mjtomlin

viclauyyc said:

Well, it looks good on number in the presentation. But let’s not forget the Ultra is comparing with a 2 year old Xeon. 2 years is a lot in computer technology. Not to mention, arguably AMD’s Epyc is the fastest CPU in the PC world. 

Let’s hope the future Mac Pro will be even faster with 4/8 sets of CPU. But it might cost $8000 on the entry model.

But let's also not forget the cores in the Ultra are 18 months old now, first released in the Fall 2020, in the A14, so I'd say it is a fairly valid comparison. Especially when also considering the price of Xeons... that 28-core is a $7,000US upgrade option. The CPU/GPU cores in the upcoming A16 should have a notable increase in both performance and efficiency. I'm thinking once the transition is done, Apple will move towards amore steady upgrade cycle for all their SoC's. With the base variant (M1, M2, M3) on a yearly update alongside the A-series, and the "X" variant (Pro, Max, Ultra) updated every two years, jumping a generation each time for added perceived performance.

I'd also like to point out that on the GB5 CPU chart there is currently only 1 CPU that scored higher than the Ultra in multi-core performance... a 64-core AMD Threadripper that runs at a whopping 280W TDP, and above 350W in full "Boost" mode. Meanwhile the CPU in the Ultra tops out at 60W. One other thing of note with the Ultra is the linear CPU performance increase with each new core which is unheard of. Imagine if Apple released a discrete CPU with 64 cores!? Running at under 200W with scores well above 50,000 on GB5. Maybe this is the route Apple goes with the Mac Pro? After all, if the Ultra is the last SoC in the M1 family, maybe Apple created something unique for the Pro?

suddenly newton said:

All y’all talking about “saving the quad for a Mac Pro” - are there additional interconnects on the M1? The ones used by the Ultra were discovered when the Pro/Max were x-rayed.

I don’t believe so… just at the bottom. This doesn’t prevent them from including 2 Ultras on package though, so while the Ultra might be the last “SoC”, there could still be an M1 Extreme that includes 2 Ultras and memory on a single package. Apple keeps talking up this high performance fabric that connects the RAM to the SoC.

fastasleep said:

mjtomlin said:

forgot username said:

Needed: way to use an old 27-inch iMac as a display for the Mac Studio. 

What year? I use my 2009 27” iMac as an external display for my M1 mini. I believe models up until 2014 can be used in Target Display mode. Just need a TB3 to Mini DisplayPort adapter.

Weird. Why does Apple say this, then?

• The other Mac that you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed.

Can’t say without more context. All I know is that my M1 Mac mini works fine connected to my 2009 iMac.

ITGUYINSD said:

Nice to see my Mac Mini M1 didn't depreciate as much today as I had anticipated.  $1999 doesn't exactly attract the same crowd as the $700-$800 Mac Mini M1.  Would have been nice to see a M1 Pro Mini for $1000.

Agree… How about an iMac and a Mac mini with an M1 Pro, even if it is low-end variant.

forgot username said:

Needed: way to use an old 27-inch iMac as a display for the Mac Studio. 

What year? I use my 2009 27” iMac as an external display for my M1 mini. I believe models up until 2014 can be used in Target Display mode. Just need a TB3 to Mini DisplayPort adapter.