Apple Silicon (ARM based) Macs buyers and owners thread (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I found this article helpful in understanding what’s going on with the new computers.

First things first: Why the M1 starts at Apple’s low end

Apple revealed the first step in a two-year transition to its own processors. And it starts with the more affordable end of the Mac lineup.

www.macworld.com

For us Mini users, that certainly indicates the likelihood of upgraded models coming next year. I hadn't noticed that there is still a 2018/20 model until Cameron mentioned it. The i3 version is gone, which probably makes sense, but the i5 and i7 are still available. I'm still leery of the unified memory. I hope that's a cost cutting measure for the low end models and that higher models will at least have some kind of socketed memory. Even if it's not officially user replaceable. I've still upgraded the RAM on three of them myself. There certainly needs to be the capability for more than 16GB.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Unified Memory? That does not sound like a good thing, in my book. Max 16GB?

It depends on your definition of good – whether you are talking about performance, or about expandability.

If you take a look at Apple's description of the M1 system-on-chip, you'll see a block diagram where the CPU, the integrated GPU, the Neural Engine, and on-chip RAM are all connected to each other, and to cache, through a fabric block. According to Apple, "M1 unifies its high‑bandwidth, low‑latency memory into a single pool within a custom package. As a result, all of the technologies in the SoC can access the same data without copying it between multiple pools of memory. This dramatically improves performance and power efficiency."

I suspect that the M1 comes in two variants ("8 GB RAM onboard", "16 GB RAM onboard") and that there is no good way to add external RAM DIMMs to a M1-based system. I would also venture to guess that when Apple goes to design ARM CPUs for other, higher-end Macs, such as the 27" iMac or the Mac Pro, that they will design chips that can support RAM DIMMs. (External RAM accesses might be slower than on-chip ones, but they would at least be possible.)

 

[Sam Posten]

However, maxing the memory to 16GB killed any opportunity of me buying it yesterday.

Well 99.999% of the population doesn't load every app into memory like you do. There seriously is not a reasonable argument against 16gb for an Air class device. 16gb is PLENTY.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Well 99.999% of the population doesn't load every app into memory like you do. There seriously is not a reasonable argument against 16gb for an Air class device. 16gb is PLENTY.

I would take the time to read some of the comments on Apple Facebook groups and Mac forums.

More than that percentage would disagree with you.

 

[JohnRice]

I think you both have a point. 8gb used to be acceptable, but these days if you're doing anything more than browsing and email, you'll start running out of RAM at 8gb. So, now 16 kind of is the minimum. While that's probably plenty for most people, it's still a bit limiting. It seems clear these new Minis are specifically low end and that there looks to be two tiers of Mini coming. The new ones have fewer ports, and the i5 and i7 models are still available. That seems to indicate more to come in the line.

I used a 2012 Quad core Mini with maxed at 16gb for six years with no problem. Even running Photoshop and processing massive images. Still, with the new model, I still put in 32gb. 64gb is just too expensive to justify.

 

[DaveF]

OK guys, be gentle with me, but did anyone see a new Mini coming today?

I think I'm glad I upgraded all my minis before now to the 2018/20 versions. Unified Memory? That does not sound like a good thing, in my book. Max 16GB? No processor upgrade from the base model? Did they just cripple the Mini again? OK, low power consumption isn't that big a deal with the Mini, but does it compare to the i5 and i7 versions that were available? The 2018/20 versions were the best Minis they've ever made.

it’s a good thing.

How unified memory blows the SoCs off the M1 Macs

In an M1 Mac, all its main components are tightly integrated and interdependent. To achieve performance with versatility, they come ready-built, not kits.

eclecticlight.co

 

[DaveF]

My wife does professional graphic design in Adobe CC with 16 GB. She ran out of memory this weekend...because 1Password has a memory leak and blew up to 6GB.

Her next iMac will have 32GB to be safe. But I think the enthusiast crowd might overestimate how much memory is needed even for pro work.

 

[DaveF]

More perspective, including why our initial negative take on “unified memory” is misplaced.

