Apple Looking to Fundamentally Change iPhone Memory Design to Enhance AI Performance [Update: False]

[TracesOfArsenic]

Basically, Apple is re-inventing PCs. This could be the start of user swappable RAM, SSD and potentially discrete GPUs.

Imagine a Macbook with the base GPU and the option for Apple discrete GPU

For ex [M5 Pro 18-core GPU w/M5 Max 40-core discrete GPU]

This could actually be revolutionary. I can imagine a whole market opening up for components for users to beef up their hardware where they need it. It would be insane to be able to extend the life of your computer by only replacing a single part when needed. This will truly be groundbreaking, I love when Apple innovate like this!

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I thought the M1’s memory was supposed to be superior to off-package RAM so why are they doing this? Is it still Unified Memory? Or am I missing something here?

It's not superior. Off-package RAM is superior. Even better is user-upgradeable RAM.

"Unified memory" just means that the CPU and GPU share RAM. You know, like the crappy built-in Intel GPUs. There's NOTHING good about it.

Apple put the ram on package to price gouge us. It's cheaper for them, and they can charge us a LOT more for RAM when there's no easy way to upgrade it.

 

[mectojic]

Upgrading M1 to M7 will be beyond epic.

How about upgrading from G3 to M7?

 

[eas]

I may understand what this article is trying to communicate, but I'm pretty sure the author doesn't.

 

[TobiWahn_Kenobi]

It's not superior. Off-package RAM is superior. Even better is user-upgradeable RAM.

"Unified memory" just means that the CPU and GPU share RAM. You know, like the crappy built-in Intel GPUs. There's NOTHING good about it.

Apple put the ram on package to price gouge us. It's cheaper for them, and they can charge us a LOT more for RAM when there's no easy way to upgrade it.

Sorry to tell you but you are completely wrong.
Unified memory is very different from the crappy Intel integrated shared memory.
Normally with shared memory the RAM is segregated into a portion for CPU RAM and a smaller portion for GPU RAM.
When you load something for a game the assets are loaded twice - once into the CPU portion and once into the GPU portion. They cannot cross-access the memory addresses.
In Unified Memory systems there is no segregation. Every asset is loaded only once into the unified memory and both GPU and CPU can access the same addresses.

 

[nathansz]

so after years of free marketing from apple fans that "ram is better this way" apple going back the other way?

next thing you know they'll come up with the "innovation" of a separate gpu!

 

[ksec]

That's what I initially thought - I mean memory is packaged even on the highest-end Apple chips at this time with some pretty serious memory bandwidth and frequency. So I think this is a camouflaged reason to cut costs.

And yet you will see most or Macrumors comments start supporting the idea.

I wish Macrumors and other Apple site would avoid doing any technical reporting which 99% of time is basically spreading false information.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Rumours are the core of this site, they will often be wrong by their nature of being rumours.

 

[svish]

Was wondering how this will be possible. Anyway good to see a clarification from Samsung. Looks like there will not be any changes!!

 

[Bungobungo]

More power for grifters to make plagiarised art and factually dubious pages of text! Wow!

 

[leman]

Unified memory is very different from the crappy Intel integrated shared memory.
Normally with shared memory the RAM is segregated into a portion for CPU RAM and a smaller portion for GPU RAM.
When you load something for a game the assets are loaded twice - once into the CPU portion and once into the GPU portion. They cannot cross-access the memory addresses.

That might have been the case for early Intel solutions but since at least 2012 Intel used UMA.

In Unified Memory systems there is no segregation. Every asset is loaded only once into the unified memory and both GPU and CPU can access the same addresses.

Yes. It does not mean that there are no copies. Quite a lot of games logically segregate “CPU” and “GPU” memory. Apple specifically encourages developers to copy texture data since it enables layout optimizations.