Macbook Retina... why not with A8X CPU?

[trerep]

i think a A8X cpu would have better performances that this core M...

maybe in the future we will se an A9 powered Macbook?

is apple opening this Street for using self made cpus?

 

[nksk]

i think a A8X cpu would have better performances that this core M...

And what makes you think that? Core M has amazing performance at the 5W level.

 

[AFEPPL]

So you want to recompile OS X to run on arm and have two platforms?
That didn't worked well for MS and the surface..

Lets be clear, the new chips actually out perform the last generation in the MBA for most things - no one called the MBA a "toy" or suggested ARM chips.

 

[0007776]

It would be less powerful.
It would require porting the OS and apps. Likely Apple does have OS X running on some sort of ARM processors like they had it running on Intel for years before they switched, but it would still take a lot of work to get it ready for release. And ARM can't emulate x86 well enough to have something similar to Rossetta, so even if Apple ports OS X you'd have a major hit from emulating an x86 processor on an already less powerful processor.

 

[crsh1976]

i think a A8X cpu would have better performances that this core M...

What is this based on, exactly?

 

[Skylitfly]

Why is it so hard to understand that the new rMB is basically just as powerful as MacBook Air.

MacBook Air is just thicker, heavier and it has more of those ports that many people here seems to love so much.

rMB is fantastic machine. Get over this bullcrap.

 

[aristobrat]

Why is it so hard to understand that the new rMB is basically just as powerful as MacBook Air.

I think there are benchmarks out there that show the iPad's CPU outperforming the Core M in some areas.

 

[Skylitfly]

I think there are benchmarks out there that show the iPad's CPU outperforming the Core M in some areas.

In some areas yes. But in the end Core M is noticeably more capable processor for an ultraportable laptop than A8X.

 

[haruhiko]

So you want 2GB of RAM in your new and shiny MacBook?

 

[ParanoidDroid]

I believe that Apple has thrown this craptop at us, just to test how people will react and adopt to such a radical minimalism. The next step will obviously be the long-rumored architecture switch to a custom designed ARM CPU in the upcoming generations – in order to break away from Intel's unreliable roadmap.

The current MacBook buyers will be used as guinea pigs by Apple to evaluate the transformation to ARM CPUs. So if you're comfortable with being Apple's guinea pig, go ahead and by this new netbook.

 

[old-wiz]

How would an A8X run Windows or I86 apps? They are important to lots of Mac buyers.

 

[ParanoidDroid]

How would an A8X run Windows or I86 apps? They are important to lots of Mac buyers.

I believe Apple cares about Windows support as much as they care about connectivity or the needs of their Mac buyers. Let's not forget that Macs have been denoted to a niche product since Apple is making 70-80% of its money with the iPhone.

Macs are not their cash cow, so why would Apple care about some awkward users running Windows natively on Macs in the near future? The MS Surface Pro line is already gaining momentum, why would Apple promote a competitor OS on their future products?

 

[iRun26.2]

I believe that Apple has thrown this craptop at us, just to test how people will react and adopt to such a radical minimalism. The next step will obviously be the long-rumored architecture switch to a custom designed ARM CPU in the upcoming generations – in order to break away from Intel's unreliable roadmap.

The current MacBook buyers will be used as guinea pigs by Apple to evaluate the transformation to ARM CPUs. So if you're comfortable with being Apple's guinea pig, go ahead and by this new netbook.

Your level of paranoia is almost scary.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Lets be clear, the new chips actually out perform the last generation in the MBA for most things.

It would be pretty cool if you could stop spouting this misinformation until Macbook is actually released. Your synthetic benchmarks will be absolutely useless if this thing ends up throttling.

People might actually make buying decisions based on this nonsense.

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I think there are benchmarks out there that show the iPad's CPU outperforming the Core M in some areas.

You really haven't thought this through have you? Hint: What sits between the metal and your benchmarks and how might that change things drastically enough that a comparison is not valid?

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So you want to recompile OS X to run on arm and have two platforms?

To be fair, I would be shocked if Apple were not doing this already.

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The current MacBook buyers will be used as guinea pigs by Apple to evaluate the transformation to ARM CPUs. So if you're comfortable with being Apple's guinea pig, go ahead and by this new netbook.

