BigDann

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BigDann
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  • Inside Apple's fantastically fast new Mac Pro

    BigDannBigDann
    This reminds me of the Three Bears story! The Mac mini is too cold, the new MacPro is too hot! The 2013 is the not quite good enough!

    Apple swung hard to the Animators & videographers with this design. Which is good!

    But us photographers got short changed! Now if Apple where to take this design and make a desktop version dropping a few of the slots. Basically, the 2013 on steroids! I would buy one to replace my aging 2013 Trash Can!
    zhirowatto_cobra

  • Editorial: Manufacturers, it's time to put more USB-C ports on chargers

    BigDannBigDann
    MplsP said:
    flydog said:
    Hahahaha. 

    Whoever sold you on the lie of USB-C was doing you no favors. 

    Hold on while we run out and swap all the USB-A ports in everything. 
    Incredible that people perpetuate this nonsense.  
    Have you looked around? Pretty much every single car has a USB A plug. The airplane has a USB A plug. The Hotel has a USB A plug. The combination USB outlet I found at Home Depot is USB A. Virtually every wired mouse and keyboard made is USB A. The only place USB C is at all common is the Apple Store.

    USB A is the standard. It may change in the future, but it will take a long time. Apple putting USB C ports on its computers doesn't magically change the rest of the world. As someone mentioned above, though, except for high power devices like MacBooks, it really doesn't matter for charging. You had a USB A to lightning (or Mini USB or micro USB or...)  cable. If it doesn't need more than 12W, it really doesn't matter if the other end is USB A or USB C. This is also a reason it will take a long time to change. For the majority of uses, people don't need the power capacity of USB C. It's not unlike coming out with 220V appliances and expecting everyone to start putting 220V plugs in their homes.

    USB C is clearly more flexible than USB A - higher power capacity, the ability to handle thunderbolt data in the same port. the problem is, USB C cables are not all the same and can be spec'd differently, so your USB C cable may work for charging but not for thunderbolt or vice versa, essentially adding a whole lot of confusion to the picture.
    The USB standards group messed up!

    The USB-C connector is not built to handle higher current flows newer laptops will be needing (you can blame Intel for that).

    They also failed to define a clear marking for USB-C cables so power only cables can be id'ed from data only cables or other possible configs.

    For now its a USB-A world and will be for quite a few years. Don't forget USB-A is still a cheaper solution which is ideal for slower I/O like mice, trackpads, printers and scanners. Many engineering & medical lab systems still use USB-A and I don't see them changing 80~150k devices out just to get a USB-C connection when it is overkill for what they need.

    Is USB-C a good thing? Yes! For data for sure! Power is a bit iffy as long as phones and laptops don't need more power to charge their batteries then it should work (80 watt is about the break point, anything more could cause the cable and connectors to overheat).
    baconstangwilliamlondonwaverboyMetriacanthosaurus

  • iPhone's Lightning port removal could improve water resistance

    BigDannBigDann
    Offering an optical connection makes a lot of sense for the data aspect of the connection thus lowering the pins needed in the case. Still need a means to get power in so a contact of some sort is still needed for that.
    watto_cobra

  • Eight unreleased AMD Radeon GPUs found in second macOS Catalina beta

    BigDannBigDann
    I'm wondering if Apple is going to surprise us this October!

    What if Apple is going to offer a smaller version of the new Mac Pro! Basically, a desktop Vs Tower with fewer slots and less RAM support.

    More of a system for photographers and gamers! We don't need as deep RAM as video editing or deep VR/CAD workstations.

    Basically, replacing the 2013 Mac Pro which while many people won't want to hear was a pretty good system for what it was! As one who owns one I love it but its too limiting from a graphics perspective. Thats why I think Apple would be smart to offer a Desktop Mac Pro!

    These GPU's would play well in such a system. Just think, a Mac Pro for the rest of us!
    llama

  • Honey I Shrunk the Chips: How die shrinks help make processors more powerful

    BigDannBigDann
    prismatics said:
    BigDann said:
    normm said:
    It would be nice to have a more objective idea of what an x-nanometer process means for Intel and TSMC.  Do we have any information on relative chip sizes for designs that Intel has partly offloaded onto TSMC, and what each called the process size?

    TSMC is not producing Intel chips.

    They are producing some of AMD's CPU's and chiplets which are sub units in the higher end CPU's & GPU's
    They actually make some of the new chipsets for Intel.
    That was a rumor back in Oct 2018, it didn't happen. TSMC didn't have the needed fab available.
    watto_cobra