Apple Silicon

So I looked at their "buy" page, and the RAM tops out at 16GB it looks like. It's a bit of a joke for now, if that's the case. At that price I expect 16GB stock and then go up from there. The machine I'm writing this on has 64GB of RAM. That's my DAW and Lightroom machine. My workstation on which I do work has 32 cores and 128GB of RAM, and I have an option to double both the core count and the RAM.
 
I’m interested in seeing these entry level machines maxing out their performance. In a Daw, I’m more interested in the iMac variant that will come later. But hopeful these new machine can run full bore consistently.
 
So I looked at their "buy" page, and the RAM tops out at 16GB it looks like. It's a bit of a joke for now, if that's the case. At that price I expect 16GB stock and then go up from there. The machine I'm writing this on has 64GB of RAM. That's my DAW and Lightroom machine. My workstation on which I do work has 32 cores and 128GB of RAM, and I have an option to double both the core count and the RAM.

I see you clearly haven't read up on the new hardwares structure, so here is link:
https://www.apple.com/mac/m1/

The new memory structure is entirely different, so 8gb ram is PLENTY now
16 gb will be more than enough, that's why the numbers are seemingly low
 
I see you clearly haven't read up on the new hardwares structure, so here is link:
https://www.apple.com/mac/m1/

The new memory structure is entirely different, so 8gb ram is PLENTY now
16 gb will be more than enough, that's why the numbers are seemingly low
There's nothing on that page that quantifies M1 memory needs vs. x86. The M1 is a "chiplet" with L3 DRAM soldered to the package. It's only two chips though so the size of the L3 will be limited (probably 512M). That's a lot of L3 but it's not enough for an OS, you still need external RAM.

The question is how much memory does the M1 use vs. competing architectures. Is an ARM big.LITTLE architecture more or less efficient in terms of memory usage. Probably less. RISC machines in general use more memory because they need more instructions to do things (because there are fewer instructions). An x86 uses fewer instructions to do the same things but those instructions use more power. So while ARMs tend to be more power efficient they are less memory efficient.

Furthermore data is architecture agnostic. Audio data is audio data. A different architecture doesn't magically reduce the size of audio data objects.

If you are running large projects, editing big files etc. you're still going to want lots of RAM. If there's only 8GB there's going to be a lot of disk activity. Now it's a SSD so disk access will be fast but cell wear could become an issue.
 
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There's nothing on that page that quantifies M1 memory needs vs. x86.

Furthermore data is architecture agnostic. Audio data is audio data. A different architecture doesn't magically reduce the size of audio data objects.

If you are running large projects, editing big files etc. you're still going to want lots of RAM. If there's only 8GB there's going to be a lot of disk activity. Now it's a SSD so disk access will be fast but cell wear could become an issue.

These were my reservations that kept me from pulling the trigger on a new one. I'm shy to sell/trade my 32GB 2018 Mac Mini system for a new 16GB system on the promise that it should be enough without hearing more about it and seeing some real-world experiences for my scenarios. The faster graphics performance has me wanting it for video editing but perhaps waiting until the next round of updates for the pro/prosumer hardware is the best play.
 
I think it makes sense for a Macbook air product. I'm not so sure about the Macbook Pro line or the mac mini - and you can already see the dimished I/O on the mini.
I think they had to go all in though. If they just did ARM on the Air and nothing else it’s hurt Air sales and prolong (possibly indefinitely) the dual-binary format issue that devs will have to support.

Definitely ARM on the Air makes the most sense though.
 
I think it makes sense for a Macbook air product. I'm not so sure about the Macbook Pro line or the mac mini - and you can already see the dimished I/O on the mini.

Yep - agree with that. If I was getting an Air it would make total sense. Not quite there for a desktop perhaps? I mean, it seems totally awesome for 90% of things, but for heavy video/audio production it may be best to wait.
 
Small memory controller, smaller limit, it is fast and cooler, I think it makes totally sense for a 13" inch model. Big boys will begin to show up as they upscale the whole lineup, 16 GB for such a battery life is fantastic.

To me the big question is when Apple will decide to stop using ARM, now they have to pay Nvidia for using the instructions set, and they are not friends.
 
I just ordered a Mac Mini - I like Final Cut Pro (I'm assuming it will be available for M1 Macs). Maxed the RAM but went for smallest drive - external SSDs will augment it just fine for way, way less money.
 
I’m waiting to see Fractal support and Universal Audio Apollo support before ordering. Will try to get buy with a maxed Mac mini with M1 chip if things go well for both. Intentionally not buying a Mac with a battery since I’m tired of the battery either being the death of my macs or having to deal with getting it replaced when they expand. Right now my MacBook Pro can’t be used as a laptop since the battery is screwing up the keyboard and trackpad.
 
To me the big question is when Apple will decide to stop using ARM, now they have to pay Nvidia for using the instructions set, and they are not friends.

Apple owns a perpetual license to use ARM. They don’t have to pay anything more to anyone to keep using ARM. Apple being Apple, there’s no way they would have invested this heavily in CPUs without making sure all the license agreements and everything was watertight before they began.
 
When comparing the new Air and the new Pro, I see no reason at all to choose the Pro with its higher price.
 
When comparing the new Air and the new Pro, I see no reason at all to choose the Pro with its higher price.
Yea. That's where I'm at as well. I'll wait a month for reviews to trickle in. But I think the kiddos will be M1 Air'ing up for school in January.
 
When comparing the new Air and the new Pro, I see no reason at all to choose the Pro with its higher price.

We’ll see when real world tests come in and I think the Pro is going to be quite a bit faster than the Air for long running CPU intensive tasks, just from the fact that the pro has a fan and could run hotter for longer than the air with no fan. And yeah, for normal users, the Air is going to be the one to get for sure.
 
No Bootcamp for M1 Macs but this offers hope if you have to run Windows. I know why would you buy a Mac to run Windows?

https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...d-silence-from-other-virtualization-companies
I was forced by my company HQ to use Mac, but there is a lot localized software working only on Win. Actually Pararells is the only thing that keeps me from trashing my 2020 MBP 13" top spec, which have lots of annoying small things that keep me irritated and wasting my time. And MacOS is not that stable as Mac users fo HQ said - it crashed critically much more times than my Win10 Yoga for last 3 year. The coopertion of mac ecosystem devices is great, but stability ie. simple fight to bring two screens to run (2nd screen is blank, all windows are on the second screen) brings me to insanity... I find Ipad much more stable and useful than MBP, unfortunately it deos not run Windows... I t works grat with remote desktop, but sometimes I need to run software locally...
 
We’ll see when real world tests come in and I think the Pro is going to be quite a bit faster than the Air for long running CPU intensive tasks, just from the fact that the pro has a fan and could run hotter for longer than the air with no fan. And yeah, for normal users, the Air is going to be the one to get for sure.

But the fan alone (and Touch Bar) doesn’t explain the price difference.
 
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