[RealWorldTech] Kanter tidbit on Apple CPU development

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ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
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Apple is the company which has no shortage of the above. I believe that eventually Apple will unify its platforms under their custom ARM architecture. Its not a matter of if but when.

Haha, no.

They need OSX and x86 compatibility. Apple is getting owned hard in the 2:1 segment and the iPad Pro is a massive flop for the same reason.

If Apple used ARM everywhere they would pretty much be a phone only company.
 

jpiniero

Lifer
Oct 1, 2010
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They don't need x86 compatibility, they really don't. What's killing the Macs right now is Chromebooks actually; well that and the fact they haven't released any new Macs this year except for the Retina Macbook.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
145
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They don't need x86 compatibility, they really don't. What's killing the Macs right now is Chromebooks actually; well that and the fact they haven't released any new Macs this year except for the Retina Macbook.

Chromebooks? Ehm..how about no. And yes they do need x86 compatibility.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
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They don't need x86 compatibility, they really don't. What's killing the Macs right now is Chromebooks actually; well that and the fact they haven't released any new Macs this year except for the Retina Macbook.
IMO, Chromebooks compete against the iPad, and are losing badly.

BTW, I'm a Mac laptop user, and yes I need x86 compatibility, at least for a few years. However, I do think an ARM laptop is probably coming. So far they've failed with the iPad Pro, and Microsoft failed with the ARM Surface, so we will have to see how Apple manages this probable transition going forward.
 

jpiniero

Lifer
Oct 1, 2010
14,510
5,159
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Chromebooks? Ehm..how about no. And yes they do need x86 compatibility.

Yeah, Education is a big market for Apple... or at least was. Chromebooks own a big chunk of that now.

Macs are expensive enough that you aren't going to run Windows on it. It's not a big deal if you can't. That would be the only real reason to have x86 compatibility.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
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Yeah, Education is a big market for Apple... or at least was. Chromebooks own a big chunk of that now.

Macs are expensive enough that you aren't going to run Windows on it. It's not a big deal if you can't. That would be the only real reason to have x86 compatibility.

I doubt a single person in this world is choosing a rubbish Chromebook over a Mac. I haven't seen any students with a Chromebook either.

Perhaps it has to do with virtually nobody buying Chromebooks in the first place. And the only single place in the world someone even busy them is North America.
20151030_chromebook_bi.png
 
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jpiniero

Lifer
Oct 1, 2010
14,510
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Maybe it is a US only thing. Apple doesn't sell that many Macs, they sold 4.25M Macs last quarter, so even at 8M a year Chromebooks would have an effect.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
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Not the same people buying them....

And I am quite sure Google is paying a lot of the bill in the US.

Not to mention a lot of Chromebooks are x86 based.
 

ozzy702

Golden Member
Nov 1, 2011
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On the chromebook vs mac space in k-12 education the chromebooks have absolutely taken over. We used to spend an ungodly amount of money on mac mobile labs and iPad carts and now we've 100% transitioned to chromebooks. Chromebookes are simply easier to manage, cheaper both for initial purchase and repair/replacement, and do everything we need them to do. For power users we still have mac/pc desktop labs. I have no idea what percentage of iPad and laptop sales k-12 has traditionally made up but I'm sure it's taken a huge hit over the past three years.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
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Iris Pro is no more.

Woah, I missed that one. When did that happen? Apple can't be happy about that.

This is a good reason why Apple might want to use their own chip- so they aren't beholden to Intel's plans. And on the flipside, so their rivals can't just buy the same Intel chips and clone their devices. Look at how quickly the clones of the new Macbook arrived.
 
Mar 10, 2006
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Woah, I missed that one. When did that happen? Apple can't be happy about that.

This is a good reason why Apple might want to use their own chip- so they aren't beholden to Intel's plans. And on the flipside, so their rivals can't just buy the same Intel chips and clone their devices. Look at how quickly the clones of the new Macbook arrived.

Apple is probably the one that drove its cancellation. Remember, Iris Pro was basically the "Apple-SKU," but Apple ultimately ended up offering dGPUs anyway.

I think Apple's plan is to go with dGPUs for 15", 4C + GT3e for 13" rMBP, and then probably 2+GT3e for MacBook Air, if not straight up 2+GT2.
 

jpiniero

Lifer
Oct 1, 2010
14,510
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Apple is probably the one that drove its cancellation. Remember, Iris Pro was basically the "Apple-SKU," but Apple ultimately ended up offering dGPUs anyway.

The next 15" rMBP (that's going to be released soon) likely has Skylake Iris Pro still. It's the one after that Apple decided not to use it.