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Report: Super-Lightweight 12-inch MacBook Powered By Apple Silicon to Launch This Year

pray2crom said:
What I like to know is how much better are apple's "silicon" chips in video rendering compared to intel machines using AMD GPUs? Apple divorced themselves with Nvidia so cuda is out of the question so now we are stuck with open cl and metal. I am still not buying the hype that a lone a14(xxx) can outperform the current offerings.
Click to expand...

Some tests we did on the Apple Transition kit with Apple Silicone.

Encoding the free animation movie bbb_sunflower_1080p_30fps to a MP4 format with HEVC and AAC with a video bitrate of 6000k and audio bitrate of 256k
Encoding with FFmpeg 4.3.1 compiled versions for ARM and Intel (with x265 library)

Both system running Mac Big Sur Beta 5

Software encoding for video and audio:
Intel Core i9 2.3Ghz 8core 5:09
Intel Core i3 2.8Ghz. 23:18
Apple Silicone A12Z 36:43

Hardware encoding with Apple Videotoolbox (*) for video and audio:
Intel Core i9 2:58
Apple Silicone A12Z 10:51
Intel Core i3 N/A (does not have HEVC hardware accelerated encoding)

Although the Apple transition kit is not using the most powerful ARM atm it does clearly indicate they are much slower in doing hard crunching numbers. With the A14 it may be a bit closer to Intel Core i3
The hardware accelerated encoding was much slower too (which was a surprise).
Basically a Core i5, i7 and i9 will be much faster for the foreseeable future.

A side note: the Apple kit got incredible warm and it may have did some throttling along the test.

(*) Although it’s faster to encode, the file size is much bigger compared when using the software x265 encoder for achieving the same quality. This is a known problem/side effect when using VideoToolbox hardware accelerated APIs. If you need smal file size with high quality, you’re only choice is software encoding.
 
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hvfsl said:
Looking forward to the benchmarks, it really needs to be faster than the current 13inch MBP for Apple to show everyone what the A series cpus are capable of. It if just offers similar performance to current MB Airs, then people will wonder why Apple made the switch.
Click to expand...

I don’t mean to be harsh, but I think you’ll be the only one wondering.

The AS MB only needs to be as fast, or faster, than the current MB to prove the point.
Also keeping in mind the added complication of just about everything having to run via Rosetta translation.
 
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It's going to be harder for Apple to keep secrets now given the trade war that is going on.

The China Times (like all media) is led by the government.
 
zlt1228 said:
Contrary to the mainstream opinion here, I would argue that this might not be true. The 12-inch MacBook, being supposedly the entry-level Mac, was not in a clear space in the lineup in 2016. On the one hand, there was the MacBook Pro, starting at the same price, while being much more powerful. Apple wanted the MacBook to be a ultra thin and light parallel to the Pro, but it did not go so well. This is caused, on the one hand, by the thermal constrains of the chassis, and one the other hand, the high manufacturing cost of the ultra dense motherboard and the terrace battery. Apple quickly reverted that with the reintroduction on the MacBook Air. I doubt whether Apple will make the same mistake again.
Click to expand...
I can agree the thermal challenge for the intel retina Macbook, which is alleviated by Apple Silicon. With the much larger headroom for thermal and power, I think it makes sense for Apple to revisit the retina Macbook concept. Imo originally Apple probably just wanted to have a retina Macbook for mainstream, and then the Macbook Pro for pros. I always felt that the retina Macbook Air was weird, seeing that it sports the Air branding but heavier than the 12" Macbook. Originally Apple used the Air branding because it was the lighter Macbook.
 
hvfsl said:
Looking forward to the benchmarks, it really needs to be faster than the current 13inch MBP for Apple to show everyone what the A series cpus are capable of. It if just offers similar performance to current MB Airs, then people will wonder why Apple made the switch.
Click to expand...
lol why would a FIRST GEN 12 inch superportable laptop need to be faster than a current thick 13 inch laptop?
 
