Easy portable = Mac, Desktop = PC, but has to be said outside of gaming the Mac is really picking up steam, fast as **** never fails to impress...
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Q-6
I started switching to LED lightbulbs in 2008 when they were expensive and the difference in our power bill was noticeable. Our electric rates doubled this past summer and they are expected to go up another 60% next year. You furthermore have additional cooling costs in the summer with the Intel CPUs that consume a lot of power.
I have not turned on my i7-10700 in a few months. My Mac Studio has the performance that I need while using very little power and running silently.
I'm not sure it's a good comparison because a PC is offering me much more flexibility, even though it uses more fuel. Maybe I don't care so much about the extra power consumption for the extra flexibility, or maybe I think the difference isn't much bigger, after all.
Also, do keep in mind that AMD and Intel have been pushing more aggressively on power efficiency, so as their cores get smaller (which WILL happen eventually), they will also get more efficient.
Actually, there's the Steam Deck, the AyaNeo, and GPD, which are all extremely powerful with a Nintendo Switch-like form factor. They're even smaller than a Macbook, but with a slightly worse battery life.
You do remind me that the switch has been using the same processor for close to 5 years now. I wonder what Nintendo's plans for refreshing the specs are, if and when they do decide to get round to it. Imagine what could be possible if they could fit the equivalent of an M1 or M2 chip inside.
What?
Why not? 🤣Despite the small form factor, they're full-blown PCs, and quite powerful at that. Do you really think someone would keep both a laptop and an ultraportable PC with the power of a GPD device just for gaming?
I wouldn't. These devices are so powerful I'm even considering one of them to replace my desktop. The fact that they have a battery that will keep working after a power failure (and without the need of an UPS) is a plus. And with the possibility to connect an eGPU to them to boot? Damn!
This is also a place were Apple is really lagging behind, because either the iPad could fill this role or they could release an "iGame" device or something. But they don't want to cannibalize into their precious Macbooks...
It's such a waste, by the way, because the iPad CAN virtualize Windows beautifully, just like a Macbook can. But Apple is stingy and disables the iPad's hypervisor just to try to force people into buying a Macbook.
Joke's on them, because I'm not getting one just out of spite.
If Nintendo would release an ultraportable PC like the Switch, or allowed the Switch to run Windows, I'd definitely consider buying it. Having their customer support is tempting (GPD is known for being very flawed here).
I've got a Deck, go into desktop mode pretty regularly, and I can guarantee that I'm in no danger of leaving behind the laptop. Different use case, different form factor.
It makes sense if you think of a deck as a less powerful device. But GPD Win 4 will offer devices with 16 and 32 GB RAM. It's two to four times more than my desktop. If it can run EVERYTHING than my desktop can (yes, even joysticks and printers), why would I want to consider a laptop at all?
A laptop only makes sense if you want better battery life, but if your use case is using the device close to or connected to a power source, it's not really an issue.
I usually make computing decisions for 5-10 years and I don't see anything in the Windows world comparable to the M1 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro for my uses. I have 2 Windows desktops that I don't use anymore because my Mac Studio and M1 mini get the job done and do so with little power consumption.
I sold my 2014 iMac on Tuesday and plan to sell one or two of my other 27 inch iMacs in the near future. I plan to sell one of my Windows desktops. I will probably keep the other one in case I want to do a build in the future as the case and cooling are really great.
Power consumption is clearly an issue in the server world and it's likely more and more an issue in the consumer market as electricity prices double in many places. It's less of an issue in the United States but it is a problem in many other places where the war has resulted in much higher energy prices.
Because it cannot be used as a laptop without additional setup.
A laptop makes sense if you actually want to work and be mobile. Like you know, use a keyboard and have a display actually capable of displaying documents. The 6" display of the GDP Win 4 is useless for anything beyond maybe reading very short emails. Sure, you can plug it to an external display and peripherals and use it as a small factor desktop PC, but if that's something you are after, I'm sure you can get the same kind of box for a fraction of a price.
The small screen is a good point I hadn't thought about. It's indeed true if you need to edit documents.
However, you don't need a laptop for that. If you have a tablet, you could connect GPD to it using Moonlight / SteamPlay (Moonlight is the open version of the protocol). Or you could buy a portable external monitor, which has a tablet-like depth and size. It's a bit clumsy, but mitigates the need for a laptop.
Yes, we could use the iPad in this use case to edit documents, but it's only good for very basic documents. The iPad is a joke for more serious Office documents.
My main use case is professional trading tools. I also do 4k video editing and some software development. I need to run some stuff on Windows so I need a Windows virtual machine. The solution of UTM/Windows 11 ARM makes Apple Silicon far more usable for me in that I no longer need Intel Macs.
At least for now, it's no contest using a Mac for video editing, as it runs faster and cooler. But if you do anything else, and especially for gaming, they just aren't as flexible.
Online chess is awful on mobile devices.
Moving pieces is imprecise and you might drop a piece on the wrong square if you lift your finger too early or late or if you're near the edge of the screen. It's even bad with a trackpad. What's mildly amusing is when a Grandmaster has a mouse-slip and loses the game over it where a lot of money is involved. If you're playing at that level, you need to have good equipment. Hikaru Nakamura used to have this problem but he is sponsored by Logitech now.
Depends on the platform. Some mobile platforms will allow you to confirm your move before actually moving (e.g, Lichess). It's a good compromise.
But you have to agree that it's more due to a screen size issue. You don't need a mega-powerful / efficient computer just to move chess pieces. You would be fine even with a 20-year-old computer, providing it can access the Internet.
Do you really want to confirm every move in bullet or 3-minute?
For online chess, you want good single-threaded performance, a really good mouse, fast and reliable internet. I've seen many high-level games where one player doesn't move for 30 seconds and you just know that his internet service is slow or flaky.
I do not even like online chess on iPads. Phones are bad because of size but touch overall is a problem.
He said that in June and in August 2020 came the last Intel 5K iMac.
Process shrinks have hardly ever resulted in significant improvements in the performance of individual cores. They do result in improved operational energy efficiencies and increased core count. An 80% reduction alone in feature size also results an increased chip count for a given wafer size but even that can be offset by reduced wafer yield so it’s never obvious that a new process size for an existing design will significantly lower chip cost.