Anyone who buys an Apple first gen product is already a guinea pig regardless!

 

[AFEPPL]

It would be pretty cool if you could stop spouting this misinformation until Macbook is actually released. Your synthetic benchmarks will be absolutely useless if this thing ends up throttling.

People might actually make buying decisions based on this nonsense.

You have an opinion, given my 15+years working with major technology companies around the world including SiliconVally, I'm pretty comfortable the comparisons are within a reasonable margin of error and pretty indicative of what a prospective buyer can expect.

If people don't like the fact Apple have released a rMB and ignored the MBA, write to Tim, the rMB is here - deal with it, or ignore it but comparing it to the iPad is frankly pointless and silly.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

The A8X is MUCH slower than the Core M.

 

[mtneer]

I also believe that the A8X SOC has only 2GB RAM. So, unless Apple designed a new SOC, an A8X based rMB could be a real dog with OSX.

 

[bjet767]

"I believe that Apple has thrown this craptop at us,"

Do you realize the amount of R&D, manufacturing, advertising and store space $$$ spent on the "***top" would probably fund your entire family's retirement for a very very long time. That amount of $$$ would make buying the most expensive Ferrari seem like a bargain.

Yep Apple just throws junk into the market for testing purposes.

Ignorance must be bliss.

 

[noobinator]

This is right up there with the guy who said his Core 2 Duo would outperform this MB.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

given my 15+years working with major technology companies

Doing what exactly? Do you think this makes you special or unique? You're on a technology forum and you'll find a relatively high proportion of people here work highly technical jobs, myself included. If you want to be taken seriously, refute what people say with facts and a good argument, not by vaguely quoting your CV.

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but comparing it to the iPad is frankly pointless and silly.

I never said that it wasn't silly. It is.

 

[AFEPPL]

Doing what exactly? Do you think this makes you special or unique? You're on a technology forum and you'll find a relatively high proportion of people here work highly technical jobs, myself included. If you want to be taken seriously, refute what people say with facts and a good argument, not by vaguely quoting your CV.

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I never said that it wasn't silly. It is.

2nd comment wasn't levelled at you, it was a factual observation - but it seems to be the mass view of those that feel aggrieved for whatever reason. If you don't like it - don't buy it.

This isn't a technology forum, its an apple consumer products forum. Being vague is by my choice, I'm not her to prove or sell anything to anyone, but the point's still valid. The CPU comparison made is more than a fair one and should be "indicative" of the expected user experience. If you want a refute; synthetic tests are just that, it's not a guarantee you well get an end result. Indeed if you wanted to be taken seriously you would know that

 

[ParanoidDroid]

 

[brand]

i think a A8X cpu would have better performances that this core M...

Just don't.

 

[maflynn]

i think a A8X cpu would have better performances that this core M...

maybe in the future we will se an A9 powered Macbook?

is apple opening this Street for using self made cpus?

They actually want to sell the computer. What apps would run on this natively? Not much. It would need an emulator which would actually decrease performance even more.

There's been discussions regarding if apple went to an ARM based processor. Do you want Apple to make it even harder for people to buy a Macbook, because that will be the case.

 

[pmau]

Everytime I read these posts, I have the urge to respond. Sorry.

I full blown operating system that is not a SoC, but contains busses, memory mapped devices and other fun hardware features need special fetaures in the CPU.

The CPU handles the virtual address space for every single process, it needs to be able to switch between same, restore states and memory flags very quickly.

It needs to be able to account for CPU usage for fair scheduling between tasks, server interrupts from all kinds of external resources and so on.

While the A8X is a powerful SoC, most of its efficient use of its features comes from the simple fact that it has to drive completely fixed hardware.

Everything is hardwired, there are very little real "busses" to communicate with, the memory controller has to do much simpler tasks.

The A8X is a full featured CPU, don't get me wrong, it has all the features needed to drive everything under OSX.

But all its power would be wasted doing exactly that.
The overhead introduced by a modern mach kernel is way too big to make it a real alternative.

It's not the CPU, it's the limited (and fixed) SoC that makes it all work so well.