tenthousandthings
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Mac Pro in danger after fumbled Apple Silicon launch
The real question is will Apple produce a high-end version of this Mac Pro? Right now, the only available version is entry-level, with silicon that overlaps with the high-end Mac Studio. There is no high-end Mac Pro.
The silicon would have to go beyond the Ultra. Beyond the beyond (ultra means "beyond"). Apple has said enough to make it clear that they did design such a tier, but it's not clear what that was. All that is known is that it was aborted and its code name might have been Jade 4C-Die.
But there are some things that we can surmise:
#1 is that killing Jade 4C-Die wasn't a financial decision, it was about performance. It didn't give them what they were looking for at the high-end Mac Pro starting price of $14K (i.e., double the entry-level price, like the Mac Studio). My assumption is that the reality of the fundamental limits in M1/M2 graphics performance meant its time had not come.
#2 is that Unified Memory is here to stay. Whatever Jade 4C-Die was, and whatever it will become, it will be built around the principle of Unified Memory.
#3 is that we should take the commitment to PCI Express at face value. PCIe 5 (and Thunderbolt 5) is a big step forward, and the PCIe 6 specification is also now complete. Those designs are sitting on engineering drawing boards right now. An M3 Ultra Mac Pro with PCIe 5 will be a big step beyond the M2 edition. But that would still be the entry-level Mac Pro. We'll just have to wait and see if and when they go beyond that. It really depends on what they do with the M3 Pro/Max graphics.
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M3 roadmap speculation hints at next Apple Silicon generation chips
Marvin said:
I'd expect the 12-core M3 Pro to be 8 performance-cores, it would be unusual to have 6 efficiency cores on Pro and 4 on Max. Plus M2 Pro 10-core already has 6 performance cores, 4 efficiency. Moving to 6p/6e only increases the efficiency cores. 8p/4e would increase CPU performance at least 50%.AppleInsider said:The M3 Pro's base configuration is anticipated to have 12 CPU cores, again split evenly between performance and efficiency cores, and an 18-core GPU. The top configuration will use add two more performance cores, bringing the total to 14, as well as a 20-core GPU.
The M3 Max will start with a base configuration of 16 CPU cores, using 12 performance and four efficiency cores, and a 32-core GPU. On the high end, the M3 Max will have the same 16-core CPU but a 40-core GPU.
The GPU core counts look like a small increase so I'd say they will increase transistor count per core:
https://wccftech.com/apple-a10-fusion-cores-bigger-than-competition/
"One reason why Apple is adamant is designing larger cores is because having more transistors per core helps when performance and efficiency per-watt metric is calculated. While this might not be a good approach when conserving space, clock efficiency greatly increases thanks to these decisions."
They might also have a strategy similar to Intel's tick-tock. 2nm won't be ready until late 2025/2026 so they have to make 3nm last for 2023/2024/2025. I doubt they would throw everything in with the first 3nm revision then have a small refresh in 2025. It's best to split it so that each refresh has a worthwhile improvement (~50% increase each time) so that M4 (2025) is 2x M2 performance.Speaking of transistors, TSMC is staggering the full 3nm transition over N3 and N2. The first phase is the die shrink. N3/N3E and N3P (N3+) transistors are still FinFET-based, which TSMC has been using since 16nm (2013).However, N3 and N3P are the last two generations of FinFET. To move beyond 3nm, the industry has adopted GAAFET (GAA = gate all-around, FET = field effect transistor), which TSMC calls "Nanosheet" transistors. I'm pretty sure I remember TSMC said in their initial press release they would do both things at the same time, the [1] die shrink and the [2] change in transistor architecture. That is what Samsung has done, with success, at least with regard to focused cryptocurrency-mining silicon. See TechInsights on this topic, here: https://www.techinsights.com/disruptive-event/samsung-3nm-gaa-process
But TSMC won't start using Nanosheet (GAAFET) transistors until N2 and N2P.So N3 (and the more mainstream N3P refinement after it) isn't as radical a shift as was first thought. Right now, Apple can increase the number of transistors per core, as you suggest, without having to worry about the FinFET-to-Nanosheet transition as well.Here is a recent Anandtech article that provides a bit more context: https://www.anandtech.com/show/18960/samsung-foundry-s-3nm-and-4nm-yields-are-improving-report
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Apple TV+ bid for UK soccer streaming rights unlikely to proceed
EPL rights are split into two components: the domestic UK rights and the global rights (not including the domestic rights). The global rights are not uniform. That's what Cue is talking about. Apple could bid to take over the US rights in five years or whatever when NBC's contract is up, but that wouldn't get them assorted European rights, and those elsewhere around the world.
Cue is saying that Apple wants global rights (as opposed to UK rights). If they can't get that, they are out. It would require the EPL be willing to coordinate global rights, so a larger deal could be negotiated all at once. So the Nordic Entertainment (nine countries) deal, for example, would have to somehow be synchronized with US deal, and so on.
In other words, it will never happen. Right now, the global overseas rights total are £5.05 billion. Apple would have to increase that significantly to unify just the North American and European rights, let alone the rest of the world.
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Competitors are on edge as Apple Pay Later surges in popularity
Apple Pay and Apple Pay Later are different entities from the Apple Card.
“Apple Pay Later is offered by Apple Financing LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc., which is responsible for credit assessment and lending.”
“Goldman Sachs is the issuer of the Mastercard payment credential used to complete Apple Pay Later purchases.”
You are borrowing money from Apple Financing when you get a loan via Apple Pay Later, not Goldman Sachs. It’s the same “Mastercard Installments” BNPL program that Apple uses when you buy Apple products and pay over time using the Apple Card. Those loans at 0% also come from Apple Financing, not Goldman Sachs.
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Apple is working on a giant iMac, but it isn't coming soon
The new Samsung Retina 5K copycat (ViewFinity S9 5K, currently available in Asia) is a serious competitor, incorporating most of the things you pay extra for in the Studio Display, but at around the same price as the LG 5K UltraFine. I would be worried about build quality, but in every other respect it is highly competitive, probably (the US price is not yet known) $1000 less than Apple's with rotating, height-adjustable stand and nano-texture glass.thedba said:
General rule of thumb to retain the "Retina" DPI'sappleinsideruser said:
Yes. But I do like the all-in-one package as i can easily shift it around, which suits my work setup. At risk of going off topic, do you have a recommended hiDPI monitor that is as good as my 5k iMac?darkvader said:There's an easy fix right now.Just get a mini and a non-Apple screen. I'm telling ALL my clients not to buy iMacs any more. It's just ridiculous to buy a 24" all in one computer when you can get a computer that's just as powerful and a 30" screen for less money.
24" --> 4.5K (Apple's current 24 inch iMac)27" --> 5K (Apple studio Display)30" --> 5.5K (My estimate)32" --> 6K (Apple Pro Display XDR)But it always depends on what you do.If you're in to the Visual Arts (Photography / Film / Video) then resolution is but one aspect of what you're looking for. Color accuracy, HDR/XDR, peak brightness, dimming zones (for non-OLED) are all things you should be looking at.
The Dell 6K is $3200, so I think at that level you have to start looking at the Pro Display XDR if the things thedba mentions are important to you. Also, just speaking for myself, I don't know if I could live with that camera. Yikes!