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MacRumors said:


Apple has designed a 12-inch MacBook powered by Apple Silicon that weighs less than one kilogram and the company intends to launch it by the end of the year, according to a new report today.

a14-MacBook-Feature.jpg

Apple's first ARM-based Mac will use an A14X processor, which is codenamed "Tonga" and manufactured by TSMC, and the MacBook will have a battery life of between 15 and 20 hours, according to the Chinese-language newspaper The China Times.

Apple announced at its WWDC developer conference in June that its Macs will transition from Intel x86-based CPUs to its self-designed Arm-based Apple Silicon processors over the next two years. Bloomberg has said that Apple is currently developing at least three Mac processors that are based on the 5-nanometer A14 chip that will be used in the upcoming iPhone 12 models. According to the Chinese report's sources, the first Apple-designed A14X processor has been finalized and will be mass produced using TSMC's 5-nanometer process by the end of the year.

Apple's first Mac processors will have 12 cores, including eight high-performance cores and at least four energy-efficient cores, according to Bloomberg. Apple is said to be exploring Mac processors with more than 12 cores for further in the future, with the company already designing a second generation of Mac processors based on the A15 chip.

This is the second time we've heard rumors of Apple reviving the 12-inch MacBook form factor to showcase its first consumer Apple Silicon machine. Fudge, a leaker who goes by @choco_bit on Twitter, said in June that Apple could revive its now-discontinued MacBook, with a new 12-inch model unveiled as the first Mac with an Apple-designed Arm-based chip. Fudge said the 12-inch MacBook could look the same as the retired version with minimal design changes, although 5G connectivity could be a feature.

In contrast to today's report, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said a 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with a form factor similar to the current 13.3-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ could be the first Mac to get an Arm-based chip designed by Apple. In March, Kuo predicted this new ‌MacBook Pro‌ will launch late in 2020 or early in 2021.

Kuo said he expects the ‌Apple Silicon‌ 13.3-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ to go into mass production in the fourth quarter of this year, but he has also predicted we will see an Arm-based MacBook Air either in the same quarter or in the first quarter of next year, so it's not impossible the 12-inch machine turns out to be a redesigned MacBook Air.

Today's report also claims that Apple will launch an Apple Silicon iMac next year with a powerful custom-designed graphics processing unit, replacing the mobile AMD GPUs that Apple has traditionally relied on. In addition, the report claims the A14 chip to feature in Apple's upcoming iPhone 12 lineup is codenamed "Sicilian."

Article Link: Report: Super-Lightweight 12-inch MacBook Powered By Apple Silicon to Launch This Year
Click to expand...

What i don’t understand is...except for the different touch non touch interface but basically is the ipad pro a macbook without macOs? ..so just the Os differentiates?...seems a marketing gimmick and a good ground for an Armintosh..isn’it?
 
hvfsl said:
Looking forward to the benchmarks, it really needs to be faster than the current 13inch MBP for Apple to show everyone what the A series cpus are capable of. It if just offers similar performance to current MB Airs, then people will wonder why Apple made the switch.
Click to expand...
Apple only needed to show how much faster it is (and how better its battery life is) with the model it is directly related to, ie. the original 12" Macbook. The comparison with the Pros will come when they have Apple silicon Macbook Pros ready.
 
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asiga said:
"Less than 1 kilogram" will actually be "close to 1 kg" (otherwise they would say "half a kilogram"), which is too much for a 12-inch nowadays (the Intel rMB already had that weight). That's too much for such a little screen. Look at the LG gram: A 17-inch weighting 1kg (you can argue the LG gram is not rigid enough, but it has the screen size you want --big--- and the weight you need).
Click to expand...

Well, the 17" weight is 2.98 pounds actually, but still lighter than every above 15" laptops out there.
 
Atarikid said:
Some tests we did on the Apple Transition kit with Apple Silicone.

