3 ms·

Wasn't it the "fastest laptop ever"?

reaperman 3y ago
I mean, for the work I do that’s probably true. My work is 99% CPU/RAM/disk dependent. GPU obviously not, but maybe that claim would hold water at some arbitrary wattage limit. My takeaway is that the GPU “doesn’t completely suck” and that Apple are dedicating continuing resources to making their platform actually usable, which I was worried about. I mean, it seems difficult just to intentionally use the Apple Neural Engine, and impossible to explicitly use it, which makes testing aggravating. Any continued focus on improving developer experience for the coprocessors (GPU, ANE, R1, etc) is a good signal.
- barbariangrunge 3y ago
  If it's disk dependent, then the m2 ssds are half as fast as the m1 ssds because it's single lane, unless you upgrade
  - reaperman 3y ago
    Yeah I don't think laptops should be sold at all with 512GB -- I think that's as absurd of a product as a laptop with 128GB. Personally I spec out 2TB and judge price value based on that. So the speed issue doesn't affect me personally. I just wish they wouldn't sell that model and then it wouldn't affect anyone.
throwaway290 3y ago
Isn't it when anchored to energy consumption? Sure you can put a powerful GPU in a laptop and make it effectively anchored to wall plug...
- sudosysgen 3y ago
  That's already true of the M1 Max. At maximum power from CPU+GPU it will barely last an hour. Edit: I wrote Ultra, but I meant Max.
  - throwaway290 3y ago
    > M1 Ultra Do they put M1 Ultra in laptops tho?
    - sudosysgen 3y ago
      Yes. The MBP with an M1 Max will, at max performance, use enough power that it would discharge it's battery in less than an hour. I think Apple throttles it on battery, though.
      - pram 3y ago
        The MBP with an M1 Ultra isn't a thing that exists.
        sudosysgen 3y ago
        You're right, I miswrote, it's the M1 Max. See https://www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performance-review/3 https://www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performanc... - the M1 Max can draw over 100W.
    - Hamuko 3y ago
      No. There does not exist an M1 Ultra laptop of any kind. Nor an M2 Ultra laptop for that matter. The only machines with Mn Ultra are the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_M1#Products_that_use_the_Apple_M1_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_M1#Products_that_use_the...
  - mrtranscendence 3y ago
    That may be true, but in practice I get faaar better battery life out of my M1 Max than I would out of a laptop with a mobile 4090.
    - sudosysgen 3y ago
      Do you do AAA gaming on your M1 Max? If not, then the GPU is irrelevant, because a laptop with a 4090 mobile is going to shut it down completely. If you are indeed doing AAA gaming, then you wouldn't have sufficient battery life without plugging in, or you wouldn't have sufficient performance.

I mean, for the work I do that’s probably true. My work is 99% CPU/RAM/disk dependent. GPU obviously not, but maybe that claim would hold water at some arbitrary wattage limit. My takeaway is that the GPU “doesn’t completely suck” and that Apple are dedicating continuing resources to making their platform actually usable, which I was worried about. I mean, it seems difficult just to intentionally use the Apple Neural Engine, and impossible to explicitly use it, which makes testing aggravating. Any continued focus on improving developer experience for the coprocessors (GPU, ANE, R1, etc) is a good signal.

barbariangrunge 3y ago
If it's disk dependent, then the m2 ssds are half as fast as the m1 ssds because it's single lane, unless you upgrade
- reaperman 3y ago
  Yeah I don't think laptops should be sold at all with 512GB -- I think that's as absurd of a product as a laptop with 128GB. Personally I spec out 2TB and judge price value based on that. So the speed issue doesn't affect me personally. I just wish they wouldn't sell that model and then it wouldn't affect anyone.

throwaway290 3y ago

Isn't it when anchored to energy consumption? Sure you can put a powerful GPU in a laptop and make it effectively anchored to wall plug...

sudosysgen 3y ago
That's already true of the M1 Max. At maximum power from CPU+GPU it will barely last an hour. Edit: I wrote Ultra, but I meant Max.
- throwaway290 3y ago
  > M1 Ultra Do they put M1 Ultra in laptops tho?
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    Yes. The MBP with an M1 Max will, at max performance, use enough power that it would discharge it's battery in less than an hour. I think Apple throttles it on battery, though.
    - pram 3y ago
      The MBP with an M1 Ultra isn't a thing that exists.
      - sudosysgen 3y ago
        You're right, I miswrote, it's the M1 Max. See https://www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performance-review/3 https://www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performanc... - the M1 Max can draw over 100W.
  - Hamuko 3y ago
    No. There does not exist an M1 Ultra laptop of any kind. Nor an M2 Ultra laptop for that matter. The only machines with Mn Ultra are the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_M1#Products_that_use_the_Apple_M1_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_M1#Products_that_use_the...
- mrtranscendence 3y ago
  That may be true, but in practice I get faaar better battery life out of my M1 Max than I would out of a laptop with a mobile 4090.
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    Do you do AAA gaming on your M1 Max? If not, then the GPU is irrelevant, because a laptop with a 4090 mobile is going to shut it down completely. If you are indeed doing AAA gaming, then you wouldn't have sufficient battery life without plugging in, or you wouldn't have sufficient performance.