mjtomlin

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mjtomlin
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  • Mac Studio may never get updated, because new Mac Pro is coming

    mjtomlinmjtomlin
    JP234 said:
    Dumbest quote from a dumb article:

    "However, the prospect of two Macs using M2 Ultra may be a problem for Apple, as one could cannibalize the sales of the other."

    When the iPad was released, causing ignorant magazine writers to voice their opinion that it could cannibalize iPod/iPhone sales, Steve Jobs himself famously said "If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will.”

    Turns out he knew what he was talking about.

    It is dumb simply for the reason these are two different form factor systems that serve different purposes. Apple isn't worried about their other product lines, they're more worried about making sure professionals who need expandability don't jump ship and go to Windows as they did after the trash can Mac Pro was released.

    The Studio is for those that need the performance without the need for expandability - it (plus Studio Display) is literally a replacement for the iMac Pro.
    JP234macike

  • Mac Studio may never get updated, because new Mac Pro is coming

    mjtomlinmjtomlin
    DuhSesame said:
    Better wait and see what the Mac Pro looks like.  Also, I don’t expect a 4-die version, and the M2-series is pretty lame in performance.

    I’m betting all for the M3, though I was concerned that Apple might give up the performance on Macs.  I hope not.

    The M2 has 20% CPU and 30% GPU performance gains over the M1... That by any standard is not "lame".

    Let's not forget that these designs are still new and may take a couple of generations to work all the kinks out. We could see much better gains in the M3 if they jump to A17 cores (skipping A16) and use TSMC's N3 process.
    thtwilliamlondonh2p

  • New Mac Pro may not support PCI-E GPUs

    mjtomlinmjtomlin
    1. If these new Mac Pros do not have support for all the PCIe cards that the current Intel Mac Pro support, this system will fail. Most users interested in this system will be those looking to upgrade from their current Mac Pro and will want to bring their extremely expensive MPX modules (GPU cards) with them. The advantages of PCI slots isn't just expandability, it's also portability - moving those cards to another system.

    2. RAM is not on the SoC, it's on-package and can easily moved to the motherboard. There's no reason Apple cannot do this - yes, there will be a performance hit.
    watto_cobraSerqetry

  • M2 Pro Mac mini vs Mac Pro - compared

    mjtomlinmjtomlin
    blastdoor said:
    Good comments discussion of GPU performance. 

    In order for the Mac Pro to compete with 'pro' level Windows/Linux systems using high-end discrete GPUs, I wonder if Apple needs to either (1) continue to include high-end discrete GPUs in the Mac Pro (which kind of runs contrary to Apple's strongly expressed preference for sharing memory between CPU and GPU cores, but perhaps so be it) or (2) reconfigure Apple Silicon so that CPU and GPU cores sit on different pieces of silicon and are linked together via 'UltraFusion', thereby perhaps improving chip yields since CPU and GPU cores could be on separate cores. 

    I'm inclined to think that option 2 is more appealing technically, but I'm not sure about the business/economics side. If Apple puts CPU and GPU on different dies linked by UltraFusion (or whatever they want to call their 'glue'), they would likely need to do that across more product lines than just the Mac Pro. Maybe only integrate CPU and GPU on a single piece of silicon for the generic M#, but for Pro, Max, Ultra, etc, put CPU and GPU on different dies linked. That would allow independent scaling of CPU and GPU power to better target the needs of users who either need more CPU or more GPU (or both). 

    This is what I thought they might do, but there's just not a market large enough to create a one-off design. The cost would be extremely high and price them out of market. I think their strategy of developing a single MxX SoC and creating 3 tiers (Max, Ultra, Extreme) of performance by stitching them together is an extremely cost effective design and one that is sustainable. An M1 Ultra tops out at about 220W that includes both the GPU and CPU. High-end desktop CPUs push 300W and high-end GPUs are over 400W now. And rarely does a workflow completely stress both GPU and CPU. So there's no reason an Mx "Extreme" can't top out at 400W inside a Mac Pro like case with a massive heat sink and fan.

    I do think Apple will need to support 3rd party GPUs (accelerators) in the Pro as some work flows require them. I also believe that with doubling the Ultra, the Extreme variant will have 16 memory channels. 8 will be used for "on die" RAM, and the other 8 will be used for expandable RAM.
    killroywatto_cobra

  • Apple is engaged in a 'silent war' against Google, claim engineers

    mjtomlinmjtomlin
    danox said:
    badmonk said:
    I read the FT piece and I think that Apple is unique among technology companies in that Apple seems to have real institutional memory of where they have been and where they are going.

    Part of this is built into the DNA, part is Steve’s legacy but also the upper echelon of management doesn’t have the self serving churn of other technology companies.

    I am positive they have not forgotten how Google stabbed them in the back.
    Apple certainly haven’t forgotten their experience with Motorola, IBM and Intel when it came to CPU design, which is probably the reason why Qualcomm and Broadcom will be written out of the picture at some point. That and the fact that Apple has new and on going projects (devices) in development that require a different type of design that need to be smaller faster, with a different power usage curve than what is available on the open market, also Apple may be working towards incorporating the communication chips within their M series SOC chips. Which is something that you would need to do if you’re working on Apple glasses, after all who’s going to do all the innovative work needed to incorporate the chips into the frame (space) of a normal size pair of glasses.

    Apple has a long history of being left behind and screwed by partnerships and eventually having to forge their own path. We got TrueType fonts, thanks to Adobe being greedy. We got iTunes Music Store and Safari thanks to Microsoft being monopolistic @ssholes.


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