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Apple M1 Chip: Everything You Need to Know

Just discovered (elsewhere) that Apple simply copied their existing iPhone & iPad DRAM solution.

NOT what I had expected, but NOT surprising; saves them a ton of challenging, low-level work !

Anyone remember the stumble Qualcomm experienced shortly-AFTER Apple released the 5s with the 64-bit A7 ?
 
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As a Mac user since 1994, I have to say that my new M1 MacBook Pro 13" is by far the biggest noticeable leap I've ever had in a new Mac. It's absolutely bonkers how amazing this machine is, and I only have the 8 gigs ram version.

This machine, for me, is the best computer investment that I have ever made. In the past I bought (at the time) the top of the line 15" MacBook Pro in 2015, and before that a mid-level 2009 Mac Pro, and before that a G5 Mac Pro. I've also owned other Macs of course, and have had company supplied Macs, too.

This laptop? If this had been $5k, I would have been 100% happy with the performance. The fact that it's a $1,299 computer is just crazy... I can't wait to see what they eventually do with the iMac, iMac Pro, and Mac Pro. Good grief.
 
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that single thread and multi thread chart left out the 2013 Mac Pro and the 5.1 Mac Pro. I know a 12 Core 2013 or 5.1 Mac Pro can whip an M1 on multi thread applications
 
These new apple silicon chips are a fantastic achievement and I'm genuinely excited, yet I'm finding myself in a rather nasty situation.

My work machine, that I have been using for work on After Effects since 2014, is almost dead and I'm in need of a replacement in as little time as possible.
I watched the latest presentation with great anticipation and with the hope of seeing a redesigned iMac, or a macbook pro with a dedicated GPU and 32-64 GB of ram.

With regards to CPU power I have no complaints as these chips truly are fenomenal, but the limitation of having just 16GB of ram max and no dedicated GPU makes my work impossible, as After Effects uses large amounts of ram and GPU power.

The longest I can wait for a replacement is march, therefore I really hope the rumors that see a new iMac released by then are true; anyway it doesn't matter if a desktop or portable machine is released first, I absolutely need 32-64GB of ram and a more powerful GPU.
 
I bought in May the MBP13 16Ram 512gb with the Intel10th gen for my son for his school. Now, I just ordered the MBP13 base model (8Ram 256gb) for myself. Should receive it in two weeks...
 
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kas23 said:
But yet, 99% of people buying Macs either won’t know it’s in there or won’t care. And 90% of the remaining 1% won’t be using their Macs for anything that couldn’t already be done efficiently on the last generation of Macs.
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Not true. Web-based apps like Skype are huge resource hog s on Intel Macbooks. The fan noise can interfere with live conversations and recordings, and battery life is far shorter running apps like this. Both Joanna Stern and Rene Ritchie explicitly noted that the M1 is far quieter and battery lasts far longer. These issues affect far more than 1% of users.
 
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Amazing technology.

In a word ... Intel should be Ashamed of the way they squandered their position in the market.

I bet top executives from other computer manufacturers are saying to Intel ... what the hell are you doing, Apple is going to "clean your clock".
 
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Constable Odo said:
The M1 seems great for laptops, in general, but not so great for any type of app that requires a dedicated GPU. The x86 groups are going to be comparing the integrated Apple Silicon GPU against Nvidia and Radeon dedicated GPUs, and then claiming how lame the M1 is. I'm sure the average, non-gaming user will be quite happy with the M1 processor thanks to the high single-core performance and good battery life. All Apple needs to do now is to design a powerful Apple Silicon dedicated GPU for the 16" MacBook Pro and the various desktop iMacs. Apple should build a Mac Pro with multiple M-series processors which would be totally bonkers. Apple Silicon appears to have a great future for most computer users, but will likely never compete with Nvidia and Radeon for gaming. Those RTX30xx cards are just too freaking huge and suck far too much power.
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Well as Apple them selves are boasting that it gives better GPU performance than a 1050Ti how is it wrong for a x86 groups to compare it to something that is less than 4 years old.

Apple are touting the GPU performance as the second coming of christ.
 
