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Maybe there won’t actually be ”ARM Mac’s” and instead there will be AMD Mac’s?

Since AMD is willing to do custom parts, a bridge to an A14 isn't impossible. I have no idea what they would make with this technology though. I have heard, I think pretty credibly, that Van Gogh will be able to scale to much lower TDPs than Renoir. So if they wanted to make a convertible that runs some kind of OS X and iOS frankenstein natively, I guess they could do that.
 
How is AMD doing on power usage these days? Last time I looked into it, they were way behind on mobile CPUs. But I haven't checked in a couple years.
 
Just buy up AMD already Apple...

All cash - easy breezy - and really take this thing to level 12 with your internal teams
 
Someone on the other thread said AMD loses their license to the x86 architecture if they get bought. That throws a wrench in things.
 
How is AMD doing on power usage these days? Last time I looked into it, they were way behind on mobile CPUs. But I haven't checked in a couple years.

I don't know about mobile, but their desktops, whilst still power hungry, seem to be beating intel bang-for-watt.

 
Make a 14” MacBook Pro with the new keyboards please! Lol

(sorry - I’m getting tired of waiting...)
 
intel also now has integrated wifi6, better battery management ....its hard to see amd as cpu..still nice that if they do they wont lose Tb3
 
Someone on the other thread said AMD loses their license to the x86 architecture if they get bought. That throws a wrench in things.
so what your saying is Apple should go all hostile take over, and buy enough shares to get a controlling interest but not buy the company outright.

that could work nice
 
intel also now has integrated wifi6, better battery management ....its hard to see amd as cpu..still nice that if they do they wont lose Tb3

Yeah, there's a lot of considerations. It does look like AMD has closed the gap a lot on battery management. But intel probably still has a significant advantage on single core performance. Integrated Wifi 6 is a great perk too, but Apple can still buy the Wifi adapter from Intel and shove it on the board.

One advantage with AMD is they are willing to play ball if Apple wants them to make something work. Compare their experience getting AMD to use HBM2 in graphics with their struggle to get more than 16GB RAM in machines because Intel wouldn't provide them a part that supports LPDDR4.
 
How is AMD doing on power usage these days? Last time I looked into it, they were way behind on mobile CPUs. But I haven't checked in a couple years.
Intel is still better when it comes to laptop cpus (faster/less power hungry), so I would be surprised if Apple is looking at AMD for laptops. But on the desktop, AMD beats Intel in multicore performance and is generally close on single core performance. So I could see some sort of Mac mini being released with AMD cpu/gpu.
 
1. Apple added AMD Ryzen APU for twice in macOS Catalina.

2. LPDDR4 RAM found in macOS Catalina which only Intel Ice Lake and APU 4000 supports.

3. Intel is officially certifying Thunderbolt 3 for AMD motherboards.

Coincidence?
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How is AMD doing on power usage these days? Last time I looked into it, they were way behind on mobile CPUs. But I haven't checked in a couple years.

That's because 1st and 2nd gen does not support LPDDR3 or 4.
 
Reviews of Asus's new ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop with AMD 4900HS (Zen2) are up. I don't want to seem spammy so please Google for reviews yourself. They're everywhere on Youtube/review sites.

It's not pretty for Intel. Intel's best just got pummeled by AMD in everything that matters: price, power efficiency, and performance. In many multi-threaded applications, it's not even close for Intel.

As a software engineer, I have to use MacOS. But right now, anyone buying an AMD laptop will get something significantly cheaper, faster, and more efficient than what I can get from Apple. Apple simply can't offer anything that competes with AMD's new APUs at the moment.

I understand that Apple might move to ARM as soon as next year so the chance of Apple switching to AMD now is highly unlikely. Until Apple moves its Pro lineup to an ARM processor that is better than AMD's best, it's really hard to justify upgrading to a new Macbook Pro for someone who yearns for the highest performance and value like myself.
 
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Im not trying to be negative, i just want to understand whats so special about these processors. looking at benchmarks its only 2% faster than intels 9800hk - both run at 45w.... help me out here. why is everybody so excited about them 🤷‍♂️ thanks
 
Im not trying to be negative, i just want to understand whats so special about these processors. looking at benchmarks its only 2% faster than intels 9800hk - both run at 45w.... help me out here. why is everybody so excited about them 🤷‍♂️ thanks

Sure.

1. The cheapest i9-9880H laptop you can find on Amazon is $2400. This Asus retails for $1440.
2. The R9 4900HS is 35W, not 45W.
3. The R9 4900HS still pummels the i9-9880H in both pure performance and efficiency.

