hattig

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hattig
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  • Compared: Apple's Developer Transition Kit versus Mac mini

    The memory is most likely surface mounted LPDDR4X. The GPU would suffer otherwise.

    I expect the A14Z (or whatever they call the Mac Apple Silicon) to utilise LPDDR5 and not be upgradeable in the slimmer form factors.

    Early devices might use LPDDR4X still. These memory controllers usually get slower DDR support as well, so DDR4 for the expandable devices (DDR5 when that becomes available - later than LPDDR5). I don't think HBM will be used in the first generation, but if Apple ever go large on the integrated GPU this may be their only option when that happens.

    It'll almost certainly integrate USB4 for Thunderbolt functionality. If not, they'll dedicate some PCIe lanes for an external Intel thunderbolt controller. It's possible Apple will split the chip into an I/O die and the compute die, but on the same package.

    PCIe will have to be included, it'll have to be PCIe4, and I would expect 4x for SSD and 8x/16x for discrete GPU (for devices that need more than what the Apple GPU can do internally), and maybe another 4x for other devices/storage.

    There's a good chance that it'll be an ARMv9 ISA, but not 100% - but certainly by the time the Mac Pro migrates.
    williamlondonrazorpitrundhvidwatto_cobra
  • Apple unveils plans to ditch Intel chips in Macs for 'Apple Silicon'

    Note in the State of the Platform show, they do confirm it's ARM in the Rosetta 2 section, for those doubters out there (or the RISC-V theorists!).
    jdb8167watto_cobra
  • First ARM Mac said to arrive in 2021 with custom Apple chip

    So eight Firestorm cores and four Icestorm cores (for low-power tasks, idling, background tasks, etc). But no word on the GPU, which will have to be pretty meaty to compete with next year's Intel/AMD offerings - but 5nm should give Apple some power headroom.
    lkruppwatto_cobra
  • 'Minecraft Earth' review -- Block-building fun for your iPhone

    Living in London I've been on the early access program for a couple of months.

    Adventures only appeared in the past couple of weeks for me (ditto Challenges - collection/building tasks on a daily/weekly/career basis). They're the only way to get coal, iron ore, gold ore, and so on.

    However they are small, often (always?) 4x4 worlds. The main thing to do is to kill any mobs, then take everything (dig down to get the ores, and find more mobs; oddly enough the underground can extend beyond the 4x4 surface so you have to walk around the pit you've dug to get everything). I could play on a pavement just fine. But animals on the adventure are very happy to wander off the map, especially when you're whacking them to death. The AR for adventures is really good in my opinion, very solid, when you dig down it really feels as if you are digging down into where-ever you placed the adventure.

    Yes, they do appear near parks. London is great, there are parks everywhere.

    Challenges have also added an aim to the game. Collect the 5 sheep/pigs daily, build with 100 wood weekly, and so on.

    Before Challenges and Adventures, the game was pointless. Walk and Tap and Collect. 

    And walking earns you rubies (currency), as does collecting tappables sometimes. No need to pay the inflated prices for these IMO, as long as you play the game often walking around and can wait a week or so before getting a custom buildplate (instead of the free ones at Level 1,5,10,15,20).
    kurai_kage
  • iPhone 11 Pro may have extra 2GB of RAM devoted to the camera

    Large amounts of RAM are needed for slomo functionalities. The (Android) 48MP+ Camera sensors embed 512MB (maybe more in more recent designs) of RAM into the sensor to achieve this, as the data link to the SoC is not fast enough. However the iPhone may not have this limitation, so it can use system RAM for this functionality, as well as standard camera functionality. The Camera app could also be kept in this RAM permanently, for even faster instant-on. Also the AI cores used so often in photography will have access to this RAM for their functionalities, making system RAM desirable for this use.
    SoundJudgmenttwokatmewjahbladecommand_fDeelronwatto_cobra