6 ms·

This is super impressive on paper, but it feels like there aren't really many applications that can take advantage of this power on a phone due to thermal and (

This is super impressive on paper, but it feels like there aren't really many applications that can take advantage of this power on a phone due to thermal and (battery) power constraints. Is the idea that mobile workloads are spiky so it can boost to full speed to render a webpage for example then go back to sleep? Are there / can there be any applications that sustain high clock speeds?

Retric 3y ago
Latency. I may spend 1,000 times as long looking at a website as it takes to render but that doesn’t mean taking a long time to render is ok. This is why modern consumer processors have boost modes followed by thermal throttling.
satvikpendem 3y ago
Well they're bringing AAA games like Resident Evil 4 Remake and Assassin's Creed Mirage to the iPhone, complete with raytracing support, so it looks like it'll be a golden age of Apple gaming soon enough.
- nxobject 3y ago
  So, it looks like Apple will be taking the console path to gaming, instead of the PC way.
  - satvikpendem 3y ago
    They'll be available on all Apple Silicon devices including Macs, as the processors are so similar.
- kibwen 3y ago
  Games made with a controller in mind are miserable experiences on a touchscreen. Phones are awkward and uncomfortable to hold like a controller, the lack of physical buttons provides no tactile feedback on where to press, the lack of shoulder buttons means overloading your thumbs with even more inputs, and your fingers obscure half the screen. And if the implication is that they'll port those iOS games to Mac, then I wouldn't count on it if it takes even a single iota of extra effort on their end. There are more Linux gamers than Mac gamers, and yet game devs still can't be arsed to test their games on Steam Deck.
  - gilgoomesh 3y ago
    Which is why you can stream your iPhone to a TV and connect a controller. There are also many controllers that clip onto the iPhone itself for a Switch-like experience.
  - slg 3y ago
    I don't think they expect people to seriously play Resident Evil 4 with touch controls. I imagine most people who actually complete the game will use either the controllers that attach to the side of the phone like a Switch, controllers that have a mount on top to hold the phone, a normal Bluetooth controls like a Dualshock with their phone in some other dock, or stream everything to an Apple TV.
    - etempleton 3y ago
      I have been surprised they have not been more aggressive with the chips in AppleTV and signed more deals to port games to the platform. In some ways Apple is well positioned to be a player in the game space, but they seem to lack the commitment and flexibility required to make it work.
      - enos_feedler 3y ago
        Mobile gaming is gaming and Apple owns mobile. They own a slice of the gaming space already.
      - joshstrange 3y ago
        > they seem to lack the commitment Tale as old as time. Apple has historically been terrible about committing to gaming which has led to game developers ignoring the platform. I do hope that Apple actually stays the course this time around and with the M* series of chips they've raised the floor for what game developers can count on having available. I really thought they would have made a bigger play for gaming on the Apple TV (The hardware, not the app, not the service, I still can't get over that...), they pushed a little at the start but with most Apple gaming initiatives (aside from mobile) it seems to have fizzled out.
  - 3y ago
- dylan604 3y ago
  Sounds like Apple will be needing branded oven mitts to hold the thing in the store's accessories section.
- bottlepalm 3y ago
  iPhone could be a legit game console if developers wanted it to. Pair a Bluetooth game controller with screen mirroring and there you go. There are so many games on Steam I wish they would port to iPhone. It's like having this incredibly powerful device in your pocket and you can't actually use it for anything.
MBCook 3y ago
Remember that whatever is in the A series chips ends up in future M series chips too, only with lower thermal and battery restrictions. I think this would be the base of the future M4.
jwells89 3y ago
As far as I’ve gathered, race to idle has definitely been a focal point for Apple when it comes to power management along with coalescence of CPU and antenna wakeups — the system batches up work, powers up components, burns through the work as quickly as possible, and then returns components to idle/sleep. This is also why on iOS, apps that become known for abusing or mismanaging background processing are penalized and have their background processes run less often. Even just a couple of processes waffling around instead of completing their tasks and quitting can keep the system from idling and have a big negative impact.

Retric 3y ago

Latency. I may spend 1,000 times as long looking at a website as it takes to render but that doesn’t mean taking a long time to render is ok. This is why modern consumer processors have boost modes followed by thermal throttling.

satvikpendem 3y ago

Well they're bringing AAA games like Resident Evil 4 Remake and Assassin's Creed Mirage to the iPhone, complete with raytracing support, so it looks like it'll be a golden age of Apple gaming soon enough.

nxobject 3y ago
So, it looks like Apple will be taking the console path to gaming, instead of the PC way.
- satvikpendem 3y ago
  They'll be available on all Apple Silicon devices including Macs, as the processors are so similar.
kibwen 3y ago
Games made with a controller in mind are miserable experiences on a touchscreen. Phones are awkward and uncomfortable to hold like a controller, the lack of physical buttons provides no tactile feedback on where to press, the lack of shoulder buttons means overloading your thumbs with even more inputs, and your fingers obscure half the screen. And if the implication is that they'll port those iOS games to Mac, then I wouldn't count on it if it takes even a single iota of extra effort on their end. There are more Linux gamers than Mac gamers, and yet game devs still can't be arsed to test their games on Steam Deck.
- gilgoomesh 3y ago
  Which is why you can stream your iPhone to a TV and connect a controller. There are also many controllers that clip onto the iPhone itself for a Switch-like experience.
- slg 3y ago
  I don't think they expect people to seriously play Resident Evil 4 with touch controls. I imagine most people who actually complete the game will use either the controllers that attach to the side of the phone like a Switch, controllers that have a mount on top to hold the phone, a normal Bluetooth controls like a Dualshock with their phone in some other dock, or stream everything to an Apple TV.
  - etempleton 3y ago
    I have been surprised they have not been more aggressive with the chips in AppleTV and signed more deals to port games to the platform. In some ways Apple is well positioned to be a player in the game space, but they seem to lack the commitment and flexibility required to make it work.
    - enos_feedler 3y ago
      Mobile gaming is gaming and Apple owns mobile. They own a slice of the gaming space already.
    - joshstrange 3y ago
      > they seem to lack the commitment Tale as old as time. Apple has historically been terrible about committing to gaming which has led to game developers ignoring the platform. I do hope that Apple actually stays the course this time around and with the M* series of chips they've raised the floor for what game developers can count on having available. I really thought they would have made a bigger play for gaming on the Apple TV (The hardware, not the app, not the service, I still can't get over that...), they pushed a little at the start but with most Apple gaming initiatives (aside from mobile) it seems to have fizzled out.
- 3y ago
dylan604 3y ago
Sounds like Apple will be needing branded oven mitts to hold the thing in the store's accessories section.
bottlepalm 3y ago
iPhone could be a legit game console if developers wanted it to. Pair a Bluetooth game controller with screen mirroring and there you go. There are so many games on Steam I wish they would port to iPhone. It's like having this incredibly powerful device in your pocket and you can't actually use it for anything.

MBCook 3y ago

Remember that whatever is in the A series chips ends up in future M series chips too, only with lower thermal and battery restrictions. I think this would be the base of the future M4.

jwells89 3y ago

As far as I’ve gathered, race to idle has definitely been a focal point for Apple when it comes to power management along with coalescence of CPU and antenna wakeups — the system batches up work, powers up components, burns through the work as quickly as possible, and then returns components to idle/sleep. This is also why on iOS, apps that become known for abusing or mismanaging background processing are penalized and have their background processes run less often. Even just a couple of processes waffling around instead of completing their tasks and quitting can keep the system from idling and have a big negative impact.