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Intel learned from Apple. Not many people want to upgrade RAM, but Soc RAM is cheaper and faster - part of the Mx performance over Intel/AMD is from a 3x faster
by KingOfCoders 2y ago
Intel learned from Apple. Not many people want to upgrade RAM, but Soc RAM is cheaper and faster - part of the Mx performance over Intel/AMD is from a 3x faster memory access (70gb/sec DDR4/5, 200+gb/sec Mx).
"According to Intel, this move will make the RAM use up to 40 percent less power."
On top of the performance gains integrated RAM uses less power.
On top of these two things, Intel has better margins if they sell the RAM.
And while it's not as fast as GPU memory, you can easily have more memory for AI in an unified memory model (64gb e.g.) - or rumored 128gb for Strix Halo.
See how Mx is faster, uses less power, is better for AI, and Apple makes more money?
- Dylan16807 2y ago> part of the Mx performance over Intel/AMD is from a 3x faster memory access (70gb/sec DDR4/5, 200+gb/sec Mx). With DDR5 I'd say more like 2.4x. And it should be made clear that that's mostly by virtue of fitting the equivalent of four memory channels on the Pro models. The non-Pro models don't see a very big boost. In that context, CAMM stays exciting, because if you design a CPU to support two LPCAMM2 modules you can get 200+GB/s on upgradable memory. Though in a laptop form factor it would be hard to double that again to compete with a Max chip.
- borisk 2y agoSoC RAM let's the vendor abuse the user. The 8GB needed to go from 8GB to 16GB on a MacBook Air cost Apple less than $10, but it charges the customer extra $200 for it. Don't see how Apple makes more money is a good thing - it means millions of their clients have less money left.
- vardump 2y ago"on a MacBook Air cost Apple less than $10" I don't think $200 is justified nor do I want to defend Apple... but where do you get 8GB with 100 GB/s bandwidth for $10?
- zihotki 2y agoAm I right that you as a consumer want to get the memory at the price Apple gets it from the fabs? That's a bit silly.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y agoRight, but 20x seems like excessive
- hagbard_c 2y agoNot as silly as a 1900% markup.
- Dylan16807 2y agoI can go buy two sticks of 6400MHz DDR5 for $20 per 8GB, to match the bus width and speed. The manufacturer might be paying more than $10 for the chips, but not much more. I don't know if I should expect much price difference between DDR5 and LPDDR5?
- vardump 2y ago6400 MHz * 64 bit = 51.2 GBps. Apple's laptops memory bandwidth varies between 100-400 GBps. Regardless, I'd want Apple to have two additional LPDDR5 slots. The system could swap there or have a tiered memory.
- Dylan16807 2y agoWhere did you get 64 bits though? That's a single stick, and normal devices use two sticks in parallel. They are in the range of 100GB/s.
- vardump 2y agoSure, although we were talking about $10. And again as a reminder, we agree that Apple's RAM pricing is ridiculous.