MacPro

rob53 said:

MacPro said:

The argument that Apple computers are overpriced is a tired one.  On many occasions, I have bought a PC with quality specifications similar to a Mac (well, as close as you can get), and they cost an arm and a leg. Just because cheap and nasty PCs proliferate does not equate to overpriced Macs.

I'd like a breakdown of costs in the new M-series Macs. Almost everything is on the SoC, no external storage or memory (if you count the storage as being part of the SoC). There's hardly anything of value once you pay for the SoC. If you look at the M2 Mac mini teardown on iFixit (https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Mini+M2+Teardown/157365) there's hardly anything there that requires a person to install. From what I can see, all the semiconductor components should be able to be able to be robotically installed. Even the peripheral port components. About all a person needs to do is insert the board and screw it together. Labor is usually the most expensive part of construction other than the main SoC. How much does packing cost? How much does Apple pay for advertising? How much profit??? Should a Mac mini actually cost what Apple is selling it for?

The story goes that in 2006, while developing the first iPhone, Steve Jobs knew he wanted the screen to be made from glass rather than plastic. Plastic scratched too easily, and he wanted a product that would feel and look high-quality, something that would age well. So he reached out to Corning Inc., a company known for its expertise in glass manufacturing.

Jobs met with Corning’s then-CEO, Wendell Weeks, and told him that he needed a tough, scratch-resistant glass. Weeks told Jobs about a glass formula Corning had invented in the 1960s called “Gorilla Glass.” Though it was incredibly strong, it hadn’t been commercialized because they hadn’t found a market for it back then.

Jobs was determined to make Gorilla Glass a reality for the iPhone. According to the story, Weeks initially thought it would be impossible to produce enough of this glass in time for Apple’s planned iPhone launch. But Jobs, with his famously persuasive style, told him, “Don’t be afraid. You can do it.”

Corning quickly ramped up production, reactivating the Gorilla Glass formula and scaling it to meet Apple’s demand. By the time the first iPhone launched in 2007, Gorilla Glass was ready, and it went on to become a foundational material in smartphone design, not just for Apple but eventually for much of the mobile industry.

1der said:

It seems Cook’s law is then about 4 years.  It's always fun to make lots of assumptions and project into the future. In doing so I imagine in say 40 years what seemingly AI miracles could be accomplished with the machine in your hand being 1000 times as powerful 

apple4thewin said:

aderutter said:

If you look at Adobe apps for example, they benefit more from CPU as long as the GPU is at a certain level. Once a user has a mid-range GPU then they don’t need GPU as much as RAM & CPU (and the real-life RAM requirements have decreased with Apple Silicon). 

Another example is ZBrush which is purely CPU based. Even most of the time working in other 3D applications the CPU is more imporant as people working in 3D spend more time not-rendering than rendering and the machine can render while you put the kettle on. 

It’s gamers and some 3d renderers that use more GPU - but CPU 3D Rendering is more accurate and so CPU rendering (obviously with farms) is the default in hollywood whilst us mortals have to just use what’s available on our budgets - typically a desktop GPU rather than a cloud render. The usual options when thinking only of rendering for games or lower-end 3D rendering are GPU (cheap and fast on PC), or CPU (slower, more accurate and slightly better on Mac generally).  

When/if Apple release an M4 Ultra that is twice the performance M4 Max (GPU) it should be equivalent to an Nvidia 4090 and set the cat amongst the pigeons. 2025 could be the start of Apple desktop disruption.

Unless Apple stops overcharging for memory and storage probably not. Current prices for “

Apple M2 Ultra with 24‑core CPU, 76‑core GPU, 32‑core Neural Engine64GB unified memory2TB SSD storage”Equals to 5,399.99 and a prebuilt pc with a 4090 equals to 3,999.99  https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsair-vengeance-a7400-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-9-9900x-64gb-rgb-ddr5-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-2tb-ssd-black/6604319.p?skuId=6604319