Anyone else notice this?

[Saturn007]

Yes, Apple is still selling the original M1 MBA but, if my browsing and reading of Apple's site is right, only with 7-core GPUs!

The 8-core option has vanished — at least for new devices. It's still there for refurbs.

Apple is being a bit cheap with that. It does, however, mean another plus for the M2 version over the original, albeit a relatively marginal one.

——————

P.S. This means that a new M1 MBA with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD sells for $1199, while the refurbished version, with 8-core GPU rather than 7, sells for $1059 — a $140 savings!

The corresponding M2 MBA with 8/512 sells for $1399 or $340 more! Wow!

 

[yitwail]

Yes, Apple is still selling the original M1 MBA but, if my browsing and reading of Apple's site is right, only with 7-core GPUs!

This might be because M1 iPad air gets 8-core GPU. Anyway, this makes me happy I sprung for 8-core GPU when I bought M1 MBA last year.

 

[mikedis]

Yes, Apple is still selling the original M1 MBA but, if my browsing and reading of Apple's site is right, only with 7-core GPUs!

The 8-core option has vanished — at least for new devices. It's still there for refurbs.

Apple is being a bit cheap with that. It does, however, mean another plus for the M2 version over the original, albeit a relatively marginal one.

——————

P.S. This means that a new M1 MBA with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD sells for $1199, while the refurbished version, with 8-core GPU rather than 7, sells for $1059 — a $140 savings!

The corresponding M2 MBA with 8/512 sells for $1399 or $340 more! Wow!

I mean doesn't that make sense though? New model comes out, so we downsize the number of the old models still for sale.

 

[jav6454]

Yes, Apple is still selling the original M1 MBA but, if my browsing and reading of Apple's site is right, only with 7-core GPUs!

The 8-core option has vanished — at least for new devices. It's still there for refurbs.

Apple is being a bit cheap with that. It does, however, mean another plus for the M2 version over the original, albeit a relatively marginal one.

——————

P.S. This means that a new M1 MBA with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD sells for $1199, while the refurbished version, with 8-core GPU rather than 7, sells for $1059 — a $140 savings!

The corresponding M2 MBA with 8/512 sells for $1399 or $340 more! Wow!

Yes, that's the case but being honest here, you will not see the difference between 8 or 7 GPU cores. The M1 is that good.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I wonder if it has anything to do with chip shortages? I’m sure it’s more than that, but I wonder if it plays into it.

 

[JPack]

I wonder if it has anything to do with chip shortages? I’m sure it’s more than that, but I wonder if it plays into it.

No, chip shortage has nothing to do with leading edge nodes. If it did, Apple wouldn't be putting M1 8-core into $599 iPad Air or $699 Mac mini.

The reality of the situation is due to inflation. $999 today is worth 15-20% less than in 2020. Consider it lucky Apple is maintaining the price and not increasing it.

 

[jav6454]

I wonder if it has anything to do with chip shortages? I’m sure it’s more than that, but I wonder if it plays into it.

No, chip shortages are not affecting Apple as they usually contact wafers from TSMC to prevent to price gouging that occurs right now.

This is just a money grab from Apple.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I get inflation, but I’m a bit tired of hearing certain companies complain about it as they still are making record profits. If you’re operating on thin margins, I understand that inflation is very difficult. Apple isn’t one of those.

 

[Saturn007]

When the original M1 MBA came out, people here speculated that the 7-core GPU vs. 8-core GPU was the result of manufacturing glitches. Rather than discard the 7-core GPUs, they made it the base.

If true, it's likely that Apple is now shunting the quality control "failures" (7-core GPU rather than 8) to the M1 MBAs now and putting all the "successful" ones (8-core GPU) into the new M2 MBAs.

What used to be a modest cost option (to get 8-core rather than 7) or an automatic one when you picked the 512GB SSD version has been deliberately abandoned. Makes sense at one level to further distinguish models, but was surprising nonetheless. Usually, when Apple keeps an older model around, it doesn't strip features/options from it. In fact, sometimes, it upgrades them -- greater base RAM, etc.

Glad to hear, though, that it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

 

[JPack]

When the original M1 MBA came out, people here speculated that the 7-core GPU vs. 8-core GPU was the result of manufacturing glitches. Rather than discard the 7-core GPUs, they made it the base.

That explanation never made any sense. The GPU cores are one of the smallest features on the chip. If it was due to binning, the failures would have been in CPU cores as they are much larger. Failures don't happen with a single GPU core. The 7/8 core difference is purely due to marketing. It remains the case with the current $999 MBA.

If true, it's likely that Apple is now shunting the quality control "failures" (7-core GPU rather than 8) to the M1 MBAs now and putting all the "successful" ones (8-core GPU) into the new M2 MBAs.

What used to be a modest cost option (to get 8-core rather than 7) or an automatic one when you picked the 512GB SSD version has been deliberately abandoned. Makes sense at one level to further distinguish models, but was surprising nonetheless. Usually, when Apple keeps an older model around, it doesn't strip features/options from it. In fact, sometimes, it upgrades them -- greater base RAM, etc.

M2 is a different chip, so it's not possible to "shunt" those failures as M1. And it makes no sense as I described above. You also see the full 8-core M1 in $599 iPad Air and Mac mini.

 

[Saturn007]

Appreciate your informed skepticism about the 7 vs. 8 core argument. So, the GPUs aren't a separate component that just plugs into the CPU? Even if they were, I guess the point is that they are different designs. So much for shunting failures off to the old M1 line.

OTOH, given that there is apparently little real-world performance difference, it makes me wonder why Apple ever bothered to manufacture 7-core GPUs. Wouldn't it have been more cost effective to simply do one?! Not sure it was ever much of a marketing point or paid that much attention to except by eagle-eyed consumers and techies!

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

That explanation never made any sense. The GPU cores are one of the smallest features on the chip. If it was due to binning, the failures would have been in CPU cores as they are much larger. Failures don't happen with a single GPU core. The 7/8 core difference is purely due to marketing. It remains the case with the current $999 MBA.

According to Anandtech, the GPU cores are slightly larger than the Firestorm cores, and much larger than the icestorm cores.

 

[jav6454]

When the original M1 MBA came out, people here speculated that the 7-core GPU vs. 8-core GPU was the result of manufacturing glitches. Rather than discard the 7-core GPUs, they made it the base.

If true, it's likely that Apple is now shunting the quality control "failures" (7-core GPU rather than 8) to the M1 MBAs now and putting all the "successful" ones (8-core GPU) into the new M2 MBAs.

What used to be a modest cost option (to get 8-core rather than 7) or an automatic one when you picked the 512GB SSD version has been deliberately abandoned. Makes sense at one level to further distinguish models, but was surprising nonetheless. Usually, when Apple keeps an older model around, it doesn't strip features/options from it. In fact, sometimes, it upgrades them -- greater base RAM, etc.

Glad to hear, though, that it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Companies that make chips often sell chips that have defective units. In the case of Apple they sell variants of the fully fledged M-series chip as perhaps a core (GPU/CPU) has a defect.

That's where you get chip differentiation. Fabs usually sell these chips with defects at a discounted price which translates into a cheaper base model. Should all the wafers coming from the fab have high yields and no defective chips are produced, the fab will let the customer note so that some units be "binned".

This has been industry standard practice for years.

 

[yitwail]

Given that 7 gpu core M1 chips are binned, you wonder if on occasion Apple would have a shortage of the 7 core gpu M1 and substitute a 8 gpu core for the same price? By the way, you can check how many your M1 chip contains in About This Mac > System Report... > Hardware > Graphics/Displays