcannon 5y ago
    Linux leads the industry in support, and additionally, in openness. Apple leads the industry in using slave labour to create disposable fashion items. https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/10/seven-apple-suppliers-allegedly-using-forced-labor/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/10/seven-apple-suppliers-alleged...
  - Miraste 5y ago
    Linux and Windows both support most hardware for longer than Apple does. It may not have a manufacturer stamp of approval, but Windows 10 supports CPUs back to some Pentium 4s with full security updates. That's a decade farther back than Apple.
anamax 5y ago
> RAM bandwidth doubles with each generation and throughout and latency improve RAM bandwidth is improving a lot faster than its latency. (The latter is almost as stagnant as max CPU clock frequencies.)

Miraste 5y ago

Apple is rather good at planned obsolescence. Intel handed them a few years of unusable machines on a platter (thanks Intel) but I’m sure they’ll find new reasons for MacOS updates to degrade performance on old machines regardless of hardware capability.

KennyBlanken 5y ago
They lead the industry in how long they provide OS update support for phones/tablets and desktops/laptops. They downclock the CPU on mobile devices as the battery ages, to keep the CPU from browning out so you My system, made in 2013, won't be supported by the next OS release this coming fall, but they usually continue security updates at least one release behind. That's basically ten years of hardware support. Keep in mind that Windows 10 came out in 2015. A ton of manufacturers simply did not support windows 10 on hardware sold before it, because win10 coming out helps them move new PCs.
- fartcannon 5y ago
  Linux leads the industry in support, and additionally, in openness. Apple leads the industry in using slave labour to create disposable fashion items. https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/10/seven-apple-suppliers-allegedly-using-forced-labor/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/10/seven-apple-suppliers-alleged...
- Miraste 5y ago
  Linux and Windows both support most hardware for longer than Apple does. It may not have a manufacturer stamp of approval, but Windows 10 supports CPUs back to some Pentium 4s with full security updates. That's a decade farther back than Apple.

anamax 5y ago

> RAM bandwidth doubles with each generation and throughout and latency improve RAM bandwidth is improving a lot faster than its latency. (The latter is almost as stagnant as max CPU clock frequencies.)