programmer

chasm said:

netrox said:

Exactly why do we need to keep adding more CPU cores when most creative oriented applications would benefit from having more GPU cores? 

Not that I’m the last word on this topic, but to put this VERY simply CPUs do math and GPUs take that math and manipulate pixels. Graphics are created through math, so more CPUs enable GPUs to do their job better.

More GPUs are needed when you have really really large screens/more screens. More CPUs are needed when you need more graphics.

Sorry, but that is wrong.  GPUs excel at doing math at high memory bandwidths... but they basically need to be able to do the math in parallel, and the application has to be written specifically to use the GPU.  CPUs are the default place for code to run, and are generally better at doing complex logic with lots of decisions, randomly chasing through memory for data, and doing less "orderly" computations.  To leverage multiple CPUs, the application has to be written to do that and it isn't the default.  Code typically starts its existence on a single CPU, then the programmer improves it to take advantage of multiple CPUs, then they might improve it further to either use the CPU SIMD or matrix hardware, or re-write critical pieces to run on the GPU.  These days it is also quite common for application programmers to use libraries (often Apple's) which do things like leverage multiple cores, SIMD, matrix hardware, and GPUs.  Creative oriented applications are often graphics or audio heavy, and those things can usually take advantage of all this potential hardware parallelism as long as they are optimized to do so (and the good ones are).

It’s almost like they don’t want people pushing that button.  And don’t want accidental pushes when trying to use the ports.  And the machine is tiny and weighs practically nothing, so if you do have to push it tilting it slightly is hardly a problem, if even necessary.

Seems like making a mountain out of a molehill.

nubus said:

Apple Intelligence is the closest thing to vaporware and FUD we have seen for a decade or more. It reminds me of the demo I got of the Copland OS by Apple.

AI will be part of iOS 18 - except that not a single part will. But some part will arrive October/November - as a beta. More parts will be delivered later (no surprise...). Regional support will expand but we don't know if UK can expect a beta or a final release this year and of what? Within 16 months 5 more languages with x functions while Google Gemini is supporting 45 languages today.

Apple could have delayed iPad OS 18 and gone all-hands in order to fix iOS.

I think this is a mischaracterization of what is going on.  "Apple Intelligence" is more of an umbrella term for all usages of machine learning across Apple's platforms.  There is a bunch of underlying tech that is already in place, or being added in 18... but it isn't directly user visible.  Instead all the services built on top of it will start showing up when they are working sufficiently well.  With training-based technologies, this can be tricky to get to a high enough quality bar, and experience in using these approaches needs to build up in each team.  So there are already some places "AI" is being used in iOS, and in the initial iOS 18 release those should be visible (e.g. Siri keeps getting better).  More services will roll out new features incrementally from now on.  This isn't an iOS vs iPadOS vs macOS (etc) thing... all those platforms probably share the same implementations, so if Apple is going "all in" to get things done, it will be on a service-by-service basis.  Their ML/AI experts will be running around getting one service after another up to a high enough quality to ship it.

Copland was a major problem because it was all-or-nothing.  The whole thing had to reach a high enough quality bar, and it just never did.

Whether ML/AI can actually deliver on its promise for each service is an independent question, which has the advantage of being able to treat these features independently.

9secondkox2 said:

M4 is old news now. 

Forget about it. 

What?  It has only shipped in 1 product, only a few months ago, and they haven't introduced the pro/max/ultra flavors.  You're delusional if you think they're going to M5 in the near future.  Process migrations are a massive transition, and Apple hasn't even moved their entire lineup to the latest 3nm process.

You can plug in your Apple keyboard and trackpad full time now. I have mine on a KVM.

Do they now use USB when plugged in, or do they just draw power?  That’s what they did last time I looked.  Plus I don’t like trackpads, and the mouse definitely cannot be used while plugged in.