04-05-2018, 03:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-05-2018, 04:03 PM by stoppingdown.)
Forget the article in all the technicalities, I've only quoted it as a reference for the news.
The discussion about Apple going for ARM chips is quite old: I've discussed about it already years ago in various computer engineering forums, etc... From a technical point of view, things are quite complex: while ARM has got an advantage (it doens't have to keep a huge retro-compatibility as Intel, so their design is more clean), I don't see it probable that they catch up Intel in terms of performance - for sure, not within 2020. Actually, the article says this quite clearly (also Wired, see below). In the past I've argued against a number of people that said the opposite, and I'm still right. So, from a technical point of view, there would have been no reasons for Apple to switch.
But, in the end, those people forecasted this switch and actually it sounds as Apple is going to di it anyway, for some reason (which I suppose is largely political, I mean they can design ARMs on their own, in the end they design basically all the chips in their gear, from the Apple Watch to the MacBooks, _but_ the main processor of the laptops).
Now, what I'm not understanding - also looking at the Wired article - is whether they will *completely* replace Intels in MacBooks, also dropping macOS, or whether they will keep a "high profile" model. After all, they also have desktops, and I don't see it easy for high ends professionals (think for instance of video makers) to accept any drop in computing power. Truth is that for that kind of job parallelism works, and Apple could in theory roll out a desktop with dozens of ARM processors.
It's really *annoying* that Apple is not releasing an official statement if they have such a radical change in the two-years horizon.
My concern is twofold. For many applications, I presume that I won't have any problem because we'll see an ARM-compiled version after 2020. But this will definitely kill applications that I'm using as legacy (I mean, still using them but not upgrading, being on the lookout for a replacement; for instance Lightroom, that I'm only using as a catalog system. Now, I presume I'll have replaced Lightroom by 2020, but in the meantime the same fate might occur to some other applications).
The second source of concern is that *some* applications could not see the light for ARM... Who knows? For instance, Capture One, or some apps in the Cubase family (music synth). I really do hope I'll not be forced to move back to Windows... it would be absurd.
The biggest problem is that now I can enjoy Virtual Machines and have, for my engineering job, Windows or Linux boxes running on my laptop, when I need them. It's the reason for which I ultimately switched to Apple in 2006, when they introduced Intel processors. Without this possibility, I'll be forced to have a separated laptop for business, running Linux.
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-quitti...rocessors/
Technical question: it sounds as the new forum is "merging" two consecutive posts from the same user, am I right?
The discussion about Apple going for ARM chips is quite old: I've discussed about it already years ago in various computer engineering forums, etc... From a technical point of view, things are quite complex: while ARM has got an advantage (it doens't have to keep a huge retro-compatibility as Intel, so their design is more clean), I don't see it probable that they catch up Intel in terms of performance - for sure, not within 2020. Actually, the article says this quite clearly (also Wired, see below). In the past I've argued against a number of people that said the opposite, and I'm still right. So, from a technical point of view, there would have been no reasons for Apple to switch.
But, in the end, those people forecasted this switch and actually it sounds as Apple is going to di it anyway, for some reason (which I suppose is largely political, I mean they can design ARMs on their own, in the end they design basically all the chips in their gear, from the Apple Watch to the MacBooks, _but_ the main processor of the laptops).
Now, what I'm not understanding - also looking at the Wired article - is whether they will *completely* replace Intels in MacBooks, also dropping macOS, or whether they will keep a "high profile" model. After all, they also have desktops, and I don't see it easy for high ends professionals (think for instance of video makers) to accept any drop in computing power. Truth is that for that kind of job parallelism works, and Apple could in theory roll out a desktop with dozens of ARM processors.
It's really *annoying* that Apple is not releasing an official statement if they have such a radical change in the two-years horizon.
My concern is twofold. For many applications, I presume that I won't have any problem because we'll see an ARM-compiled version after 2020. But this will definitely kill applications that I'm using as legacy (I mean, still using them but not upgrading, being on the lookout for a replacement; for instance Lightroom, that I'm only using as a catalog system. Now, I presume I'll have replaced Lightroom by 2020, but in the meantime the same fate might occur to some other applications).
The second source of concern is that *some* applications could not see the light for ARM... Who knows? For instance, Capture One, or some apps in the Cubase family (music synth). I really do hope I'll not be forced to move back to Windows... it would be absurd.
The biggest problem is that now I can enjoy Virtual Machines and have, for my engineering job, Windows or Linux boxes running on my laptop, when I need them. It's the reason for which I ultimately switched to Apple in 2006, when they introduced Intel processors. Without this possibility, I'll be forced to have a separated laptop for business, running Linux.
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-quitti...rocessors/
Technical question: it sounds as the new forum is "merging" two consecutive posts from the same user, am I right?
stoppingdown.net
Sony a6300, Sony a6000, Sony NEX-6, Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS, Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS, Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS, Sigma 150-600mm Æ’/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary, Samyang 12mm Æ’/2, Sigma 30mm F2.8 DN | A, Meyer Gorlitz Trioplan 100mm Æ’/2.8, Samyang 8mm Æ’/3.5 fish-eye II | Zenit Helios 44-2 58mm Æ’/2
Plus some legacy Nikkor lenses.
Sony a6300, Sony a6000, Sony NEX-6, Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS, Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS, Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS, Sigma 150-600mm Æ’/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary, Samyang 12mm Æ’/2, Sigma 30mm F2.8 DN | A, Meyer Gorlitz Trioplan 100mm Æ’/2.8, Samyang 8mm Æ’/3.5 fish-eye II | Zenit Helios 44-2 58mm Æ’/2
Plus some legacy Nikkor lenses.