5 ms·

I never understood this project. Maybe I'm missing something, but the timescale is such that by the time they're done the product isn't even being sold anymore

I never understood this project. Maybe I'm missing something, but the timescale is such that by the time they're done the product isn't even being sold anymore At least with Panfrost it made more sense bc it still being used M1 chip laptops can only be bought second hand at this point

syabro 1y ago
Why only m1? Just installed stuff on my M2 Max Some texts says m3 also supported...
aloha2436 1y ago
Why would the product have to be available new for the project to be worth it? There are still many M1 chips out there, and this helps prolong the usefulness of those chips.
adrum 1y ago
I believe Walmart has a deal[1] with Apple to sell[2] M1 MacBook Airs. This has been the case for a year or so, so I don't think it's old stock. They have been in stock for since that date, and slowly getting cheaper. [1]https://9to5mac.com/2024/03/16/walmart-m1-macbook-air-launch/ https://9to5mac.com/2024/03/16/walmart-m1-macbook-air-launch... [2]https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-MacBook-Air-13-3-inch-Laptop-Space-Gray-M1-Chip-Built-for-Apple-Intelligence-8GB-RAM-256GB-storage/609040889 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-MacBook-Air-13-3-inch-Lapto...
- contrarian1234 1y ago
  Oh interesting! I for some reason thought Apple devices can only every be purchased from Apple (maybe that was only during the Steve Jobs era) But 8GB of RAM.. that's unfortunately completely unusable by most developers. (Panfrost drivers you can at least use on RPi-like devices) Maybe in another 5 years it'll work on the M3/4 and I'll revisit this. Good to know the devices are still being built so long after release
  - MBCook 1y ago
    They’ve always been available at Best Buy, BH Photo, and other authorized partners in the US. The Walmart deal is a total mystery. It started, seemingly, as dumping new old stock without selling it on Apple.com, but they’ve even updated the machine I think so clearly it’s an ongoing concern. Nothing like it I know of for Apple, ever. I’d love to know the story.
    - lotsofpulp 1y ago
      I would guess Apple’s goal is increasing the number of people buying recurring Apple services, such as icloud and tv+. It has been a long time since people have needed cutting edge laptops, so an M1 bought today will still work for 90% of people for the next 5+ years. Even if Apple doesn’t earn a large profit margin on the sale of the laptop, they could earn a decent amount on monthly services revenue, plus increased odds of that person buying a watch/airpods/phone/etc.
      - MBCook 1y ago
        I would agree except the machines are so low spec I don’t think they’re a good experience. An M1 is great. But RAM and storage won’t hold up as long. I suspect they can sell them at that price and still make a killing, and all the equipment to make chassis/etc is already paid off.
        lotsofpulp 1y ago
        For what purposes will the RAM and storage not hold up? I see most people around me watching media, using a web browser to shop, maps, look at photos/videos (small storage is great for Apple, then more people buy icloud), fill out pdfs, and maybe some email or light excel. Presumably, those are the people likely to buy a laptop at Walmart.
        wpm 1y ago
        Storage can at least be expanded externally, if at a cost of speed, reliability, and convenience. For the RAM, 8GB is not enough, but in fairness, when the system can page out at 200GB/s, paging out doesn't hurt nearly as bad. Its only when things have to thrash the page file that it becomes readily apparent on these (say, an application needs to have more than a few GB of stuff resident in memory all the time).
ac29 1y ago
> M1 chip laptops can only be bought second hand at this point New M1 Macbook Airs are still available at Walmart (maybe elsewhere). But even if not, who cares? People are still writing code for computers that haven't been sold since the 1980s.
- contrarian1234 1y ago
  Yeah, I get if it's just a for-fun kind of thing. I didn't mean to knock it. I guess generally people want their work to end up being used. The time-line is such that that seems semi-impossible. As the other replies show, you can still buy this machine, but it sounds like it likely won't be for too much longer The developers involved must be acutely aware of it. Maybe they have some sense that the work will easily update to current M chips. Or maybe they don't really care about that. It was just an interesting exercise and they move on
- ivolimmen 1y ago
  Hum.. I can still buy a 100% hardware compatible NEW C64...
norman784 1y ago
You can repurpose a decent hardware, in terms of performance and consumption, to run for far more time than Apple is willing to support it?
dezgeg 1y ago
When the next gen chip comes out you can usually reuse large amount of stuff.
- contrarian1234 1y ago
  "usually" being compared to what..? Maybe it's just due to a complete lack of attention, but I think M3/4 support is extremely minimal at this point. Which is not a great sign..

