This is Apple’s roadmap for moving the first Macs away from Intel
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I'm beyond eager to see whatever Apple has designed from both raw performance and per-watt perspectives.
Vertical integration and utter control of virtually everything inside their devices, here Apple comes!
Vertical integration and utter control of virtually everything inside their devices, here Apple comes!
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a perfectly good plan that I hoped would finally push the pc world forward, except AMD just threw a wrench into it
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No surprise for those watching, though. Apple’s processor performance, the integration of the T series chips which took over more responsibilities, the 32 bit removal, and Intel’s consistent security and performance missteps have all led to this moment.
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I'm looking forward to having a cooler lap during summer computing.
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normally butters
Ars Praefectus
Apple has done a good job of herding developers into XCode and getting them to use higher-level languages using compilers developed by Apple. This should really go smoother than the PPC->Intel migration, which wasn't that bad itself.
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Well, this is going to be interesting. With large power budgets, they should leave Intel in the dust, curious to see how this plays out and how fast it moves.
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well if we are talking intel gpu vs apple gpu... we WILL, definitely, see
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From the live blog:
For me, the biggest concern is about not being able to run Windows in a VM/maybe being able to do it but the performance being atrocious. I do not want to move to Windows for work, but I may have to depending on how this goes.
For me, the biggest concern is about not being able to run Windows in a VM/maybe being able to do it but the performance being atrocious. I do not want to move to Windows for work, but I may have to depending on how this goes.
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At this minute, they call it Apple Silicon. They are trying really hard to not mention ARM.
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Initially I was horrified (I absolutely need to run high performance Windows software in a virtual machine...or get rid of my Macs.)
But after a bit of reading it appears that Microsoft has apparently already solved this problem with their Windows on ARM systems. The new translators live somewhere between interpreting the x86 code (traditional emulation) and recompiling it, so the first time a new program runs, the system generates and caches ARM native code replacements for the x86 commands. I'm sure it has limits, but it doesn't sound like nearly the performance horror show that the old Motorola to PowerPC transition was.
I think this is doable. The big question might be if they can actually take on high end chips or if this will just be for entry to mid level systems.
But after a bit of reading it appears that Microsoft has apparently already solved this problem with their Windows on ARM systems. The new translators live somewhere between interpreting the x86 code (traditional emulation) and recompiling it, so the first time a new program runs, the system generates and caches ARM native code replacements for the x86 commands. I'm sure it has limits, but it doesn't sound like nearly the performance horror show that the old Motorola to PowerPC transition was.
I think this is doable. The big question might be if they can actually take on high end chips or if this will just be for entry to mid level systems.
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So then can I please have 3lb 16" MacBook Pro!!!
Basically a 16" IPad Pro running MacOS.
Please please please !!
Basically a 16" IPad Pro running MacOS.
Please please please !!
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This developer is jumping ship. My 2018 top of the line MBP is officially my last macbook for work. I need virtualization and x86 emulation won't cut it.
edit: as is everyone at my business. We develop software and living without virtualization isn't worth the effort of staying in the Apple ecosystem. So long and thanks for all the fish.
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I don't think they'd be planning on supporting 2 Mac architectures indefinitely. They've got to think they can take on high end chips or this wouldn't be worth it.
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Oh, beating Intel I have no big doubt. Beating AMD and Nvidia, and getting developers to code for it... Like, getting devs to optimise for AMD and not only Nvidia is hard enough.
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I feel like there are many fewer developers that have stuff written in assembly these days than back during the Power PC to Intel transition. (And fewer still that actually needed to do that.)
Very optimistic for this transition!
Very optimistic for this transition!
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Why? Their computer doesn't simply cease to exist. It can be used for plenty of things after it's not used for professional use anymore. Desktops are last to be introduced on ARM and nobody uses pro-desktop more than few years (for work, that is), no matter what architecture it's based on.
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Did they actually say that?
What games? Certainly none that will be for sale on Steam or any place like that.
In fact, many smaller developers have already stopped doing macOS versions of their games due to stringent notarization requirements--I know technically this is not required, but Steam does require it regardless. And with ARM CPUs not sure what sort of virtualization options/performance will remain available for running Windows VMs/BootCamp for games, especially when Apple inevitably deprecates/removes Rosetta2 after a couple of OS versions.
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normally butters
Ars Praefectus
There are two types of ARM licensees. Some license whole IP (intellectual property) blocks, and others just license the ARMv8 instruction set architecture. Apple does the latter. This is similar to how AMD or Cyrix or Transmeta (aww, remember them?) produced x86-compatible CPUs under license from Intel. But nobody would describe a Ryzen CPU as having any more to do with Intel than its compatibility with executable machine code.
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