Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
It took Apple six years to build a stinkin' Mac Pro. Why should we believe that they can make a chip that can keep up with Intel let alone overtake Intel?
While Intel often gets the blame, Apple has been historically slow to adopt Intel's latest chips. The latest and greatest Intel chips invariably show up in Dell, HP and Lenovo PC's first.

New Intel chips always had such poor yields that they couldn't supply enough at once for Apple - that's the story I've been hearing for a few years now.
 
My questions:
- freedom of installing apps outside of App Store*
- traditional Unix stuff*
- Java*
- the games I actually play on my Macbook: World of Warcraft, American/Euro Truck Simulator, and Civ V (I guess I can update to VI)
- actual performance of x86 emulators for old Windows and MacOS

* = no, a Linux VM is not the answer, if I have to use Linux I'll get a Linux laptop (also, the games I mentioned run on Linux)
[automerge]1592895369[/automerge]
The major **** up - not the only one but the major one - is yesterday rendering all Intel Macs unpurchaseable, whilst not having the new product available for up to 2 years.
Did you watch the keynote? The first Mac with Apple's custom ARM chip will be available later this Fall 2020. What Tim Cook said is that the entire Mac lineup will transition to Apple's custom silicon within two years, not that the first product will be available starting in two years.
 
As a Mac user since 1994, I am pretty excited about this!!!
You're exactly the sort of person who would be.

Less "committed" users are perhaps less excited. Or dismayed even.
[automerge]1592895571[/automerge]
[automerge]1592895369[/automerge]

Did you watch the keynote? The first Mac with Apple's custom ARM chip will be available later this Fall 2020. What Tim Cook said is that the entire Mac lineup will transition to Apple's custom silicon within two years, not that the first product will be available starting in two years.
Yes I did.

Did you read what I wrote? It would seem not.

"I am not waiting 6 months for an iMac model I probably don't want, and perhaps 2 years for the one I do?"

Are you expecting top end Apple silicon iMac's by the end of 2020? 27" or larger, Navi graphics or better? No chance. We'll see a couple of low end 24" screen jobs at best.

Top end 27"+ models are 1 year away at least IMO. Heck - they are releasing Intel iMac's later this year.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: dysamoria
People who still need Intel virtualization, I suspect. Plus, it will probably be a year or two until the high-end of Apple's chips eclipses Intel/AMD (assuming it does), and then time for the world to take note, and then time before major shifts in computing (again, if).

Notice, they showed Mac apps that run on Intel, and virtualization for Unix. What about people who run Windows apps?
In 2 years Intel will be on 7nm with a fresh new arhitecture and AMD will be on Zen 4 with 4 threads/core. I really doubt Apple will be able to eclipses Intel/AMD CPUs in performance.
 
they just showed a debian linux VM which I feel is very odd... Nobody uses that on a Mac.

I will agree that the use-case for GUI Mode (i.e. using a desktop) Linux VM's on Macs is pretty minimal. I've done it once or twice, to help resolve issues for a client's staff member who was using Ubuntu (they were using Ubuntu on PC hardware, I just virtualised it).

But the use-case for "headless" (i.e. no desktop, generally no UI shown at all) Linux VMs on Macs is fairly common for developers. It isn't the only use, but it seems to be the one non-tech people are becoming familiar with, so keep this in mind: any time you hear "Docker on Mac", that means a Linux VM, inside which the various containers run.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nugget
any time you hear "Docker on Mac", that means a Linux VM, inside which the various containers run.

More precisely, any time you hear “docker on mac” it means an x86 Linux vm. Those days are numbered. In my line of work, docker with arm containers are nowhere to be found. I mean, I know they exist theoretically, but I’ve never encountered one in the wild.
 
What makes you think AMD have more exciting CPUs? Intel is keeping up or slightly exceeding AMD's consumer chips with a 14nm process vs. AMD's 7nm. Apple's A12Z in the iPad Pro is faster than a lot of curren tIntel mobile CPUs. They part of that comparison is that the Intel and AMD CPUs have big ass heatsinks and fans and are clocked 3-4GHz. The A12Z has no fan, a heatsink that's about 1mm thick and they live in a space that's much smaller than either of the other two. Oh and they are clocked more like 2GHz. And those are nearly two generations old now. An A14_ designed for a bigger machine, bigger enclosure, actual heatsink, maybe a fan (probably not in the MacBook Air but not an issue in desktops and maybe MBPs) should be able to clock much closer to the others. Which means it will absolutely smoke them. While using less juice and not getting as hot.

