Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.sys.mac.system > #96657

Re: arm for the entire product line

Show all headers | View raw

For your reference, records indicate that 
JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> If Apple's Axx chips outperform the Intel ones at a lower cost, it makes
> sense for Apple to move its desktops to it.

Well, *maybe* it does.  Raw price on a single component is only one 
factor in such a decision.  It’s a pretty big deal for both hardware 
and software vendors to support an architecture change.  Microsoft 
certainly learned that with its first pass at Surface.  Apple has a 
better track record of doing it, but that doesn’t mean it’s as easy 
as flipping a switch just because you can save a couple bucks on the 
CPU.

> It is one thing to design a chip and a
> couple of variants all aimed at portable devices, and another to design
> a range of chips that go from handheld to powerful desktops.

Yeah, but keep in mind that even their mobile devices range all the 
way up to a 13” iPad Pro.  That’s pretty powerful already.  They’ve 
come a long way since the original iPhone.

> One popssibility would be for Apple to design a single high end desktop
> chip and simply offer lower clock rates on iMacs and Mac Mini. (This
> makes sense from a yield point of view since you can use chips with
> small defects which woudln't run on MacPro and downrate them to work
> fine on a iMac, so production costs end up lower)

Another possibility is to go back to using multiple chips instead of 
just multiple cores.  Apple still leaves a lot on the the table when 
it comes to taking advantage of multiple threads of execution.  If 
they *really* had their eyes on improving the Mac experience, they’d 
be doing more in that arena, regardless of whether or not they were 
thinking of a switch from Intel to ARM.

> True. But if Apple moves off x86, I suspect Intel may wake up and start
> to move competitively and agressively to prevent further defections. And
> if Intel starts to move its ass, then performance advantage of ARM on
> desktop may disappear.

Nah.  We’ve seen this before, yes, but the reliance on the x86 
architecture was essentially broken when Intel sat on it’s hands as 
the smart phone market took off.  It’s like Adobe Flash; it *could* 
have revamped itself in the face of the changes, but it took too long 
to realize it had to do that, and now it’s become irrelevant to the 
industry.  After a decade of the mobile revolution, nobody with a 
brain to save Intel a second time is still working for Intel.

> The irony is that if Apple had had its "A chip" team at the time
> IBM/Motorola told it they were no longer interested in laptop form
> factor chips, perhaps Apple could have stuck with Power and designed its
> own chips.

At the time, that would have been a mistake.  Intel was just too big 
for the rest of the industry to challenge them.  Thanks to the iPhone, 
though, it’s Apple who is now able to call the shots.  Intel still has 
a big legacy, which is why I don’t see Apple just abandoning them for 
no reason (or to save a little money) any time soon.  Especially in a 
world where Windows is still popular and where Microsoft can’t 
competently make their major OS market not depend on Intel.

-- 
"Also . . . I can kill you with my brain."
River Tam, Trash, Firefly

Back to comp.sys.mac.system | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar

Thread

arm for the entire product line Electric Comet <electric-comet@mail.invalid> - 2016-11-02 10:44 -0700
  Re: arm for the entire product line android <here@there.was> - 2016-11-02 19:12 +0100
  Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-02 18:27 +0000
    Re: arm for the entire product line Electric Comet <electric-comet@mail.invalid> - 2016-11-02 15:21 -0700
      Re: arm for the entire product line Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2016-11-03 13:12 +1300
      Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-05 00:56 -0400
        Re: arm for the entire product line Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2016-11-05 18:51 +1300
          Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 11:19 -0400
          Re: arm for the entire product line Calum <com.gmail@nospam.scottishwildcat> - 2016-11-06 20:22 +0000
            Re: arm for the entire product line Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2016-11-07 14:13 +1300
        Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 11:19 -0400
        Re: arm for the entire product line Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-11-05 15:31 +0000
          Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 11:41 -0400
  Re: arm for the entire product line Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2016-11-03 08:44 +1300
    Re: arm for the entire product line Electric Comet <electric-comet@mail.invalid> - 2016-11-02 15:18 -0700
      Re: arm for the entire product line Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2016-11-03 13:07 +1300
      Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-03 01:54 +0000
        Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-03 16:51 -0400
          Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-04 18:11 +0000
            Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 10:55 -0400
              Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-05 15:09 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 11:23 -0400
                Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-05 15:28 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 11:37 -0400
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 13:52 -0400
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-05 23:20 -0400
                Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-06 03:37 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2016-11-06 17:53 +1300
                Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-07 03:05 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2016-11-07 17:12 +1300
                Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-07 05:32 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-07 11:22 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-07 16:37 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-11-08 16:16 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2016-11-09 09:10 +1300
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-08 19:08 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-09 13:04 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-08 18:58 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-07 17:28 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2016-11-08 12:49 +1300
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-07 19:06 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-08 02:45 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-08 19:15 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-09 00:29 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-08 18:17 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-08 19:09 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-08 10:44 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-08 18:17 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-08 19:11 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-09 13:12 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-09 00:28 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-09 13:17 -0500
                Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-07 11:52 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2016-11-06 07:02 +0000
                Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-05 12:04 -0400
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 12:25 -0400
              Re: arm for the entire product line JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2016-11-05 11:58 -0400
                Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-05 12:17 -0400
              Re: arm for the entire product line dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2016-11-06 12:08 +1300
        Re: arm for the entire product line Electric Comet <electric-comet@mail.invalid> - 2016-11-12 10:26 -0800
    Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-02 19:31 -0400
  Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-02 19:43 -0400
    Re: arm for the entire product line nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-11-03 00:25 -0400
      Re: arm for the entire product line Electric Comet <electric-comet@mail.invalid> - 2016-11-03 08:45 -0700
        Re: arm for the entire product line nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-11-03 11:52 -0400
      Re: arm for the entire product line Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2016-11-03 17:07 -0400
    Re: arm for the entire product line Electric Comet <electric-comet@mail.invalid> - 2016-11-03 08:40 -0700
      Re: arm for the entire product line nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-11-03 11:52 -0400
        Re: arm for the entire product line Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-11-03 17:48 +0000
          Re: arm for the entire product line nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-11-03 13:51 -0400
  Re: arm for the entire product line Siri Cruise <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2016-11-05 10:51 -0700
    Re: arm for the entire product line nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-11-05 14:16 -0400

csiph-web