syabro 1y ago

Why only m1? Just installed stuff on my M2 Max Some texts says m3 also supported...

aloha2436 1y ago

Why would the product have to be available new for the project to be worth it? There are still many M1 chips out there, and this helps prolong the usefulness of those chips.

adrum 1y ago

I believe Walmart has a deal[1] with Apple to sell[2] M1 MacBook Airs. This has been the case for a year or so, so I don't think it's old stock. They have been in stock for since that date, and slowly getting cheaper. [1]https://9to5mac.com/2024/03/16/walmart-m1-macbook-air-launch/ https://9to5mac.com/2024/03/16/walmart-m1-macbook-air-launch... [2]https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-MacBook-Air-13-3-inch-Laptop-Space-Gray-M1-Chip-Built-for-Apple-Intelligence-8GB-RAM-256GB-storage/609040889 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-MacBook-Air-13-3-inch-Lapto...

contrarian1234 1y ago
Oh interesting! I for some reason thought Apple devices can only every be purchased from Apple (maybe that was only during the Steve Jobs era) But 8GB of RAM.. that's unfortunately completely unusable by most developers. (Panfrost drivers you can at least use on RPi-like devices) Maybe in another 5 years it'll work on the M3/4 and I'll revisit this. Good to know the devices are still being built so long after release
- MBCook 1y ago
  They’ve always been available at Best Buy, BH Photo, and other authorized partners in the US. The Walmart deal is a total mystery. It started, seemingly, as dumping new old stock without selling it on Apple.com, but they’ve even updated the machine I think so clearly it’s an ongoing concern. Nothing like it I know of for Apple, ever. I’d love to know the story.
  - lotsofpulp 1y ago
    I would guess Apple’s goal is increasing the number of people buying recurring Apple services, such as icloud and tv+. It has been a long time since people have needed cutting edge laptops, so an M1 bought today will still work for 90% of people for the next 5+ years. Even if Apple doesn’t earn a large profit margin on the sale of the laptop, they could earn a decent amount on monthly services revenue, plus increased odds of that person buying a watch/airpods/phone/etc.
    - MBCook 1y ago
      I would agree except the machines are so low spec I don’t think they’re a good experience. An M1 is great. But RAM and storage won’t hold up as long. I suspect they can sell them at that price and still make a killing, and all the equipment to make chassis/etc is already paid off.
      - lotsofpulp 1y ago
        For what purposes will the RAM and storage not hold up? I see most people around me watching media, using a web browser to shop, maps, look at photos/videos (small storage is great for Apple, then more people buy icloud), fill out pdfs, and maybe some email or light excel. Presumably, those are the people likely to buy a laptop at Walmart.
      - wpm 1y ago
        Storage can at least be expanded externally, if at a cost of speed, reliability, and convenience. For the RAM, 8GB is not enough, but in fairness, when the system can page out at 200GB/s, paging out doesn't hurt nearly as bad. Its only when things have to thrash the page file that it becomes readily apparent on these (say, an application needs to have more than a few GB of stuff resident in memory all the time).

ac29 1y ago

> M1 chip laptops can only be bought second hand at this point New M1 Macbook Airs are still available at Walmart (maybe elsewhere). But even if not, who cares? People are still writing code for computers that haven't been sold since the 1980s.

contrarian1234 1y ago
Yeah, I get if it's just a for-fun kind of thing. I didn't mean to knock it. I guess generally people want their work to end up being used. The time-line is such that that seems semi-impossible. As the other replies show, you can still buy this machine, but it sounds like it likely won't be for too much longer The developers involved must be acutely aware of it. Maybe they have some sense that the work will easily update to current M chips. Or maybe they don't really care about that. It was just an interesting exercise and they move on
ivolimmen 1y ago
Hum.. I can still buy a 100% hardware compatible NEW C64...

norman784 1y ago

You can repurpose a decent hardware, in terms of performance and consumption, to run for far more time than Apple is willing to support it?

dezgeg 1y ago

When the next gen chip comes out you can usually reuse large amount of stuff.

contrarian1234 1y ago
"usually" being compared to what..? Maybe it's just due to a complete lack of attention, but I think M3/4 support is extremely minimal at this point. Which is not a great sign..