Discussion Apple Silicon SoC thread

[Eug]

M1
5 nm
Unified memory architecture - LP-DDR4
16 billion transistors

8-core CPU

4 high-performance cores
192 KB instruction cache
128 KB data cache
Shared 12 MB L2 cache

4 high-efficiency cores
128 KB instruction cache
64 KB data cache
Shared 4 MB L2 cache
(Apple claims the 4 high-effiency cores alone perform like a dual-core Intel MacBook Air)

8-core iGPU (but there is a 7-core variant, likely with one inactive core)
128 execution units
Up to 24576 concurrent threads
2.6 Teraflops
82 Gigatexels/s
41 gigapixels/s

16-core neural engine
Secure Enclave
USB 4

Products:
$999 ($899 edu) 13" MacBook Air (fanless) - 18 hour video playback battery life
$699 Mac mini (with fan)
$1299 ($1199 edu) 13" MacBook Pro (with fan) - 20 hour video playback battery life

Memory options 8 GB and 16 GB. No 32 GB option (unless you go Intel).

It should be noted that the M1 chip in these three Macs is the same (aside from GPU core number). Basically, Apple is taking the same approach which these chips as they do the iPhones and iPads. Just one SKU (excluding the X variants), which is the same across all iDevices (aside from maybe slight clock speed differences occasionally).

EDIT:



M1 Pro 8-core CPU (6+2), 14-core GPU
M1 Pro 10-core CPU (8+2), 14-core GPU
M1 Pro 10-core CPU (8+2), 16-core GPU
M1 Max 10-core CPU (8+2), 24-core GPU
M1 Max 10-core CPU (8+2), 32-core GPU

M1 Pro and M1 Max discussion here:

Page 78 - Discussion - Apple Silicon SoC thread

Page 78 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

M1 Ultra discussion here:

Page 109 - Discussion - Apple Silicon SoC thread

Page 109 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

M2 discussion here:

Page 127 - Discussion - Apple Silicon SoC thread

Page 127 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

Second Generation 5 nm
Unified memory architecture - LPDDR5, up to 24 GB and 100 GB/s
20 billion transistors

8-core CPU

4 high-performance cores
192 KB instruction cache
128 KB data cache
Shared 16 MB L2 cache

4 high-efficiency cores
128 KB instruction cache
64 KB data cache
Shared 4 MB L2 cache

10-core iGPU (but there is an 8-core variant)
3.6 Teraflops

16-core neural engine
Secure Enclave
USB 4

Hardware acceleration for 8K h.264, h.264, ProRes

M3 Family discussion here:

Page 215 - Discussion - Apple Silicon SoC thread

Page 215 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

M4 Family discussion here:

Page 263 - Discussion - Apple Silicon SoC thread

Page 263 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

M5 Family discussion here:

Page 431 - Discussion - Apple Silicon SoC thread

Page 431 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

 

[soresu]

Final Cut and Logic have been around forever, but were one-time purchases

On that score DaVinci Resolve is cutting into everyones lunch with a well stocked app that does editing, compositing, sound design, color grading and I'm sure other things beside - and all for free unless you need the Studio version features which are also a one time purchase for the current version.

 

[Mopetar]

Somewhat. It's pretty uneven though. But the performance isn't really the issue, the availability of titles is.

There's always been a chicken and egg problem where Apple either lacked the market share or sufficient computers with graphics capable of playing anything graphically demanding to make it worth a company's time to support the platform.

Apple has stepped up their game considerably and even their low-end Macs now have reasonably powerful graphics that would allow users to play most mainstream titles at 1080p with reduced settings while getting good frame rates.

Apple has built it and now they will come. PC gaming is becoming hideously expensive and a $500 M4 Mac Mini that can run even games like Cyberpunk 2077 without dipping below 30 FPS. The M5 MBP can even hit around 60 FPS with RT effects. Their entry level is now more than capable of mainstream performance.

 

[name99]

Unfortunately, this is partially just Apple further monetizing their existing apps with a subscription model.

Final Cut and Logic have been around forever, but were one-time purchases. The one-time purchase option is still available on the Mac but people encouraged to pay for the Creator Studio subscription, and these apps are not available on the iPad outside the subscription.

Pixelmator Pro was purchased by Apple in 2024. At that time it was a one-time purchase. You can still purchase it on the Mac but on the iPad it's only available via the subscription.

Keynote, Pages, and Numbers have been free for a long time and will remain free, but some add-on content will now require a subscription.

I'm not interested in people's unhappiness about having to pay for Pro grade software. (If you care about my opinions on that:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...on.2475995/page-2?post=34377249#post-34377249 )

I'm interested in the comparison of this functionality set versus Adobe.

 

[johnsonwax]

There's always been a chicken and egg problem where Apple either lacked the market share or sufficient computers with graphics capable of playing anything graphically demanding to make it worth a company's time to support the platform.

Apple has stepped up their game considerably and even their low-end Macs now have reasonably powerful graphics that would allow users to play most mainstream titles at 1080p with reduced settings while getting good frame rates.