Have you used an iPad Pro? Those things are smooth as butter.
I have an iPad Pro, well I hope you right but history dictates Apple moving from x86 to a new CPU is not going to be easy, the fact TSMC are making the same chip for AMD as Apple doesn’t mean it will be the same performance, it has taken AMD a long time to get its RND to this level, if it was that easy Intel would do the same. AMD have nothing like the thermal problems Intel has! They are the one that is smoking Intel and why Apple have been pushed to switch, and comparing the A series to a large multi core CPU is far from equality, they may both be 5nm but I like many others need a large multi core computer and the A series could be years From achieving that. Don’t believe all the hype .
 
  • Like
Reactions: dysamoria
Sry if this has already been stated (too lazy to read all 51 pages of posts), but Apple failed to mention several things:

Q: What is the future of Thrunderbolt?
A: USB 4 (https://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-mac-macbook-arm-usb-4)

Q. What is the future of eGPUs?
A: ARM is not likely compatible (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/would-an-arm-mac-be-compatible-with-an-egpu.2165273/)

Q: Is apply abandoning the pro user or will they still retain some Intel based machines?
A: I can't imagine the pro user is a significant percentage of Apple sales. How many people are buying a ~$60k cheese grater?
 
is yesterday rendering all Intel Macs unpurchaseable, whilst not having the new product available for up to 2 years.
The released (aka "current") models are all still for sale, in the App Store, or through your preferred reseller. Apple released no new products, and discontinued no old products.

You'd have to be pretty bonkers or desperate to buy an Intel based iMac tomorrow IMO.
Wait but you just said they are "unpurchasable" (I love when people make up words). So they are in fact "purchasable" (or "ununpurchasable", if you prefer), but you personally don't see the value in a product that until the keynote, you had no issues with.

So what is someone looking for a new iMac right now supposed to do?
... buy an iMac?
[automerge]1592896197[/automerge]
You can’t virtualise Windows on an ARM based CPU. This would require an emulator.
Well you can, but it'll be the version of Windows built for ARM CPUs.
 
Mark my words, Apple will never open up the Mac bootloader to another OS.

Apple will never write Windows drivers for their A12z CPU or something.

They will never write Windows drivers for their GPU.

Once Apple does that, Qualcomm and Microsoft will learn all the secrets that they have locked up inside their silicon.

Like they need to do that when they have access to AMD/Nvidia windows drivers anyway.
I'm more inclined to believed Apple is interested to keep a secret they way their GPUs are built so Nvidia doesn't sue them.
 
My guess is that AMD will create custom GPUs for them
Yeah that's the only logical explanation. You can't make a high performance GPU without infringing upon Nvidia's/AMD's patents.
Even Intel has a deal signed with AMD to be able to build their own GPU.
 
Well FWIW I have been holding off buying my next computer until yesterday. (Currently using a late 2012 27" i7 iMac). Should I wait for the new iMac's or finally succumb and switch to Windows.

You're using an 8-year-old computer. You are not a customer.

I'm in the same boat, I am using a 2009 iMac as my main machine. I'll hold out and see what support my Firewire audio interface will have (maybe this will be the transition that removes Firewire support?). If I do need to replace the audio interface, it's basically as old as the Mac so I can't say I haven't gotten my money's worth from both.
 
