jdb8167

commentzilla said:

robaba said:

Limited to 16 gig memory?  Nah, that makes no sense.  As the computing power increases, Apple will need to bump the memory and bandwidth of the on-chip fabric in order to prevent bottlenecking.  I also expect Apple to have an on-package graphics chip for cost and production flexibility reasons.

I think it means that the graphics are limited to 16GB of memory.

That still makes no sense if the graphics are the same as the integrated graphics on the M1. The M1 uses a unified memory design where all of RAM is available to the GPU. It is one of the reasons that the M1 is so efficient. I seriously doubt that Apple is changing their unified memory design for this generation.

CX226 said:

„It's not clear whether Microsoft intends to remove those, and they do not appear to have any functionality that is lacking in the new unified version.“

What about split screen? In the unified version, you cannot have an Excel spreadsheet and a Word document side-by-side.

They seem to have removed everything that makes a modern iPad app except slide-over. You can't have multiple windows or view documents side by side. This is a horrible regression and makes this version a big miss if you are an iPad "power user". Why are Microsoft and Google like this? They seem to deliberately try to cripple iPadOS apps.

InspiredCode said:

Tim Sweeney said on Twitter that they had nothing to do with this. It was an independent action by the coalition for app fairness.

He also has some great land in FL and a bridge in NY he can sell you.

MacQuadra840av said:

jdb8167 said:

These still won't be processors for the Mac Pro or iMac Pro. Those are probably coming next year.

The Mac Pro will be using Intel chips for a few more years because Apple's M processor can't beat what is in the Mac Pro as far as memory, storage, features, and performance, especially the ability to run multiple VM environments.

Second, the iMac Pro is dead.  Apple hasn't done anything with it for four years.  It will likely be discontinued when Apple releases an iMac with hopefully a much better processor than the low end M1 chip.

Apple has repeatedly stated that the Apple Silicon transition will be over in two years. Since the latest start of the transition would be on the release of the M1 Macs, then logically Mac Pros are going to be announced by November 2022. I expect that we will see a Mac Pro replacement in early 2022 and it will beat the current Mac Pro in performance and match it for RAM, storage and other features. I also expect it will support discrete GPUs.

The iMac Pro may be dead. Its niche might get folded into the top of the line iMac. I don't actually have much of a guess right now. But if it is part of the 27" iMac Apple Silicon replacement then that SoC needs to support up to 256 GB of RAM to match existing technology. I think there is a chance that Apple will use the same SoC/CPU for both the Mac Pro and iMac Pro when they get released. But I wouldn't bet much on it.

MacQuadra840av said:

Anything M1 related is low end for Apple.  Any iteration of the M1 would be for improved models of the existing low end 13-inch MacBook Pro, Air, or mini.  The M1 might have 3x the performance of the low end models they replaced, but it is embarrassing that the Intel models offered more memory, more storage, and more features (like multiple external 4K monitors and eGPU support).  I would bet a small percentage of people bought into the M1 Macs just to try them out, but the majority are waiting for much better offerings, hopefully with 4 ports, more memory, more storage, and more features.  Not some stripped down models with less features.

The models that the first M1 Macs replaced did not support more RAM or more SSD. The higher end Mac mini is still available so the M1 Mac mini didn't replace anything yet. The MacBook Air has the same RAM and SSD limits. The MacBook Pro also is replacing the 2 port MBP not the 4 port version. So again, RAM and SSD are the same limits on the M1 as the old 2 port Intel MacBook Pro. Apple did remove the ability to use a second external with the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and that is a regression but they added the dubious support for the Apple 6K XDR monitor. I think that eGPU support will return someday as Apple will almost certainly need to support external GPUs with the Mac Pro replacement.

Edit: Apparently even the earlier Intel MacBook Air supported the 6K XDR monitor.

MacQuadra840av said:

Imagine the horrible reviews they would get with an M1 iMac that only offered 16GB of RAM, 2TB storage, no dedicated graphics, and only two USB-C ports.  Unfortunately, the writing is on the wall...and the next iMac to replace the 27" model will not have user upgradable memory or user upgradable storage.  We will be forced to pay Apple's outrageous prices for memory and storage.  The downside of everything residing on the silicon, including storage, means that if the chip fails, everything is gone and unrecoverable.  

We will see what Apple comes out with next, but it better be a big improvement over the M1 chip and the 'baby' Macs that Apple released.

Memory is probably going to be relatively expensive but I don't imagine having enough storage with a desktop is that big of a deal. Just get a fast external Thunderbolt or USB4 drive. There are external drives available that are as fast as the current M1 SSDs which are pretty good at over 3 GB/s read and write.