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mactinkerlover

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 20, 2020
176
115
So title. Up until now, M1 based Macs have always supported every feature in macOS. Do y'all think with the rise of AI and Apple Intelligence, that this will be the year that M1 chip will miss out on certain AI and machine learning features in macOS 16?
 
Some AI stuff requires 16 GB of RAM, no?

Third-party apps and large LLM models, yes. But all of the current Apple Intelligence features will run on any M1 or later system regardless of the RAM on the machines. Most iPads with M-series chips will have 8GB or less of RAM, with only higher-capacity (1TB+) iPad Pros jumping up to 16GB.
 
M1 was available with 16 GB or more.

I don't think the M1 will miss out on anything significant but performance on m2 and up on a lot of AI stuff is likely significantly better due to the new cpu instructions.

Apple uses the base line to determine what features are supported within an architecture. So as far as Apple are concerned, the M1 systems are all 8GB systems.
 
Then the question should be when M3 gets left behind.

Yeah and further complicating it...

I think some M3 Macs that were available in 8GB configurations were all bumped to 16GB with no other changes, right? So I wonder if the new 16GB base models were given a new year and model number (i.e. 8GB base are 2023 MacBook Air, 16GB base are 2024 MacBook Air)?
 
Given how bad Apple AI is, any change in RAM requirements would be laughable.

Some iPhone 17 models are getting 12GB, but I'm not sure how Apple would sell that feature.

If M1/8GB gets left behind, it'll be entirely because of artificial feature rationing.
 
Then the question should be when M3 gets left behind.
This is why Apple shot itself in the foot launching the M3 with 8GB RAM. This was still being sold this time last year so Apple will likely have to find a way to make MacOS work on 8GB RAM until 2029 at least...
 
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