Apple Execs Talk M1 Chip, Touchscreen Macs and More in New Interview

[CarlJ]

Nice to see that the long forgotten parent of motion coprocessors (m7 and higher) finally showed up. But what happens after the next six iterations?

Yeah, I think they’re just going to retcon the Motion Coprocessor out, so they can use the name for its One True Purpose.

 

[Boil]

Apple does not want touchscreen Macs because they want you to buy iPads / iPad Pros & use Sidecar...!

 

[CarlJ]

I seriously hope he’s being sarcastic here. Like, he’d better be joking. There’s nothing brilliant about putting a letter in a processor name.

Find something else to get morally outraged about. It was really obviously a joke.

 

[julesme]

"We started getting back our battery life numbers, and we're like, 'You're kidding'..."

This makes me afraid they'll go for a smaller battery next time to make it thinner/lighter. Please don't!

 

[headlessmike]

Nice to see that the long forgotten parent of motion coprocessors (m7 and higher) finally showed up. But what happens after the next six iterations?

Then there will probably be two M7's: the ancient (particularly at that point) M7 motion coprocessor, and the M7 system on a chip. Doubt that there will be too much confusion.

 

[boss.king]

Nice to see that the long forgotten parent of motion coprocessors (m7 and higher) finally showed up. But what happens after the next six iterations?

They'll just ignore the existing M chips. I know the motion coprocessor in the A14 is called the M14, but I assume that from now moving forward they're just going to scrub all M-series naming not related to AS Macs.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Glad they’re not doing touchscreen macs, I hate those hybrid devices

So you don't like the iPad & external Keyboard?

Clearly lots of other people do, though.

 

[agsystems]

I seriously hope he’s being sarcastic here. Like, he’d better be joking. There’s nothing brilliant about putting a letter in a processor name.

that's the problem with written interviews - you miss on the nuisance

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Apple does not want touchscreen Macs because they want you to buy iPads / iPad Pros & use Sidecar...!

Or because in their mind they already make one.

 

[coreyq]

I JUST bought and received shipment of the 13" MBP with the high-end Intel chip. Should I return it for the new M1?

13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray
Z0Y7
Configuration
• 2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 1TB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• PRO APPS 065-C171 NONE
• SW LOGIC PRO X 065-C172 NONE
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English
• Accessory Kit

 

[Stella]

Glad they’re not doing touchscreen macs, I hate those hybrid devices

How is a touchscreen Mac any different to an iPad that has a mouse and keyboard connected?

 

[agsystems]

So Apple has said they expect to complete the transition to ASi in two years. I’m curious, though, when they’ll stop selling Intel-based Macs. Will they pull the last ones as soon as the lineup is complete, or will they continue to seek some for linger, because some folks need x86-64 machines and/or in a similar vein to how they sell previous years iPhones as lesser models?

wouldn't shock me if Intel machines are still sold and supported 3-5 years from now - there are governments, businesses and schools with existing leases that need to be fulfilled

 

[dannys1]

Glad they’re not doing touchscreen macs, I hate those hybrid devices

Same, I wish people just stop asking. Make the Mac the best laser focused cursor device you can. Make iPadOS the best laser focused touch input device you can - although even that is 10x better with a trackpad at which point you try to avoid touching the screen at all costs, which is exactly why a Mac shouldn't have a touch screen.

 

[Caliber26]

It’s the Jiggle Mode song that gets you, isn’t it?

Yesss! How have I not seen this before?! He can put me into jiggle mode any day of the week. 😂

 

[dannys1]

How is a touchscreen Mac any different to an iPad that has a mouse and keyboard connected?

an iPad is running iPadOS which is designed from the ground up for touch input. macOS isn't at all - and you'd have to fundamentally change the entire UI to make it touch compatible which shouldn't be touched.

 

[evec]

Apple work as Microsoft work 10 years before.
The different is: Microsoft want people smart as professional engineer just only use the Mobile, instead of Apple want all uses computer like an idiot.

 

[agsystems]

I JUST bought and received shipment of the 13" MBP with the high-end Intel chip. Should I return it for the new M1?

13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray
Z0Y7
Configuration
• 2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 1TB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• PRO APPS 065-C171 NONE
• SW LOGIC PRO X 065-C172 NONE
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English
• Accessory Kit

sounds like you all set here - what exactly the new M1 will do better than this? I don't know but based on the specs you send, I wouldn't replace it with these 1st gen machines.

 

[boss.king]

an iPad is running iPadOS which is designed from the ground up for touch input. macOS isn't at all - and you'd have to fundamentally change the entire UI to make it touch compatible which shouldn't be touched.

Have you seen Big Sur? They've made a whole bunch of UI changes that are way less mouse-friendly and look like they've been specifically designed for touch input.

 

[LegCortex]

wE’rE bRiLLiAnT mArKEtErS tHaT wAy 🤪

 

[otternonsense]

Boy, wouldn’t it be exciting if Apple with all their billions would finally deliver a snazzy new Mac design glowup instead of just delivering a chip alone. I remember when they could offer more with less. Good times.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Find something else to get morally outraged about. It was really obviously a joke.

As was my original post

 

[farewelwilliams]

I JUST bought and received shipment of the 13" MBP with the high-end Intel chip. Should I return it for the new M1?

13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray
Z0Y7
Configuration
• 2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 1TB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• PRO APPS 065-C171 NONE
• SW LOGIC PRO X 065-C172 NONE
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English
• Accessory Kit

if you need the 32GB ram, keep the intel. if you can live with 16GB, go with M1

 

[scottcampbell]

With the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini all using the same chip at variable price points, Federighi says that the main differentiating factor is thermal capacity. The MacBook Air has no fan and uses passive cooling, while the MacBook Pro has an active cooling system for faster performance.

Alright it's kinda funny that the MacBook Air doesn't use air.

 

[JPack]

Thermal capacity is the difference between Air and Pro.

Even though we already knew that, it really makes you wonder if they didn't take the fan out from the Air, what the difference would be.

Can't help but wonder if the removal of the fan was an engineering decision or a product stack necessity.

 

[dannyyankou]

I know, right. Imagine if they had made some sort of disgusting keyboard and trackpad case that essentially turned their tablet into a touchscreen laptop. There's nothing worse than versatility and options when it comes to computing if you ask me, each device should stick to doing one thing and we should all have to buy a bunch of devices and piece them together to get the functionality we want.

Apples and oranges. It makes sense adding a keyboard when you want to do more heavy duty typing on a iPad. But I’ve tried using one of those touchscreen laptops before, and using a mouse or trackpad is a lot more comfortable.