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Unreleased iMac With 10-Core Comet Lake-S Chip and Radeon Pro 5300 GPU Shows Up in Geekbench
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For comparison, here's my 2019 iMac (i5/Vega 48)
And the comparison link: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/compute/compare/1152079?baseline=1117678
And the comparison link: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/compute/compare/1152079?baseline=1117678
I did a bit of reading on this. The x265 HEVC encoder uses handwritten, vectorised x86 assembly for certain performance critical operations, and hasn’t seen the same optimisation for ARM. This explains the huge performance discrepancy between the A12X and the i7 in HEVC encoding. In encoding another modern codec (VP9), and in general purpose compute, the A12X’s performance is very competitive with Intel’s chips.
Because ARM-Macs are not yet a reality? Apple is still a business and needs to keep up sales volumes with existing and improved designs.
In any case, it is likely that the "power machines" with 8+ cores will be the last to transition to ARM, so you could be waiting 2 years for an ARM version of this 10-core iMac. Do you expect Apple not to market the Intel Mac until that time?
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That is an interesting experiment, but I think it shows more about the lack of software / compiler optimization for ARM, than any inherent weakness of the architecture.
In the data centre we're already seeing 48-80 core ARM chips that are beating Intel Xeons in performance/watt, and even in absolute performance for some workloads. This just needs to move into the desktop CPU space.
I really doubt that Apple will release ARM CPUs that are slower than the equivalent Intel chips available at the time. Sure, they will start with entry-level machines, but you can bet that they will be working on something to improve on 12+-core Intel Xeons. Watch this space!
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I feel this is an acknowledgement that Apple Silicon iMacs may not be ready for some creative workflows on day one. This is the Mac for most graphic designers. I'm looking forward to the ARM Macs myself. Will be picking one up on day 1 for sure. I hope they have 120hz displays. I'm spoiled by my iPad Pro.
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That isn't a good example. It has hand optimized vector code for Intel with no ARM fallback. Apple already announced they will be optimizing FFmpeg for the arm64e instruction set which is quite gratious of them.
In my own tests, my iPad Pro easily takes on my MacBook Pro with a much lower power budget. The new Macs will have much larger faster chips and a larger power budget. They will certainly blow Intel chips out of the water.
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That isn't a good example. It has hand optimized vector code for Intel with no ARM fallback. Apple already announced they will be optimizing FFmpeg for the arm64e instruction set which is quite gratious of them.
In my own tests, my iPad Pro easily takes on my MacBook Pro with a much lower power budget. The new Macs will have much larger faster chips and a larger power budget. They will certainly blow Intel chips out of the water.
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Incorrect. The last generation of a chipset is always a far better and smarter purchase than the first few generations of a new chipset.
The rumor is the Intel will get the new design. It makes sense to me. Some creative users might be stuck on Intel the longest due to compatibility issues. Apple is being kind by allowing them to use a Mac with the new design.
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Generally the advice is to wait one refresh to avoid issues, not a few. The new chips will come with so many new capabilities it will not be worth waiting this time around. Unless you *need* Intel, it will definitely be better to upgrade. At the least, ARM chips will be significantly faster than Intel, they are more secure, may have Face ID, may have 120hz screens, better GPU, machine learning chip, more enterprise management features, and support to run iOS software on Mac. The technology has already been extensively tested on iOS devices which far outnumber Macs. Going forward there will not be as much effort put in to optimizing for the legacy Intel architecture.
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LOL at the picture with the article. Do people actually think the IMac is going to look like that? 🤣
All code is hand written and with encoders/decoders it is always vectorized.
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AMD has AVX and the Zen 2 has AVX2.
It was a thing, they knew about it and worked with it more than months ago, RDNA2 was referenced in macOS for long time, in macOS Big Sur there already references to RDNA3 😣
Yes, true, but why they need to handicap iMac in the GPU department it's ridiculous how weak GPUs they use at that price points and always generation or more behind, it just feels like a scam, kinda unethical 😞
If we compared with equivalent 10-core equivalent iMac Pro, this comet chips should be faster. Remember newer consumer Intel chips usually cannibalize some older HEDT chips. Not sure if pitted against 14-18-core model.
For GPU iMac Pro Vega 64 still better for compute too, compared with 5000 Navi series which a bit weaker albeit have higher bandwidth.
I would expect the new 5600 from the 16" MBP the other week to be the high end option on this new iMac. It's a beast, only 50 watts, 3x faster than the 5500M, has HBM2, and keeps up with a 5700XT.
Me thinks Apple must be pretty confident in their own Apple Chips as they will have to beat this performance
I remember buying an iMac G5 a week before Intel iMac came out. Never again
Yeah I know that pain. We splurging 3 units of PowerMac G5 Quad after 2006 Original Mac Pro announcement, bad decision indeed
Depends on how thin they push the new design or what the new design will even be? It's generally a notch or 2 faster card for the iMac's of the same generation. We shall see.
Seems an impossible task, but we will see. I can't see emulating Windows outperforming running it on a machine with an Intel CPU.
I have no doubt there will be some instruction set extensions as well as additional hardware-based accelerators and other custom coprocessors that will more than offset current deficiencies.
Also, consider that the iPad has a low-wattage CPU in a fanless enclosure with a rather limited ability to remove heat. AS Macs won’t be nearly as constrained.
After the debacle of the i9 in my 16" MBP, I'm not interested in another non-Pro Mac. Had to replace the 16" with an iMac Pro which is dead silent, thankfully.
What was your issue with the i9 in the MBP 16? I have one, and it seems quite good....<worried!>
A lot will depend on what Apple does with an AS ARM. They could very well optimize the OS and As to improve performance; as well as other aspects of the design. Will it be as fast as the fastest Intel chips? Probably not, at least at first; but I would guess it would outperform chips used in lower end Macs. It would make no sense for Apple to release a mediocre ARM based machine since that would drive a narrative of "Apple's ARM can't compete with Intel" and seriously wound Apple's move to ARM at the onset.
As for ARM being slower than Intel, Fujitsu’s 48-core A64FX would beg to differ.
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I see your point; I am in the same boat. I think it will be at least 2-3 before Apple's ARM machines prolifearte across the lineup. Most machines bought today will still be useful then and beyond, mush will depend on how fast current OS X Intel based based software migrates to ARM versions.
It could be a fake benchmark by someone using a Hackintosh... Wasn't it ages ago when Steve Jobs was still alive, that he complained about some apps which sent reports about their new products they were testing at the time?
I don't think Apple will get caught by this over and over again?
I hope the new ARM Macs will be silent machines - the fan noise of modern Intel Macs are pretty annoying.
I don't think Apple will get caught by this over and over again?
I hope the new ARM Macs will be silent machines - the fan noise of modern Intel Macs are pretty annoying.