Encoding the free animation movie bbb_sunflower_1080p_30fps to a MP4 format with HEVC and AAC with a video bitrate of 6000k and audio bitrate of 256k
Encoding with FFmpeg 4.3.1 compiled versions for ARM and Intel (with x265 library)

Both system running Mac Big Sur Beta 5

Software encoding for video and audio:
Intel Core i9 2.3Ghz 8core 5:09
Intel Core i3 2.8Ghz. 23:18
Apple Silicone A12Z 36:43

Hardware encoding with Apple Videotoolbox (*) for video and audio:
Intel Core i9 2:58
Apple Silicone A12Z 10:51
Intel Core i3 N/A (does not have HEVC hardware accelerated encoding)

Although the Apple transition kit is not using the most powerful ARM atm it does clearly indicate they are much slower in doing hard crunching numbers. With the A14 it may be a bit closer to Intel Core i3
The hardware accelerated encoding was much slower too (which was a surprise).
Basically a Core i5, i7 and i9 will be much faster for the foreseeable future.

A side note: the Apple kit got incredible warm and it may have did some throttling along the test.

(*) Although it’s faster to encode, the file size is much bigger compared when using the software x265 encoder for achieving the same quality. This is a known problem/side effect when using VideoToolbox hardware accelerated APIs. If you need smal file size with high quality, you’re only choice is software encoding.
Click to expand...
For our understanding, did you compile Handbrake or ffmpeg to Apple Silicon or is this running under x86 emulation?
 
asiga said:
"Less than 1 kilogram" will actually be "close to 1 kg" (otherwise they would say "half a kilogram"), which is too much for a 12-inch nowadays (the Intel rMB already had that weight). That's too much for such a little screen. Look at the LG gram: A 17-inch weighting 1kg (you can argue the LG gram is not rigid enough, but it has the screen size you want --big--- and the weight you need).
Click to expand...
Yes, precisely. A 12-inch MacBook with less than 1kg is not exactly breaking news. The 12-inch laptop that Apple discontinued already weighed less than 1kg, so it would surprise me if the new one was heavier than that.

The 17-inch LG Gram is actually 1.35kg. LG has managed to make 15-inch laptops with less than 1kg in the past (although the current one weighs a little bit more than 1kg). In any case, a 12-inch laptop weighing that much is far from being groundbreaking.
 
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How is everyone believing this? The so-called “report” basically repeated all the details from this tweet, which is from one of those random Twitter “leakers” with no track record at all.

Also we already know that Macs with Apple Silicon won’t be using A series chips. Apple said that they’re designing a family of SoCs specifically for the Mac product line.
 
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Atarikid said:
Software encoding for video and audio:
Intel Core i9 2.3Ghz 8core 5:09
Intel Core i3 2.8Ghz. 23:18
Apple Silicone A12Z 36:43

Hardware encoding with Apple Videotoolbox (*) for video and audio:
Intel Core i9 2:58
Apple Silicone A12Z 10:51
Intel Core i3 N/A (does not have HEVC hardware accelerated encoding)

Although the Apple transition kit is not using the most powerful ARM atm it does clearly indicate they are much slower in doing hard crunching numbers. With the A14 it may be a bit closer to Intel Core i3
The hardware accelerated encoding was much slower too (which was a surprise).
Basically a Core i5, i7 and i9 will be much faster for the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...
If you included benchmarks for hardware encoding with and without the T2 chip this would make a good article. You are using an i3 Mac that lacks a T2 chip? (I think the i3 and i9 would have comparable hardware accelerated benchmarks if both have a T2) https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...t-difference-in-video-encoding-for-most-users
 
I had the 12" macbook from 2015 and I loved loved loved the form-factor, and how light it was. The current Air is such a lump next to it. ... but it was underpowered, and the single USB-C port was too limiting. You couldn't satisfactorily dock it with a 4K monitor. Fix those problems (a single port is fine if that port is thunderbolt or, probably now, USB-4) and i'm in.
 
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