People who bought Mac Pros did so because they need the power, now. They could not wait for a couple more years for a possible new platform. They will surely pay for those Macs before an Arm-based replacement is ready. I would not be surprised if Apple couldn’t offer an Apple Silicon daughter card to pop into a Mac Pro to give it an upgrade.
Lol I am one of those that could not wait, but thankfully I upgraded my aging Mac Pro instead! what email & texts did I get last night from many industry freinds that have forked out thousands on a new Mac Pro, disappointment and a feeling of betrayal. As one of them put ; Tim Cook 6 months ago “I’ve never been more excited about the future of the Mac Pro” - yesterday after ditching Intel “I’ve never been more excited about the future of the Mac”
I expect Apple will offer customer a replacement motherboard for their Mac Pro but you think it’s going to be cheap? Besides the x86 platform has been around decades a lot of the Mac Pro is centred around this, I doubt Apple are going to be able design a customer motherboard including compatible PCI-e slots for existing hardware quickly, that means customer video cards, audio cards etc etc what ever way you look at it, it’s going to cost pro users that invested heavily in a New Mac Pro 6months ago are in for a rocky expensive ride over the next few years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chippy99
Intel mac sales are gonna tank badly. Who would buy into a dead platform ?

Like buying a Powermac G5 in 2006.

The Intel transition was, for a lot of users, time consuming and expensive. So I think pro users in particular will continue to prefer Intel chips until everything is fully vetted. I, for one, am going to need a lot more than Craig Federighi saying "it's super fast" over and over again like a teenager reading a car magazine. What's helpful in this case is that companies like Adobe will still obviously continue to develop for Windows and will therefore still be compiling x86 versions of everything. So Mac users who prefer to hold out will likely be able to do so for a lot longer than they could during the PPC era, when the architecture was rapidly consigned to the dustbin of history.
 
The released (aka "current") models are all still for sale, in the App Store, or through your preferred reseller. Apple released no new products, and discontinued no old products.


Wait but you just said they are "unpurchasable" (I love when people make up words). So they are in fact "purchasable" (or "ununpurchasable", if you prefer), but you personally don't see the value in a product that until the keynote, you had no issues with.


... buy an iMac?
[automerge]1592896197[/automerge]

Well you can, but it'll be the version of Windows built for ARM CPUs.
Most people - those without bias - are none too excited about buying at full price a product imminiently to be replaced by a later model, no a later entire range. But if you are, knock yourself out.

PS I am sure your child is not ugly.
 
I like how during the Virtualization feature demo, they only mention Linux and not Windows. As a full stack web developer, I need all environments, so it makes me nervous. Need more info before deciding if I'm going to make the jump to their silicon or begrudgingly transition my primary machine to a PC. Here's hoping...
I've been trying to work out the deeper reasoning behind this, and I'm coming up blank, with one possible exception that seems quite far fetched by the time Intel Macs are no longer supported.

Back in the day, by far the #1 (and for most of us the only) reason to run a Windows VM on a Mac, was to test/debug something using the hugely-"popular", Windows-only browser of the day: Internet Explorer. IE is already dead, the Windows-only "Edge Legacy" (i.e. Edge using the fork of Trident that became EdgeHTML) is essentially dead, and current "Edge" (a) is cross platform and (b) uses the same engine as Chrome anyway.


What are you expecting to need a (x86) Windows VM for, by the time Arm Macs are either (a) available or (b) the only choice for new purchases?

I tend to avoid the nitty gritty of front-end work when I can these days, but to be honest, even if I had a client who insisted on compatibility with some archaic windows only browser, and I wanted/needed to buy a new Mac that had an Arm CPU, I'd just keep my old Mac and RDP or VNC to the Windows VM the few times it's required.

Changing your entire working environment (and, ironically, losing any ability to test your work in Safari on Mac, and the ability to test your work in Safari on any iOS device you like without needing the physical device) sounds quite a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dysamoria
You could start by not exaggerating. How the hell is any machine sold today not going to have support in two years?
Look back at the PowerPC days, it didn’t take long for developers to drop the PowerPC platform when Intel took over, it Was quickly apparent no one wanted to spend money developing apps that have a limited lifespan, so apps, drivers, and finally OSX moved on, how long before Apple move from Intel support 4+5 years max..
 
The major **** up - not the only one but the major one - is yesterday rendering all Intel Macs unpurchaseable, whilst not having the new product available for up to 2 years.

You'd have to be pretty bonkers or desperate to buy an Intel based iMac tomorrow IMO. So what is someone looking for a new iMac right now supposed to do?

You’d rather they keep it a secret? How does that benefit the consumer exactly?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.