Mr. Dee said:
I have my eyes set on the MacBook Pro M1 with 512 GBs. Currently, I have a Early 2015, 13 in MacBook Pro. Honestly, I could keep it going for a few more years and save the money and get Mac laptop I truly wanted, which is the 16 inch. The waiting is what I can't deal with right now. LTT did a review of the Pro and to be honest, the lines have been blurred with the Air, but for me, it feels like the logical choice to upgrade to: brighter screen (not by much), better speakers (I heard the difference) and Touch bar (lol).
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most don't have developer preview and not available yet in my country. with fake 1mx rumor more hassle . Either i still used this old macbook 2011 for some project xcode or wait next year. My mind allready set for mac mini m1 but if cannot test it with external bootable at the shop. I wouldn't purchase. Most would said "ooh 8k render" I don't do video editing.
 
Apple_Robert said:
There is at least one thread on the forums where a lot of people are experiencing problems.

forums.macrumors.com

M1 and bluetooth issues

anyone having BT issues with their new machines, more specifically with the apple mouse? it keeps disconnecting Moderator Note: Also see the discussion in the news thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/some-apple-m1-mac-owners-reporting-bluetooth-connectivity-issues.2271512/
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
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Bluetooth issue has been forever on my intel macs. Magic keyboard and magic mouse often disconnect out of nowhere and reconnect themselves in 5-10 seconds. Weird stuff.
 
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kas23 said:
But yet, 99% of people buying Macs either won’t know it’s in there or won’t care. And 90% of the remaining 1% won’t be using their Macs for anything that couldn’t already be done efficiently on the last generation of Macs.
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That is just your opinion. Everything faster is acknowledge by everyone. better battery life also, no more heating also...so..Your statement is not true...even a grandma can see the difference after she goes from an ultrabook M1 mac to an intel ultrabook.
 
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Mr. Dee said:
I have been back and forth regarding should I buy it or not. Finally had a reasonable shopping appointment setup to check it out and see if my decision will be confirmed. If I do buy this though, it likely pushes out my next Mac laptop upgrade out to about 2025. My next major purchases will be the second generation M series iMac in 2022 (I want the biggest screen), then iPhone and iPad upgrades in 2023.
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Can only encourage you to try one.
After reading the positive reports I picked up a base Air this week thinking it could be a great post-pandemic travel machine. I really miss my old 11" Air for that purpose.
First use was for a 90 minute zoom meeting. Couldn't believe the power efficient performance, it blows my 2018 i7 Pro away. Only negative was the blurry video from the camera but perhaps that's no bad thing!
Bluetooth worked ok once I'd reminded myself how to pair my non-Apple buds.
Now wondering whether it could simply replace the Pro but would have to figure how to manage with only 2 connectors. My earlier idea was to wait patiently for the rumoured 14" AS Pro. Normally I keep my computers for 7 years minimum.
Looking forward to playing with it over the weeks ahead. Love the silence but have to see whether the fanless design is an issue for other uses. And it's good to have function keys again.
 
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What I'd like to understand better is how they will achieve higher memory capacities.

Apart from "put more memory in" :) , precisely how will they do that? Extend the package to allow 4, 6, 8, whatever number of DRAM chips? Stack DRAM chips? Use higher density DRAM chips? Have a second package which has a bus connection?

Given there are some applications which inherently need lots of memory, it might appear a bit limiting if every single memory configuration requires a separately manufactured package.

Of course, if their costs are low enough, maybe they could do what some mainframe manufacturers used to do - fit the physical memory but only allow it to be used if the customer pays the extra fees.
 
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truly a remarkable SoC....but defects WOW....I have had this thing for a week and its jam packed with problems. In the end its worth the first adopter for the shear battery life I can get

18 hours on average on the air , doing normal work for me....crazy

Problems I have had :

when I dock it to monitor , sometimes internal display does not shut off , allowing you to move windows onto it.

bluetooth disconnecting

internet disconnecting

random reboots

freezing for a shot Period , 10 seconds than all back to normal


this is my second MacBook Air too.
 
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Comparing the graphic performance with Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti is misleading. This card is more than 3 years old. The current RTX-models are much faster. Doing so makes the M1-performance look like being years behind the competitors.
 
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I wonder if there is any way to benchmark the low power cores on their own, by disabling the performance cores. Just out of curiosity.
 
peneaux said:
The M1 is amazing! Can we enable the 8th GPU core in the MacBook Air?
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No. It’s not working.

what happens is when you build chips, not all of them work. And if you build chips with eight GPU cores, sometimes only seven or fewer work. You can’t fix it, but you can take all the chips with only seven working GPUs, put them into a computer and sell it for $50 or £50 less.

In a few months when Apple sells Macs with 8 performance cores, I wouldn’t be surprised to find _one_ model with only seven performance cores.
 
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