One More Thing: The M1 Macs

The bottom line is that for over a decade, iPhones and iPads have had Apple-designed chips the competition could not and still cannot match. Now the Mac does too.

daringfireball.net

 

[Thomas Newton]

There are Geekbench 5 scores up for a M1-based MacBook Pro and a M1-based MacBook Air. In the single-core section of the Mac results brower, the M1-based machines took first and second place – ahead of a 27" Retina 5K iMac. In the multi-core section, they trailed a bunch of Xeon-based Mac Pros and iMac Pros, plus a few recent 27" iMacs. They scored slightly better than a 16" rMBP with a Core i9, and than a 2013 "trash can" Mac Pro with a 12-core CPU. Not a bad showing for an 8-core mobile CPU with a mixture of 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores.

On the multi-core test, the 8-core M1-based Air slaughtered the dual-core Core-i3-based Air that it replaced. (To be fair, so did the surviving quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 Airs, although not by anywhere near the same margin.)

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[DaveF]

I just looked at my Big Sure About this Mac and was reminded I've only got 8GB. Totally fine for my 27" iMac, email, web, photos, some spreadsheets, and the occasional lightweight numerical analysis in Matlab.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Am I reading this correctly? Someone is predicting 16" ARM Macbook Pro in a few weeks?

Apple's new Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro and AirTags slated for release in 2-3 weeks with up to five Apple Silicon devices due within a year

Rumour has it that Apple plans to release up to five Apple Silicon-backed Mac devices within the next year. Apparently, a 24-inch iMac, 12-inch MacBook, 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro will debut before the end of 2021, with a new Mac Pro set for release in either late 2021 or 2022...

www.notebookcheck.net

Very skeptical as nobody else is reporting that rumor as far as I know

 

[Thomas Newton]

Am I reading this correctly? Someone is predicting 16" ARM Macbook Pro in a few weeks?

They're not predicting that. They're predicting that: "Apple's new Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro" will be out in a few weeks. As for their speculations with regards to ARM-based Macs, they're just saying that a number of ARM-based Mac models will be out by the end of 2021. Probably an over-aggressive prediction, because if Apple is on a 2-year transition timetable, it could be the end of 2022 (plus or minus a few months) before the hardware transition is complete.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

They're not predicting that. They're predicting that: "Apple's new Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro" will be out in a few weeks. As for their speculations with regards to ARM-based Macs, they're just saying that a number of ARM-based Mac models will be out by the end of 2021. Probably an over-aggressive prediction, because if Apple is on a 2-year transition timetable, it could be the end of 2022 (plus or minus a few months) before the hardware transition is complete.

Gotcha. I read that wrong.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Going back and reading the tea leaves, it looks like it will probably be another year until we see a 16" ARM notebook.

WWDC is going to be about the iMac.

The wait may be worth it, though. It will most likely be the redesign we have been looking forward to as well as a mini-LED screen. The first iPad with mini LED screen is due out early next year.

 

[DaveF]

My wife is now about due for a new iMac. So, I hope they get announced early next year, so I we have the choice when it's time to buy.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Really informative video from Rene Ritchie. He addresses the 16GB limitations for what is yet to come next year.

In short, what we all know now, this was a low-power hardware event. There will be a more powerful Mini (space grey) and Macbook Pro next year.

Watch the video on YouTube for chapters that you may want to quickly access.

 

[Citizen87645]

Thanks Ron. That makes a lot of sense. I had not considered the silver vs. space gray differentiations with the Mini, and what that means in terms of the market segments.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thanks Ron. That makes a lot of sense. I had not considered the silver vs. space gray differentiations with the Mini, and what that means in terms of the market segments.

That video was very informative. I didn't catch that either, Cameron.

Release the "silver" Mini now as entry-level and then (hopefully) next year the "space grey"

I am looking forward to buying my first Mini

 

[Citizen87645]

Having owned Minis since they first came out, I didn't give much thought to when/why they changed the color in 2018, but it makes total sense now since the space gray had good enough specs I didn't feel I needed to go with an iMac when it came time to replace it.