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... or they optimize for different things. I'd get a Framework if I didn't have Apple Silicon as an option, but I like having a supercomputer in my backpack th
by api 2y ago
... or they optimize for different things.
I'd get a Framework if I didn't have Apple Silicon as an option, but I like having a supercomputer in my backpack that can run for 6-8 hours on a charge with two VMs, 10 web browser tabs, a smart code editor, and several chonky Electron chat applications open. It also has 64GiB of unified CPU/GPU memory, making it able to run non-trivial local LLMs.
I have never seen an Intel or AMD laptop that delivers both those things. There are underpowered light ones that last a long time, or portable workstations that will cook an imprint of the bottom of the case into your legs. AFAIK there is nothing in that domain that can run large LLMs due to either underpowered iGPUs or separate GPUs that would never have that much RAM on a laptop. A laptop CPU that can run, say, llama3 at a decent speed without GPU would be a portable space heater.
I could replace the battery if I wanted but it's been two years and it still holds a charge fine.
The thing that would make me ditch Apple is if they locked down the OS any more than it already is. Right now macOS treads a fine line between being restricted enough to be secure and safe for the less-technical user while remaining a "real computer." If they took away even the possibility of sudo root or worse tried to lock people into the App Store I'd be gone within a week or two.
Also why I am not an iPad customer. It's basically a giant phone and as near as I can tell putting M processors in them is simply a waste. If I'm buying something that big and that expensive it should be a real computer. Part of the definition of real computer is that I can run any arbitrary code I want on it. If I can't do that it's a "console," which is how I classify most phones as well.
Edit: making iDevices able to run VMs would get you almost there. You'd be able to run any code in theory but it'd be too disjoint from the main experience so still probably a nope for me.
- alt227 2y ago> I'd get a Framework if I didn't have Apple Silicon as an option > I like having a supercomputer in my backpack This shows where your priorities are, which is personal abundance over helping bigger global issues like waste and resource mining. Unfortunately you are joined by the majority of the population which is why things like climate change and poverty are still increasing even though everyone is very well aware of it.
- api 2y agoI like what Framework is doing but I think you're overestimating its likely impact on e-waste. If more devices were made this way it would realize some savings but there'd still be a lot of churn because stuff goes obsolete. The biggest source of gratuitous pointless e-waste isn't laptops anyway. It's pointless "IoT" devices and random gimmicky e-bullshit like that ridiculous "AI pin" that made the rounds. I don't think what laptop you buy has any effect on climate change. Replacing coal is like 40% of that problem, then as much oil as we can, then gas, in that order, and everything else is a rounding error. Your Framework modules don't help if they're manufactured with coal power and shipped with the same bunker diesel that ships Apple products over here.
- alt227 2y ago> I don't think what laptop you buy has any effect on climate change. This is the same attitude as people that say 'The plane is flying anyway whether I am on it or not'. Nothing will change while people are still making decisions on an individual rather than global level.