Apple has built it and now they will come. PC gaming is becoming hideously expensive and a $500 M4 Mac Mini that can run even games like Cyberpunk 2077 without dipping below 30 FPS. The M5 MBP can even hit around 60 FPS with RT effects. Their entry level is now more than capable of mainstream performance.

I'm not sure they will come. Apple has put themselves in a difficult spot. Developers can write around AMD/Windows and get XBox/PS and PC, and somewhat Steam. Apple has entirely different GPUs and Metal that doesn't map entirely cleanly onto existing frameworks, either because of features like ray tracing only coming pretty recently or other features like geometry shaders not being supported at all. Apple simply doesn't provide a large enough market except where titles can cross over to mobile - and that crossover is why iOS is the largest gaming platform by software revenue, but having 5090 performance in an M5 Max doesn't matter when that market is made up mainly of games like Candy Crush.

Apple simply needs to make larger investments into Rosetta/GPT and to the main game engines. One of the other big problems is that it's hard to work Macs into existing development/testing toolchains. There's a lot that Apple could do to address that. But while they've had a bigger showing in terms of reception to gaming, that's still being backed by a VERY small team of people. GPT is literally one guy.

 

[poke01]

Jeff Pu shares expected tech specs for the iPhone Fold - 9to5Mac

Analyst Jeff Pu has reiterated that the upcoming iPhone Fold will rely on Touch ID, and listed hardware details for all 2028 iPhone 18 models.

9to5mac.com

The Pros look good

 

[jdubs03]

Jon Prosser has a video out, pretty sleek tbh (the animations). That red is pretty nice color.

But he’s got the dynamic Island at the top left.

Contradicts Pu, who I trust more on this (though he didn’t explicitly state the location); and who I hope is correct.

Prosser says it’s because of the variable aperture module, but the FaceID module is supposed to be miniaturized so that should allow for a room with the additional mechanisms of the new camera module on the back. Plus, even if it is a narrower dynamic island and its centered, It doesn’t look like an android; which is the common refrain.

If it were at the top left, where do the time and location icons go? To the right of that? Would look very off and honestly, I don’t think it would sell well.

 

[okoroezenwa]

To the right of that? Would look very off and honestly, I don’t think it would sell well.

Sell as in actual unit sales or as something people would like? I would heavily doubt it would impede the former and (imo) the camera plateau is a worse change than this and the 17 Pro still was ok.

Though if I had to guess, I'd assume they'd just have all the status items to the right, maybe time goes back to the centre even.

 

[fastandfurious6]

the performance isn't really the issue, the availability of titles is.

native mass-availability will never happen

emulation is the key, you need a windows VM, performance is still good

almost everything works except DX12 and online gaming (anticheat can't work in VM) etc

 

[jdubs03]

Sell as in actual unit sales or as something people would like? I would heavily doubt it would impede the former and (imo) the camera plateau is a worse change than this and the 17 Pro still was ok.

Though if I had to guess, I'd assume they'd just have all the status items to the right, maybe time goes back to the centre even.

I just think the top left hand corner placement Is it going to be off putting for a lot of people.
People upgrading from earlier versions might just go to the 17 series for a cheaper price.

My hope is they have it centered as so:

Looks significantly better.

 

[Eug]

I really dislike the Dynamic Island. It is very annoying when you’re playing a very widescreen video. It’s inset from the edge, and it’s right in the middle third in landscape mode, where the action is.

A punch out off to the left, meaning a small hole in the bottom fifth in landscape mode, would be a huge improvement, as long as our eyes look centered enough in FaceTime.

This has been a long time coming.

 

[jdubs03]

It’s personal opinion obviously. I like the symmetry. And don’t mind the dynamic island, it’s useful and a step up from the thinner notch of the 13 Pro series.

But to your point, I think you’re in a significant minority.

 

[poke01]

i think it will do fine, the S10 had it on the left side too and it sold well

 

[johnsonwax]

I really dislike the Dynamic Island. It is very annoying when you’re playing a very widescreen video. It’s inset from the edge, and it’s right in the middle third in landscape mode, where the action is.

I love Dynamic Island and never watch movies on my phone.

 

[Eug]

It’s personal opinion obviously. I like the symmetry. And don’t mind the dynamic island, it’s useful and a step up from the thinner notch of the 13 Pro series.

But to your point, I think you’re in a significant minority.

You can be 100% sure that Apple is targeting a smaller cut out as time goes on. The holy grail is to have no cut out at all but apparently it is currently not feasible, but what does appear to be feasible according to pundits/rumours is a significant reduction in its size. I don’t know if that will be a smaller pill or a hole punch in the near future, but either way that would mean smaller.

However, I suspect what will happen is that software functionality of Dynamic Island will remain, until the cutout can be removed entirely.

Dynamic Island has its advantages, but we all know it came about just to hide a hole in the screen.

 

[Mopetar]

I'm not sure they will come. Apple has put themselves in a difficult spot. Developers can write around AMD/Windows and get XBox/PS and PC, and somewhat Steam. Apple has entirely different GPUs and Metal that doesn't map entirely cleanly onto existing frameworks,

This sounds like the sort of problem that AI will be good at solving with a small amount of oversight.

