Apple Has Reportedly Secured TSMC’s Entire N3 (3 nm) Supply For the M3
1 Like
I wouldn’t care about more powerful Intel chips as they are already powerful enough for your average heavy users from 2 or 3 generation before.
What I want is less wattage on the current power output, which Intel clearly gave up on. Why would a dual core Celeron for mobile which was designed based off the old Atom chip get so hot is beyond me. Are they just literally making the device consume more power to get that gained clock speeds over the Atom chips and charge more for it? 
2 Likes
Amen…Amen…
I know it’s been a year, but it’s interesting to revisit this with fresh eyes. I usually look at these conversations for my own needs, but reading through this again reminded me of my wife’s usage for her cell phone and laptop. We recently bought her a new laptop when her old one broke, because she needs it for homeschooling our kids. But honestly, all she really does is some very light Word/Excel, and everything else is done on a browser. Most of the materials she prints out, she prints from her phone, and she often talks about wanting a better home management app she can use directly from her phone that also works well on her laptop. Her use case sounds like the perfect user for a DeX device instead of a 2 device solution. I think the only thing she would miss is watching shows from her laptop around the house.
We just upgraded her phone to a Pixel 7 because our daughter broke her old phone, but I’m going to try to keep an eye on DeX’s progression for the next time she needs a phone upgrade. It will probably be around the time we want to get her a new laptop as well. Maybe there will be a better solution for her then with a newer lapdock and a Samsung phone.
2 Likes
This sounds like moderately big news. The Unreal 3D rendering engine that’s behind many AAA games can now run natively on Apple Silicon. Still requires that developers actually use what’s available, but this lowers the barrier for porting high end games to macOS (and even the iPad?).
3 Likes
Can this really be true - Mac’s are gaining substantial market share on PC:
"Apple appears to be widening its lead over rival PC makers with yet another M-series chip iteration for Apple Silicon.
Just one look at StatCounter’s current macOS data shows the extent to which the company’s move to develop its own Mac processors is invigorating the platform. Apple’s global macOS share now sits at 21.38%, while in the US it enjoys an even more pronounced share in excess of 31%.
Ten years ago, Windows held 85.6% of the US desktop share to 12.86% for the Mac."
4 Likes
I remembered when the M1 first crashed onto the scene, there was a debate on whether it spelled the end of the x86 era of PCs. This was mostly poo-pooed as tech media hyperbole, but I always felt the PC manufacturers rested on their laurels a little too much, gliding carefree into pandemic demand.
Now three years later, the base M1 MacBook and Mac Minis still do not have proper competitors in the PC space from the major OEMs. Windows 11 still hasn’t managed to break the image of a slightly clunky, slightly awkward OS. And of course, the tablet PC market (including the IPP) has fallen into iterative blandness, though still leaving Apple clearly on top.
I feel like overall, the PC makers have simply allowed Apple—by simple advertising inertia on the back of solid hardware—slowly roll over the consumer market.
The only speck of light is PC gaming and handhelds. Other than that, we’re left in an emptiness asking, “Where did the great PCs go?”
3 Likes
What’s even more remarkable about that number is that the ASP (average sale price) for a mac is just over 2.1 times that of the PC’s OEMs according to the latest retail sales data we’ve seen.
I’ve also seen (unofficial at this point) data that Apple has almost doubled it’s share in enterprise/large business, though that may be a COVID related medium term blip.
There are also specialty form-factors/convertibles such as the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 and the Lenovo Yogabook 9i (if only the stylus wasn’t crippled in Windows since Fall Creators Update).
1 Like
Well, the key point cited in the article was:
M2 Macs are already powerful enough for what most users need. The company’s niche, but expensive, Mac Studio and Mac Pro cater to the most demanding users, while the world’s most popular consumer notebook, the MacBook Air, can do at least everything most people use a Mac (or PC) for.
Delete “M2” and substitute “M1”. The second gen didn’t add much (more cores, higher frequencies, but only a bit of both). Rene Ritchie’s video in the first post still stands.
Moreover, Apple is ahead in performance per watt. Full stop. Apple Silicon was never ahead in pure, raw CPU or GPU power. X86 and discrete graphics still rule given bucket loads of juice from the wall socket. And even there they’re slowly getting more efficient. For most power users/gamers—and you know who you are if you’re one of them—a PC is both cheaper and more powerful.
But back to the “for the average user”. Everyone was covered for all mundane tasks a decade ago, regardless of brand choice. Nobody was crying about not being able to crunch their numbers in Excel or do their presentations in Powerpoint or that their laptop wasn’t performant enough for writing a tech review at Starbucks.
That said, more power is nice, even for average users. More efficiency is very nice. It means more battery life. It means I can do more, longer on my batteries charged by solar power when I’m off-grid most of the year. Gimme more! It’s a big part of why I have a M2 Pro Mac mini: power per watt while gaming at an acceptable (for ME) level hits the sweet spot better than anything else that currently exists. While doing all my desktop needs as well as being nicely integrated with all my other devices in the ecosystem.
