jdiamond

About

Username
jdiamond
Joined
Visits
51
Last Active
Roles
member
Points
225
Badges
0
Posts
121
  • If you're using a Magic Keyboard, you've opened up an attack vector

    maltz said:
    I've never really understood the popularity of wireless mice and keyboards, but especially keyboards.  Mice, ok, the cord can be annoying if it tends to get hung up on something, but rearranging the cord or desk layout has always fixed that for me.  But keyboards are stationary.  What's the point of it being wireless?  And having to mess with charging and/or changing batteries is a hassle.

    That's not to say there aren't ANY use cases - I have a wireless keyboard/trackpad combo for my HTPC for when the IR remote doesn't suffice, for example.  And our conference room at work has wireless so the computer driving the large display there can be used by anyone at the table.  But the typical "sitting at your desk using your computer" case I don't really get.
    I'm guessing most of the time this isn't by choice.  For example, there was a long era where Apple devices didn't have enough ports, and splitters can only do so much.  And then there's iPads - AFAIK, most third party keyboards must be wireless, although now that iPads have USB-c ports, maybe a wireless keyboard would work.

    Honestly, for me, the worst thing about wireless stuff is you have to always wonder if it's charged enough. :) 
    maltzbaconstangwatto_cobracommand_f
  • Arm wants more than $0.30 per iPhone from Apple, but won't get it

    Given that it's nothing but a paid permission slip, not transferred value, I'd like to just put out there that I'd be OK if Apple gave me 30 cents per iPhone.
    williamlondonwatto_cobraAlex1N
  • Arm wants more than $0.30 per iPhone from Apple, but won't get it

    Yes -and just as Fujitsu designed the SVE SIMD extensions for ARM, it was Apple that created the 64-bit ARM ISA (v8+), totally redesigning it in the process, as they were the first company on Earth to require 64-bit ARM CPUs.  We used to joke about how the new ISA was "ARM" in name only.  So in theory, they could license the ISA to ARM.  And of course, Apple hasn't used the ARM microarchitecture since the Newton - it's a total Apple design.  So what benefit does Apple get from the ARM name?  Just participation in a wide software ecosystem, where people have already created "ARM" versions of popular software, vs the smaller number of companies who would make things for "Apple Silicon".

    byronlronnbaconstangkillroywatto_cobraAlex1Njony0
  • Apple & ARM's iPhone & Mac chip partnership will continue for decades

    Apple is also part of the RISC V consortium. As soon as Apple announced Macs as having “Apple Silicon” and not “ARM-based CPUs” I knew it’d be a possibility that they’d always remain open to other ISAs.  If RISC V continues on its current trajectory— and continues to attract all the talent — it may happen by 2035–40. 
    I completely agree.  Apple's not going to get caught again being tied to an ISA.  The agreement with ARM is likely just to guarantee terms on Apple using ARM for the next 20 years - Apple could drop at any time like they did with Imagine and GPUs.
    watto_cobra
  • Mac Pro in danger after fumbled Apple Silicon launch

    The biggest apparent technical issue seems to be the failure of the quad-die Apple Silicon chip.  Perhaps they could make up for this with a dual socket system?  In principle, GPU support is a driver issue, not a HW issue.  It'd also be great if they found a way to do a two tiered memory system, so you could add terabytes of DRAM to the embedded system.  It sounds difficult, but Apple already pulled something similar off with the old two tiered SSD/HDD systems.  You'd let the 192GB of on-die RAM page out to the 8 TB of DIMMs.

    I think the main reason to design and support the Mac Pro, even if it loses money overall, is the halo effect.  People who love to use the MacOS, but need to do a larger scale project, particularly with GPUs, suddenly find they are forced to leave the Mac eco system. Just knowing that it is possible to still use MacOS at the higher end provides a layer of comfort in Mac based businesses thinking of expanding in the future.  It also might help with other products on Apple's road map, if it gains them experience in pushing Apple Silicon and GPUs to higher performance levels.

    Alex1NdarkvaderAlex_Vwatto_cobra