Apple can also work on making this easier for developers as well. A lot of games now just use a commercially available engine instead of making their own. Apple can get a lot of titles be ensuring the most popular engines have Mac support.

But to your point, I think you’re in a significant minority

He's not alone. Apple users will take what they're given and grumble but if most of us had a choice we'd choose no island before the flames even reached the knees of heretics like @johnsonwax

 

[Doug S]

I love Dynamic Island and never watch movies on my phone.

I'd never say I "love" it, but it was a decent solution for a technological limitation. If they are able to shrink the "dead" area to a punch hole I think it would be stupid to put it in a corner instead of in the middle. Everyone is already used to the dynamic island now and they can continue to have it. More to the point, apps have already taken into account that's dead area so making that dead area smaller isn't a problem. Moving it might be.

The only reason I could think of to move it would be if it works better for the internal space, but that's only likely to be an issue with the Air. Maybe the reason for the conflicting rumors about left vs center are because it isn't in the same place across the whole line?

 

[Eug]

I'd never say I "love" it, but it was a decent solution for a technological limitation. If they are able to shrink the "dead" area to a punch hole I think it would be stupid to put it in a corner instead of in the middle. Everyone is already used to the dynamic island now and they can continue to have it. More to the point, apps have already taken into account that's dead area so making that dead area smaller isn't a problem. Moving it might be.

The only reason I could think of to move it would be if it works better for the internal space, but that's only likely to be an issue with the Air. Maybe the reason for the conflicting rumors about left vs center are because it isn't in the same place across the whole line?

Left sided hole punches are already a thing on some Android phones, and people liked it just fine. In fact, gamers and people who watch video (which doesn’t have to be movies) appeared to prefer it on the side rather than centre.

My main concern with the non-centered hole punch would be FaceTime, but if it looks fine for FaceTime, that non-centered location would actually be my preference.

BTW, there is nothing stopping a left-sided hole punch from having Dynamic Island. There is no rule saying that it must be centered.

EDIT:

This is an informal poll I found on the intarweb.

 

[jdubs03]

I asked grok for a sentiment analysis of a recent post by one of the Apple-centric accounts showing the hole punch in the left, and it was overwhelmingly negative. Could do the same for some of those and for instance macrumors article comments, glancing through it doesn’t look like many want it on the left.

I don’t think it’ll be a hole punch anyways it’ll just be narrower. Could be wrong and the FaceID module is completey under the display. And even still I’d think they would adhere to symmetry. Don’t have to change the placement of the notification icon bar.

 

[poke01]

I asked grok for a sentiment analysis of a recent post by one of the Apple-centric accounts showing the hole punch in the left, and it was overwhelmingly negative. Could do the same for some of those and for instance macrumors article comments, glancing through it doesn’t look like many want it on the left.

I don’t think it’ll be a hole punch anyways it’ll just be narrower. Could be wrong and the FaceID module is completey under the display. And even still I’d think they would adhere to symmetry. Don’t have to change the placement of the notification icon bar.

I would prefer it in the center too

 

[johnsonwax]

He's not alone. Apple users will take what they're given and grumble but if most of us had a choice we'd choose no island before the flames even reached the knees of heretics like @johnsonwax

To be clear, the relationship to the camera doesn't matter to me - having contextual controls always available for phone calls, music playing, etc. is fantastic. There are other ways of doing that, but I like having that available.

 

[ashFTW]

I think symmetry in a design is important. A small hole top left only disturbs it in a minor way, and wouldn’t be jarring. But a non centered Dynamic Island is unlikely. A centered Dynamic Island works with a hole top left, since it’s just rendering that has to just make sure to seamlessly cover the hole. I do believe that a centered hole is still a better design choice from aesthetics point of view. Functionally, top left might make more sense hardware wise, for example to optimize component placement behind the screen .. Just my humble personal opinion.

 

[poke01]

iPhone 18 Pro Leak: Smaller Dynamic Island, No Top-Left Camera Cutout

Over the last few months, rumors around the iPhone 18 Pro's front-panel design have been conflicted, with some supply-chain leaks pointing to under-display Face ID, reports suggesting a top-left hole-punch camera, and debate over whether the familiar Dynamic Island will shrink, shift, or...

www.macrumors.com

Looks it’s a smaller Dynamic Island and the floor illuminator is underneath in the left hand side.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I think people with Macs aren't getting it for gaming. Rather it's just a perk if you can play a title on it. I like to play the Civ games on mine, saves me moving to my gaming pc. First world problems I know.

 

[fastandfurious6]

I think people with Macs aren't getting it for gaming

Until now yes, but M5 Pro / M6 Base etc are going to be very good gaming machines in their price point

They will be very strong condenders in mid-range gaming laptop market. Unless you're going for real high-end 2.5kg windows laptop, Macbook will be a really good choice for gaming as ultra-lightweight, windows emulation becoming increasingly more efficient to support all games and run them faster

 

[StinkyPinky]

Yeah but the library of titles is probably only 5% of that of Windows, so it seems a no brainer that any serious gamer will use Windows.