Aside from all that? It’s all about ecosystem, fashion, trends, what your friends & family use, what has the crucial apps for you, and what brands you love or hate. Unless your job mandates something, of course. It’s not really about power, benchmarks are just for marketing (unless you’re a special use case and, again, you know if you are).
/end rambling thoughts
1 Like
This requires one edit “a decade ago” should just be “decades.” How many reviews, going back to the 80’s, have we seen with the finding that this processor “can handle word processing, browsing, email, and light photo/video editing.” Every generation of processor gets the same evaluation, so how is it we keep moving the goalposts for the same targets? We were able to write Supreme Court briefs, launch astronauts to the moon, and run our day to day businesses for decades now. It seems the only relevant benchmark is performance per watt at this point…
Look at this comment from my often quoted Jim Seymour article from 1988, The Quest for the “Least Computer”
“It gradually dawned on me that often I don’t need to do much heavy-duty computing when I am traveling. What I really need on about 75% of my trips is a simple MS-DOS machine capable of running my favorite word processor, comm program, and, of course, 1-2-3…”
Just imagine what Jim would think of the Surface Go 3 or iPad Pro 11, much less my SP8 that puts Jim’s Toshiba T3100 to shame even on relative terms…
I AM SUCH A WHINNY BABY…
1 Like
It suddenly dawned on me that my computing needs are the same whether I’m traveling or not and the equipment is one and the same.
4 Likes
I honestly don’t know where Windows tablets and laptops realistically are with battery life anymore, but I will say, for my use cases, my MBP even with Intel silicone lasts so much longer on battery than any of my previous Windows devices ever did, even the lower powered ones. Battery life and portability are also the primary reason I have an IPP instead of a Wacom Mobile Studio. If the Mobile Studio was actually more portable AND had better than 4 hour battery life, it actually could be my do everything machine. Apple chips have made Apple the clear winner for me, in spite of the awful file system and ecosystem overall.
I am coing around to this conclusion unlike Jim Seymour’s quote you mentioned, BECAUSE I now have both in a system 1/3 the size and weight of that Toshiba T1000…
I guess I’m never more than a few (<4) hours form a plug, and with the small 75W GAN charger (which can charge up to three devices across its 65W delivery - and you can now go up to 120W) it’s just not a problem.
735 (65W) and 737 (120W) are two on the left.
On more than one occasion I’ve been sitting around a table with other nerds like myself playing a game supplemented with our laptops for more than 4 hours. While there are enough plugs for most of us, it’s been nice not having to plug my MBP in and leave room for everyone else to plug in.
But the bigger thing is the drawing side of it. I very rarely draw at a table, I’m normally sitting on a couch somewhere doing my artwork, or sitting in bed. I technically can plug it in while drawing, but it’s annoying and in the way, and completely unnecessary with an IPP. I also don’t have to worry about taking a charger with me to sketch or write at a coffee shop, or even while visiting someone else’s house. (When I travel I usually visit friends who are artists and we will sometimes just sit around the living room sketching on our iPads and sharing critiques of each other’s works) So basically, all day battery life is a huge win for my workflow for art primarily, and for laptop secondarily. So yeah, going back to that magical unicorn, for me it’s basically an IPP with MacOS or a mythical Wacom Mobile Studio with 9+ hours of battery life in an 11" chassis.
1 Like
Coincidentally I was looking at those stats two days ago, took some screenshots and considered posting about it. I decided not to since I didn’t want to give opportunity for yet another Batman vs Superman Mac vs Windows pointless debate. But since it’s already been done…
I find the worldwide spread more interesting than local trends. That’s a curious dip in Android coinciding with a temporary hike in “Unknown”. What’s with that? ChromeOS? No, that looks like it’s “Other”. And while Windows and iOS are fairly flat, MacOS increased. Where are the users coming from? The overall Android decline is accounted for by Unknown and Other.
None of it is very dramatic, however (ignoring that weird Android dip). I don’t think Panos is sweating bullets. Those who predicted MacOS’ imminent demise four or five years ago should be eating crow.
Huawei is why the dip in Android. They were banned from using Android in the US and made their own OS. They were the largest phone manufacturer in China at the time and 2nd in the world behind Samsung. They’ve significantly dropped off because of the bans, but the amount you see is largely likely to that transition.
2 Likes
Ha ha ha Ted - I remember that article you referred to by Perlow - of course tech writers NEVER eat crow, although they often deposit their opinions like pigeons on your car hood…
1 Like
Shoutout to Gordon Ma Ung and co. who literally do eat their words for failed tech predictions for the year:
Great fun, and always a riot watching their podcast.
3 Likes
But…it…was…so…slow…starting…push…ups…and…Coors…Light…REALLY…gave…up…before…they…got…to…their…2022…pass/fails…
1 Like