One for the Apple spods:
Looks like a game-changer, if you've got deep enough pockets.
I've had a 16Gb 8/8 M1 MBA since they launched (Nov 2020) and it's capacity to get stuff done, including video/image editing with loads of other apps running in the background, and extending to a 4k display, without any noise or effort still astounds me.
They absolutely nailed AS.
Yeah, just ordered a base-spec Mini to replace my ageing iMac for when WFH. Absolute no-brainer for the price, it's even cheaper than the original M1 Mini was when they brought that out in 2020. Inflation-busting pricing from Apple?! 🤔
Intel et al so far behind now it's unreal.
I've got the 16gb M1 Pro chipped Macbook Pro and it's amazing.
The nearest I've come to utilising it's power is doing some analysis on a million row spreadsheet for mrs ots.
It's slightly ridiculously over specced when usually the most taxing thing it does is drive a couple of monitors with browsers in them and run a MS Team call.
I loved the dual video out and pure grunt, but had to admit it was overkill so bought the M2 powered Air with more memory instead… still impressive, but nothing like the Pro
I see an M2 Pro mini in my near future. Again to replace an ageing Intel iMac.
No SCSI or Printer port, I'm out!
How is it meant to talk to my Zip drive or LaserWriterII?
No SCSI or Printer port, I’m out!
How is it meant to talk to my Zip drive or LaserWriterII?
Those were the days 🧐
Have a 16" M1 MBP from work and it's going back. The 16 inch model is too big for regular transportation duties - and heavy too. Processor gets a work out using R for simulation purposes (sadly SAS is not on M chipsets). It's fast but heavy, so I'll trade some speed for the 14". Or keep my z-book for simulation.
I have an M2 Air, loving it so far 😁👍
I had been planning to buy a refurbished M1 Mini to replace my 2015 MBP. But now I'm reconsidering!
I had thought that due to the pound tanking, the next lot would be stupid money. We're still getting rinsed (£649 in UK vs $599 (£484) in the US, but that's much better than I was expecting.
Have a 16″ M1 MBP from work and it’s going back. The 16 inch model is too big for regular transportation duties – and heavy too.
I have a colleague that got issued with one and she reports the same - a heavy lump to cart around.
My 14" is significantly heavier than the MBA it replaced, but I don't travel that much.
15” MacBook Air with M2 chip due later this year - saving my pennies! I’ve already got an M1 MacBook Air but it would be nice to have a bigger screen for illustration and graphics work.
So impressed with this hardware. Intel seem to have become a bit complacent of late.
14" M2 Max would very much not be a compromise!It’s fast but heavy, so I’ll trade some speed for the 14″.
game-changer
Game changer? Really? Surely you'll be doing all the same things as before just somewhat quicker? So the game is going to be the same..?
Intel seem to have become a bit complacent of late.
Intel are working on the same concept that made M1 fast and efficient, because of course they are. Apple just got there second that's all.
I have a 14 inch MBP and it's not what I'd call heavy at all. Not ultralight but still light and a prett good form factor.
Intel are working on the same concept that made M1 fast and efficient, because of course they are. Apple just got there second that’s all.
Eh? Mansplaining?
Intel are working on the same concept that made M1 fast and efficient, because of course they are. Apple just got there second that’s all.
?? The M1 chip launched in November 2020. Intel don't seem to have caught up with that yet, let alone the chips released since
I see an M2 Pro mini in my near future. Again to replace an ageing Intel iMac.
the M2 is £650. The M2 Pro mini starts at £1400
that's an expensive machine unless you need the speed. I was looking at Mini's but no-one seems to make a really good display to work with Apple kit at the moment - everything except Apple's ludicrously expensive options seems compromised. I bought an M1 iMac in the end. What's strange now is that so few tasks actually push the processor - we have just stopped using a 2011 bottom of the range MacBook (8gb, but upgraded with an SSD) and for email/office/internet/streaming video/basic photo editing it was still fine.
Just popped over to Apple UK for a look-see and they've announced HomePod Mk2. Dolby Atmos with AppleTV for £600.
yeah just seen that. I'm sure it'd sound great though even with just one!Just popped over to Apple UK for a look-see and they’ve announced HomePod Mk2. Dolby Atmos with AppleTV for £600.
