Apple needs to start manufacturing it's own RAM.
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Apple Clings to Samsung as RAM Prices Soar
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bradman83
macrumors 68000
100% this. Apple would never recoup the cost to build a fab vs. simply paying TSMC or Samsung or Intel or whichever fab company they choose whatever premium is charged by those companies.
A few weeks ago the forums lost their mind over the rumor that Apple might use Intel as a fab for future A or M series chips using Intel’s Angstrom process nodes. (Due to most people equating anything Intel does with x86). But this is an incredibly useful strategic partnership because it provides a negotiating point against TSMC and their increasingly higher fab costs. Competition is good and we should be rooting for Intel to get its act together and for Samsung to catch up and for TSMC to keep doing its thing so that no one company can dominate the fab market.
Frantisekj
macrumors 65816
And now in MacOS 26.2 Apple released support for RDMA which enables connecting Mac Studios to gain 2TB RAM pool so things will get even worse. lol And it works pretty well.
Apple designs and closely oversees (ie. controls) the manufacturing of their custom components rather than just buying off-the-shelf components.
It's a careful balancing act.
Sure wish they'd move towards more 3D printing and have their own factories.
they don't manufacturer as they don't have the machines to do it. They only designed many components.
ProbablyDylan
macrumors 68040
The AI induced chip shortage is shaping up to be more damaging than the covid induced chip shortage. I wonder how long before other industries like auto are hit.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
Unless they shut down and reconfigure the older fab plants that produce auto chips, not much. AI companies aren't interested in older chips or chips based on older processes.
The infotainment systems, however...
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
Two completely different companies…
Either way, Apple still isn’t going to build and operate their own fabs.
Samsung has announced it will not meet demands and will jack up the price instead. So good luck to Apple relying on Samsung.
And Apple has no leverage as the AI industry pays overinflated prices for RAM modules, while Apple pays peanuts.
Micron has even announced it is quiting the consumer business as it is simply not as profitable as AI.
And Apple has no leverage as the AI industry pays overinflated prices for RAM modules, while Apple pays peanuts.
Micron has even announced it is quiting the consumer business as it is simply not as profitable as AI.
Heh, and Samsung is one of the first companies to raise RAM prices. They were also caught price fixing RAM in the early 2000s.
thefredelement
macrumors 65816
This is an interesting time, MacOS 26.2 enables faster data transfer via thunderbolt 5 viable to the point where Mac Studios can cluster for ML tasks, while not as performant yet as a single high end Nvida Blackwell data center card, a cluster of M5 Ultras would get much closer and be much more affordable while consuming a ton of less power. If Apple can somehow finagle their way through this and get better API support for their hardware (like better attention mechanism without needing custom metal shaders, etc or maybe re-unite with Chris Lattner's new mojo language (hardware agnostic ML stacks)), they could be an AI data center leader in the space.
(I built an ML PC a few months ago with 128GB of 6000MT/s DDR5, I didn't realize it would be an investment, building that same thing now would cost substantially more. )
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I'm in this boat too, I've been waiting for the M5 Ultra Mac Studio as my next Mac upgrade, I priced out the M3 w/the options (256GB RAM, biggest CPU, 2TB) and it was around $7,500, which I thought for what I hoped to be a 4 - 7 year computer was just barely acceptable.
I hope the M5 still works for me even at the 96GB option when it releases.
(I built an ML PC a few months ago with 128GB of 6000MT/s DDR5, I didn't realize it would be an investment, building that same thing now would cost substantially more. )
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I'm in this boat too, I've been waiting for the M5 Ultra Mac Studio as my next Mac upgrade, I priced out the M3 w/the options (256GB RAM, biggest CPU, 2TB) and it was around $7,500, which I thought for what I hoped to be a 4 - 7 year computer was just barely acceptable.
I hope the M5 still works for me even at the 96GB option when it releases.
loekf
macrumors 6502a
“According to the report, Apple's hardware is particularly sensitive to momentary voltage spikes, which are not well accommodated by its latest chips, including the A19 and A19 Pro. This places additional pressure on memory suppliers to deliver components that perform identically across very large production runs.”
This does not make a lot of sense author. DRAM is not supplied by the same supplies as the A-series SoC.
Did Apple forget about decoupling capacitors ? Either on chip or off chip ?
This does not make a lot of sense author. DRAM is not supplied by the same supplies as the A-series SoC.
Did Apple forget about decoupling capacitors ? Either on chip or off chip ?
Gamer Nexus has a great expose on Micron shuttering their Crucial house brand and going all in on industrial hyperscale data centers and AI. And taking tax payer money to screw the consumer. My 2023 MacBook Pro has 18 GB of Micron RAM.
ChatGPT is the “Dolly Madison” snack cake of AI. Siri is “Little Debbie”. You know….the little sister of Dolly Madison who the family keeps in the basement and never really talks about.
Regbial
macrumors 6502a
But butt... AI was gonna be our savior no...? 🥺 (🙄)
Billionaire techbros need to drop their drugs and maaaybe progress beyond the brain of a 2 year old and start thinking that there are others (🤯) in the world besides themselves and their desperate unceasing ambitions who might just also need some basic technology in their lives in the year 2025. Crazy concept I know!!
Billionaire techbros need to drop their drugs and maaaybe progress beyond the brain of a 2 year old and start thinking that there are others (🤯) in the world besides themselves and their desperate unceasing ambitions who might just also need some basic technology in their lives in the year 2025. Crazy concept I know!!
falainber
macrumors 68040
Apple does not manufacture anything. They design the chips but they use foundries (TSMC) to manufacture them. That's not going to change.
So if Apple charges $200 for an 8MB upgrade
In other words, instead of making 10x for memory upgrades, they're only making 5x! No way Tim can feed his kids at those prices.
In other words, instead of making 10x for memory upgrades, they're only making 5x! No way Tim can feed his kids at those prices.
burgman
macrumors 68040
This article from last year shows another glimpse of Apple behind the rainbow curtain
www.semiconductor-digest.com
Apple Is America’s Semiconductor Problem - Semiconductor Digest
If Apple wants to source its chips for pennies from foreign suppliers, it should have to pay a price to do so, such as a duty on imported iPhones using only foreign-sourced chips. Realizing the promise of the CHIPS Act depends on acknowledging and addressing Apple’s outsized influence over our...
www.semiconductor-digest.com
klasma
macrumors G4
Unless you actually do sell them, it’s still overkill.
artifex
macrumors 6502a
Why should they care? "Normal" people with consciences don't become billionaires to begin with. Even "effective altruism" is a utilitarian smokescreen to give them an excuse to avoid doing anything immediate for other people.
The moment AI finds a more efficient way of working -- let's say iterative logic models that require hundreds of times less resources than large language models get to the point where they can largely displace the LLMs -- this whole bubble blows up. So it's not as though someone's going to lightly or casually take on the risk of building huge new fabs.