cgWerks

patchythepirate said:

I was hoping for an iMac, but not expecting it. Looks like I'll have to wait until spring, no big deal. I hope that with the wait we at least get a couple cool color options, like a deep purple or maroon like color. The M Pro and Max chips look pretty incredible, can't wait to see them in an iMac! 

BTW, I was watching the presentation with my AirPod pros and the spacial audio effect they were using was very cool!

Yeah, similar here. I was hoping for the mini Pro or something like that (or the iMac if they'd have a video input, which is a long shot!). I assume those will be coming along soon enough (later this year, or early next). They are probably just lower priority and didn't quite make it or something like that. It should be a relatively easy thing to do seeing how these configurations work. I'd imaging you'll just just be able to buy the M1 Pro/Max version of those machines too. Exciting!

I still really want to know if there will be any possibility of eGPU (either Apple or 3rd party) using those TB4 ports.

(Now, if someone could just write a Metal crypto miner, Apple wouldn't be able to keep them in stock, heh.)

re: spatial audio - hmm, I did, but didn't notice anything. Maybe I was just way too disinterested in that part of the presentation. The first 10 minutes actually scared me a bit (filler content)... good one Apple, they had me going!

This was as good or better than expected, at least in terms of the chips and laptops. The chips are what we hoped for, as far as I can see (and even a bit better maybe). The laptops had about everything fixed, except maybe the notch.

But, I've got a Logitech webcam on my display and the 'mount' kind of creates a notch which exactly covers a center space on the menu bar, pretty much just like the new MBP. While I wish it wasn't there, it probably won't be as much of an issue as it is on the iPhone most of the time... and most of us get used to it there.

netrox said:

It's actually a big let down in terms of laptop design. Why are we bringing back HDMI when USB4 provides the same technology? I am ok with the SD slot but not ok with Magsafe and the HDMI port. They add more ugliness and waste to the laptop. They even said you can charge with USB-C so what's the point of MagSafe? I am glad they got rid of Touch Bar and the keyboard looks more functional and more comfortable. 

Yeah, I'm glad they ditched the Touch Bar. But, Marco Arment put it well a few weeks back. When a sizable amount of your user base needs a dongle, you removed the wrong ports (rough paraphrase). A LOT of MBP users use HDMI in the corporate world. And, MagSafe is an elegant way of connecting power, both for safety but just ease of use. While USB-C works, it's kind of kludgy mechanically. I'm really glad it is back, but the best thing is you get to use your choice.

Marco also made another really important point... why would anyone complain about having extra ports they don't use? I've had many computers over the years that had ports I personally didn't use. I never went, 'darn, I really wish that port wasn't there.' I (like Marco) just don't get that attitude, especially when there is plenty of room or tradeoffs aren't being made by having the ports (like they argued for the phones).

Tuubor said:

Holy crap these first commenters are negative! 😆😆 Did you guys even watch what they just announced?! These laptops whipe the floor with every notebook ever made.

No doubt! I think I saw some laptop the other day on a YouTube video that had (if memory serves) an Nvidia 3090. So, I'm guessing that means this thing M1 Max is roughly the power of a Nvidia 3080, but at WAY less power draw. And, the CPU aspect is probably not even close, the M1 Pro/Max is going to blow them away. Then there is all that other stuff that may or may not be useful, but if it is, again will blow away everything else.

But, as I've mentioned in other threads... the issue still comes down to software. If I'm running Autodesk Revit, or want to play Planetside 2, etc. it doesn't really matter if my new Apple wipes the floor in benchmarks or other software I don't need to run. That is the big upcoming challenge for these things.

OutdoorAppDeveloper said:

The new Intel chip had better not have x86 instructions. x86 offers zero advantage these days when developers compile their code and the correct instructions are automatically created for whatever architecture is in use.

It can't be nearly that easy or all those Wintel packages would simply compile a Mac version.

avon b7 said:
This isn't that different to PowerPC at the beginning. I wouldn't go out on a limb now and say how Apple might be progressing with regards to the rest of the industry in 10 years.

I think it is way different in that Apple isn't a relatively small company talking tech industry giants into co-developing a platform. They now have some of the best chip designers and are the major player, making their own stuff just how they want to make it.

It has to either be smart, or sound good.
And, if it is in that 'sound good' category (like discontinued HopePod) then it needs an audio input so it isn't a one-string-banjo.
I'm not sure why Apple is having such a hard time with this.

tht said:

elijahg said:

This is great news, hopefully Apple will lend their expertise and monetary support to more open source projects. 

Seconded. It's going to be a long road to get parity with CUDA, and they will need to spend a lot of money on developers as well as selling a lot of Metal GPUs in the right markets.

Apple really has to start doing these things if Apple Silicon is to succeed beyond the consumer (and 'non-pro' business) markets. Enough pro apps, games, etc. need to support Metal, or all that extra speed and low power consumption isn't going to mean too much. Glad to see it.