The M1 chip launched in November 2020. Intel don’t seem to have caught up with that yet, let alone the chips released since
ARM did it first, for phones; Apple second and Intel or AMD will be third.
Lol. The M1/M2 [I]is[/I] ARM.
Apple have been using arm chips for a long time 🤷♂️
I need to replace my 11year old iMac... if one's choosing between a mac mini and iMac, are there affordable monitors available that match the iMac screen performance without spending the eyewatering apple monitor price tag?... for work where colour rendition is paramount, but non-pro level. I dig the iMac but separates make mores sense for longevity perhaps and that mac mini is a great price.
these'll run windows, right ?
(sort of 😉 )
Can’t believe no one has asked if they’ll run Flash
It’s fast but heavy, so I’ll trade some speed for the 14″.
14" M1 is still pretty heavy when compared to the older MBPs. I went from an older 16 to 14 and much prefer the smaller size, but the 14 feels heavier to me.
Macbook Air is like a sheet of paper in comparison.
I read a load of different sites like this a few months back when I was buying (since I was going to use my own keyboard and mouse) and concluded that no, there were no monitor options that 'integrated' properly with a Mac and with a decent built in webcam and audio. I'm still surprised that Apple dont make a screen that lets you do 'apple screen' plus mini for a few hundred more than the equivalent iMac.
The iMac is a lovely thing and computers 'last' a lot longer than they used to
For the sake of thousand quid, just put a normal webcam on top of a normal monitor. It might not be quite as well integrated, but it works perfectly well
Are there not second hand Apple screens available? I haven’t checked, but I’d have guessed the screen would work for longer than just about any other part.
As I understand it, the M1 concept is having fast cores and separate high efficiency cores, which is a phone thing. and Intel are working on a version of it as well. Apple bought some ARM IP for the M1 and did some themselves.
Intel released their first attempt in 2021. Now on their second release.
Apple M2 vs Intel Core i9 13th Gen - Tech Journeyman
molgrips
Intel are working on the same concept that made M1 fast and efficient, because of course they are. Apple just got there second that’s all.
Exactly, Intel the largest PC chip manufacturer in the world got their arses completely handed to them two years ago (by a company with absolutely no history of making laptop/workstation chips) because they were being complacent and now they're desperately scrabbling to catch up.
Exactly, Intel the largest PC chip manufacturer in the world got their arses completely handed to them...
As I understand it (and I'm happy to be corrected because I'm not a hardware guy), the ARM chips make their gains in increased efficiency rather than increased power, mainly because they removed all the bloat that made them compatible with legacy software and redesigned them specifically for modern systems. To Intel it was too much of a compromise. Less so to Apple. Apple have just forced the competition.
Just popped over to Apple UK for a look-see and they’ve announced HomePod Mk2. Dolby Atmos with AppleTV for £600.
odd that its back, slightly cheaper and with nothing really changed,
I've got two mk1 running in stereo, I like them
butcher
As I understand it (and I’m happy to be corrected because I’m not a hardware guy), the ARM chips make their gains in increased efficiency rather than increased power, mainly because they removed all the bloat that made them compatible with legacy software and redesigned them specifically for modern systems. To Intel it was too much of a compromise. Less so to Apple. Apple have just forced the competition.
Posted 10 minutes ago
ARM have been targeting power efficiency very successfully for a long time with innovations like big.LITTLE etc.
Intel do have CISC baggage to deal with which adds complexity to their chips, however there is no fundamental reason why Intel could not have implemented similar innovations for mobile chips that ARM did.
The specs on the 2 base Mac mini models are identical except for an extra 256GB of SSD storage for an extra £200. My late 2018 Mac mini still runs like a dream still but occasionally gets short on memory (8GB) so if you want more memory on these new models that will be another £200 to upgrade to 16GB of memory.
Have they kept the base price low and bumped up the cost of the upgrade options?
Exactly, Intel the largest PC chip manufacturer in the world got their arses completely handed to them two years ago (by a company with absolutely no history of making laptop/workstation chips) because they were being complacent and now they’re desperately scrabbling to catch up.
I don't think they were being complacent. As above, they were on a particular track, and Apple weren't. However they didn't really get their 'arse handed to them' as you say. Apple fans tend to be focused on shiny expensive consumer laptops, but Intel (and AMD) make the CPUs for almost everything else in the world bigger than phones and tablets.
