techconc

blastdoor said:

I'm always a little surprised that Apple isn't more dominant on this ranking, given how Apple's custom silicon dominates in many areas. 

I never use Android phones, so I don't have first hand experience. But I'm wondering if iPhones have an advantage in something not captured by this particular group's reviews? For example, is the iPhone faster at processing a photo once snapped? 

What most people don't realize is that DxOMark is a "pay to win" source.  They offer consulting services to help "improve your score".  Apple obviously doesn't need or use their services, so they will not take the top spot.  It's that simple.  Even Android based sites rightly call this out.
https://www.androidauthority.com/dxomark-ranking-troublesome-805633/

ppietra said:

that is just your assumption!
There is nothing that stops Apple from having a new architecture ready for both kinds of SoC - they basically did that last year, one month between launches is nothing. It’s not like Apple doesn’t have the resources to develop more than one SoC at the same time, they did it a few times with the X series SoC.
And there is no proof that they actually made a M1X, or thought about using a M1X, it could have been an M2X all along.

The weird part is launching a new Mac CPU that is already outdated by a new iPhone SoC, where some software will have better performance on an iPhone than on a brand new high end MacBook Pro.

Yeah, I agree.  The big question is what's behind the delay with getting the MacBook Pro's to market?  Is it something unrelated like availability of mini-LED screens or is it based on Apple's plans for newer cores.  The A15 is likely to be based on ARMv9.  It's very possible that Apple is waiting for these cores for their higher end machines as well.  If we would have had laptops in June or July, I would have expect an M1x (A14 core) based machine.  Given that we're now expecting something after the A15 is released, I'm thinking it's likely the higher end laptops will be something more like an M2x.  At least it should be at this point.

Marvin said:

M1 is faster than A14:

https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/search?q=Apple+M1
https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/search?q=a14

No, it's not.  If you'll notice even in the links you provide, the M1 based devices are clocked higher than the A14 mostly because of the form factor they ship in.  The M1 has the same core performance as the A14.  In a laptop or a Mac mini, you can afford to clock it higher as you have a bigger battery and better heat dissipation.  If Apple were to ship an A14 in a Mac mini for example, they could clock that higher as well.

lkrupp said:

And as AppleInsider and Apple have stated, images are not scanned on the device. But you choose to believe it’s a lie because...?

No, images are scanned on device.  What's funny is that people are just getting worked up about this now.  Apple has been scanning images on our devices for a long time.  This isn't the CSAM hash type scanning, this is the machine learning scanning I'm talking about.  That's how we can search for generic things like "dog" or "beach" a get a bunch of relevant pictures from our library.  Where is all of the "slippery slope" type of discussions around that?  Seriously, the level of stupid being raised about this topic is mind numbing. 

larryjw said:

Is Apple the world's number one supplier of anything? 

Most companies survive by mass marketing of cheap stuff, which means they need to have a massive supply of components.

Almost everyone outsells Apple, except in Apple's niche areas. Apple simply doesn't need the massive supply that others do. 

What are you talking about?  Exactly the opposite is true.  Apple is sometimes late bringing features to market specifically because they have to make far more of them than any of their competitors.  Let's look at Q4 2020 smartphone sales for example...  
http://https//www.forbes.com/sites/dwightsilverman/2021/02/22/apple-back-on-top-iphone-is-the-bestselling-smartphone-globally-in-q4-2020/?sh=e3d456d4ca7d

Apple shipped 80 million, Samsung shipped 62 million, Xiaomi shipped 43 million, etc.  and it drops off from there.  Apple's numbers are also spread across fewer models. The point being, Apple's supply chain challenges are greater than any of their competitors. 

Apple is trying desperately to remove some of the standing "spiteful" policies in a last ditch attempt to avoid regulation. It's not going to work. I've supported Apple's monopoly on the App Store due to the privacy and security it provided. Sadly, Apple has taken advantage of that position and has abused their authority with rather spiteful policies like not allowing apps like Netflix to link to their own subscription web page, etc. Apple is also very arbitrary in terms of content restriction and has even acted in politically partisan ways at times. At this point, I think change is needed and Apple has done this to themselves.