In other words, AMD's new APUs are significantly cheaper, faster, and more efficient.

Performance difference when both processors run at 35W:

Screen Shot 2020-03-31 at 12.10.20 AM.png



Full review: https://www.techspot.com/review/2003-amd-ryzen-4000/
 

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Im not trying to be negative, i just want to understand whats so special about these processors. looking at benchmarks its only 2% faster than intels 9800hk - both run at 45w.... help me out here. why is everybody so excited about them 🤷‍♂️ thanks
Intel CPUs do not run at 45W TDP. 4900HS is a 35W TDP CPU that clocks at that power target at 3.35 GHz. To maintain similar clock speeds Core i9-9880H, 2.3 GHz 8 Core/16Thread CPU has to run at 90W PL2. Which is the main reason why MacBook's and other laptops fail to maintain clock speeds of those Intel CPU under load.

At 45W power target that i9-9880H is running at only 2.3-2.4 GHz.

The results are pretty obvious: with decent cooling system, like from MacBook Pro 16, you can have much, much more efficient, much quieter machine that is not overheating.

Secondly, the iGPU in those APUs is faster than Iris Plus 655(which is similar in performance to MX250).

That is the main difference. Its a completely new world in terms of efficiency. Shows you what simply good execution does in tech world.

Upcoming year will be similar. Intel based laptops will be more expensive, while also overheating, thicker, and heavier than AMD based ones, if they want to even compete with AMD. What AMD has done is brought 8 core/16 Thread CPUs to mainstream market with good prices.

Acer Swift 3, 14 inch thin and light ultrabook will get 1080p IPS display, 4700U - 8C/16T APU with Vega iGPU, 256GB SSD and 8 GB LPDDR4x RAM, and all day battery life, will start from 630$.

That is the main difference my friends. Anything that Apple will come up with in 2020, that is equipped with Intel will look completely ridiculous compared to competition. Completely ridiculous.


Or stuff like this. AMD completely blow the doors off! Laptop with 8Core/16T CPU, with decent GPU, 1 TB SSD, 16 GB's of RAM, 144 Hz IPS, 1080p display for 1199$.

It is going to be completely unconquered from value perspective.
 
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Unless Intel has an answer soon, AMD is king of the hill on the X86 battle. Hasn't come close to it since about 2005. Pretty cool. Competition is always a good thing.
 
Unless Intel has an answer soon.
Short answer. They do not have. 10 nm process is dead process, and they have to backport Rocket Lake to 14 nm process, with Sunny Cove Cores but that won't come before 2021.

Untill then: Enjoy stuff like this, which PERFECTLY sums what AMD has chieved with Renoir, and its efficiency:
 

Or stuff like this. AMD completely blow the doors off! Laptop with 8Core/16T CPU, with decent GPU, 1 TB SSD, 16 GB's of RAM, 144 Hz IPS, 1080p display for 1199$.
That laptop also comes with an Nvidia RTX 2060 which is better than the very best GPU you can get on a Macbook Pro.

So for $1,199, you get a faster CPU and GPU than a $2,600 16" Macbook Pro.

Yes, I'm fully aware that the Macbook is superior in many other ways and has MacOs. But it's starting to look ridiculous in terms of value.

It wasn't like this in the past. Apple's high-end Macbooks were somewhat competitive with high-end PC laptops in value. Apple also usually got to pick out the best binned Intel CPUs.
 
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Unless Intel has an answer soon, AMD is king of the hill on the X86 battle. Hasn't come close to it since about 2005. Pretty cool. Competition is always a good thing.
It's hard to imagine Intel catching up within the next 2-3 years. When Intel finally figures out 10nm, AMD might be on TSMC's 5nm. When Intel moves to 7nm, AMD might be on TSMC's 3nm.

It's going to be ugly for Apple until ARM Macbook Pros arrive maybe in late 2021. I expect AMD to release their Zen3+Navi2 APU by then which is projected to have another major leap in performance and efficiency.
 
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Short answer. They do not have. 10 nm process is dead process, and they have to backport Rocket Lake to 14 nm process, with Sunny Cove Cores but that won't come before 2021.
Yes, unfortunately, Intel hasn't been able to ship a 10nm CPU with better raw performance than its best 14nm CPU.

10nm Ice Lake is very efficient as we've seen with the 2020 Macbook Air but Intel can't seem to make an 8-core version.

I'm typing on a Macbook Pro using a 14nm CPU made in 2015. Five years later and Intel is still on 14nm.
 
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