Also, be sceptical about the hype; the benchmarks that show Apple destroying Intel are a bit cherry-picked according to some. Don't get me wrong, M1/2 is a great innovation, but it's not as big of a deal as some people make out. I have an M1 MBP and whilst it's a lovely machine, my life has not changed at all. Well that's not really true - I have given up trying to run stuff in Docker containers because it's a royal pain in the balls.
slightly cheaper and with nothing really changed,
Lighter weight, bit smaller, 2 fewer tweeters and a fancy pair of sensors (heat/humidity and ambient sound). I would like to try a pair as Atmos speakers with the TV but not just yet.
On the webcam front there's a bracket by Belkin (£25) that clips to the top edge of the screen to mount your iPhone into as a very expensive webcam supported by the OS (Ventura).
Have they kept the base price low and bumped up the cost of the upgrade options?
I don't think so. £200 incremental upgrades for RAM and storage have been the norm for a while I think.
molgrips
I don’t think they were being complacent. As above, they were on a particular track, and Apple weren’t. However they didn’t really get their ‘arse handed to them’ as you say. Apple fans tend to be focused on shiny expensive consumer laptops, but Intel (and AMD) make the CPUs for almost everything else in the world bigger than phones and tablets.
Also, be sceptical about the hype; the benchmarks that show Apple destroying Intel are a bit cherry-picked according to some. Don’t get me wrong, M1/2 is a great innovation, but it’s not as big of a deal as some people make out. I have an M1 MBP and whilst it’s a lovely machine, my life has not changed at all. Well that’s not really true – I have given up trying to run stuff in Docker containers because it’s a royal pain in the balls.
Yes Intel were on a particular track where they made mediocre mobile chips which ran too hot, they didn't bother to innovate, because they were complacent. They didn't think anybody would come in and completely rinse them like Apple did with the M series.
I don't really have any investment in the Apple world, I have owned a few Macs but really I just like interesting tech. My current personal systems are a Ryzen based Legion 5p and an i7 HP Envy. My phones are android, in general I do not particularly like the Apple way of doing things.
So that said, I think you either haven't used a system these chips or have some other agenda against Apple. They are absolutely awesome bits of kit. Genuine all day battery life even when actually driving them hard, passive cooling, performance is fantastic, just really really good.
Compare and contrast to my Envy (with an 11th gen i7), which half the time has the fan going full blast and the base getting so hot i can't keep it on my lap, even on light tasks like web browsing.
Genuine all day battery life even when actually driving them hard
That is the main benefit I've seen on this M1.
Compare and contrast to my Envy (with an 11th gen i7), which half the time has the fan going full blast and the base getting so hot i can’t keep it on my lap, even on light tasks like web browsing.
That is a software issue and nothing to do with Intel.
EDIT Unless you mean that driving the Intel machine harder makes it hotter - which is true (but perhaps not in all cases), however no laptop should be running hot when browsing the web, that's usually caused by rogue software.
Compare and contrast to my Envy (with an 11th gen i7), which half the time has the fan going full blast and the base getting so hot i can’t keep it on my lap, even on light tasks like web browsing.
My 12th gen i7 laptop has the hybrid performance architecture. It's fanless with no heat issues if you are just browsing, email etc. Gets warm if you start photo and vid editing. So Intel is getting there I think. Keen to try a 13th-gen. All chips will run hot eventually I guess. Isn't the Mac Studio full of fans?
Wife is still on a 10yo Intel MBA here - that definitely could do with swapping for an M1 one.
"just" all day battery life apparently not-game changing enough, let alone massive energy-efficiency savings , in this day & age 😂
never heard a peep out of mine, and it always runs ice-cold (unlike my retired iMac which you could've fried an egg off!)Isn’t the Mac Studio full of fans?
The problem for Intel I guess is they can't make too radical an architecture change without getting all the major hardware & software players on-board too at the same time, no point bringing out the worlds most efficient/fastest chip if it won't run Windows 😃. Apple's "closed" system - which has actually always been one of their biggest strengths - obviously a huge advantage here. I'm sure they're huge financial resources didn't hurt either - they actually tried something similar in the 90s with the PowerPP chip but even with IBM on board couldn't quite pull it off.