Apple, the M1 Chip and Adobe CC

Just a word of warning, Apple will soon be selling (11/17/20) it’s Macbook Air, 13" Macbook pro, and the Mac Mini with their new M1 chip. These are replacing the Intel chip with one made by Apple.

This is an iOS chip that does NOT run Intel software natively. It is using Rosetta to emulate and may or may not run as well or reliably. So basically, with a new machine, until your software gets updated, you quite possible could be nuked if Rosetta has issues.

Adobe is saying they will have Lightroom available natively for the new M1 on release, but it looks like the rest of the suite will be a year in the (re)making.

Also, Mac OS 11 Big Sur is a large update that caters to this new chip. It can still be installed on Intel units, but the functionality of the iOS app usage won’t be available to non-M1 machines.

Guess I didn’t get to retire fast enough…groan.

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Not to mention the connectivity ports on all of those is reduced to 2, yes only 2, Thunderbolt ports (and a headphone jack.) While the Mac Mini still has HDMI, USB-A and audio ports the other two do not. And I don’t need a touch bar. I need F keys…

Reports out the gate on these M1 chips on benchmarking is that they are a lot faster than other macs, even 2016 Mac Book Pro running an i9. Took some digging, and the i9 in those processors is i9-9880H or HK.

Just because it is i9 it doesn’t give it superpowers, it’s equivalent to the i7-10850H in many ways.

But for Mac users it’s a serious upgrade.

I still think Macs are a waste of money. I haven’t seen anybody compare the M1 chip in a benchmark test against an Intel or AMD top of their range. So it remains to be seen.

But back to the the OP - yes, it’s never really a good idea to jump head first into new hardware/software without it being tested and confirmed compatible.

Apple have made a song and dance about the new M1 chips and now Apple-ites are out buying new hardware with idea how it will impact them.

There is very little to observe on the specs of the M1 chip, as usual, Apple playing hard to get with any hard stats.

I knew Apple was moving some of their machines to the new processor, but not being in the market for a new Mac, I hadn’t thought much about it. However, emulation to me suggests a performance hit and a likely source of various incompatibilities. This sounds messy and a little like a return to the old Motorola-IBM RISC PowerPC processors days. They obviously know more than I do, though.

As for the reduced number of ports, agghhhh! I’m assuming Apple has decided that an external docking station has become essential, so why build the ports into the machine.

This is Apples way forward of saving money, and charging more!
They did the same with the iPhone, no charger included (although I believe the cable was).

You have to buy a charger separately. I know they say everyone has a charging plug already, so it’s a waste. But if you’re new to Apple and buy a phone, you can’t charge without buying the plug separate.

I guess the ports thing is they want everything to be wireless instead of plugging in and out devices…

Who knows. Apple also designed a mouse that can’t be used when charging as the port is the belly of the device.

I’ve seen this all over the net and not having much to do with Apple, I didn’t get it.

Now I do :wink:

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THIS, yes! There was nothing wrong with the current standard keyboard format, so lame. I rarely use my touch bar and when I do it’s for volume and screen brightness, which was already in the F keys…

I was reading around and the claims that the machine is faster even with emulation hasn’t been stating against what, exactly.

I was nearly ready to drop cash on a new macbook for home use. Was waiting for this new tech to drop. Now might have to reconsider for a mac mini unless they can convince me that ALL of my current peripherals will run off 1 thunderbolt port. Since the other has to be connected for power, that means a docking station with a whole bunch of stuff connected to it, including an external monitor and a wired ethernet connection. Driving all that data through one port bus? I dunno…
But I’ve gotten so used to taking the laptop out on the patio though… maybe it’s time for a PC.

I’ve never bought or relied on apple.

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I have. Since my very first Apple II-plus.
I know them pretty much inside and out (though less so with my laptop, can’t get the cover off…LOL)
The PCs I use are far from “reliable.”

I dont know why. Pcs for me over the last twenty five years have been far more reliable. Macs have been a pain in my butt years.

Same parts. Same Manufacturers. Tripple the price.

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Not gonna argue. Don’t care that much either way. They both suck when they break. In fact all tech sucks when it breaks.

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Here you go;
CPU performance comparison

GPU performance comparison

This is a completely new chip, the first ever with 5 nanometer build and 15 billion transistors.

Yes I’m quoting from the Apple website and yes, I use/prefer Macs but this is a real game changer. Ignore it at your peril, because you can bet Adobe will be updating the Creative Suite optimised to run on this chip.

Those graphs show absolutely nothing. What latest PC Laptop Chip? Which one???
What speed are they going?

It’s actually 16 billion transistors - but there are Intel/AMD chips with more transistors than that.

Again - it’s meaningless drivel from Apple.

It’s only a game changer if you are a sucker for Apple. There are better processors than the M1.

And there’ll be better ones when Intel and AMD release their new range anyway.

It’s so much money for Apple Products - and I can’t justify it.

I put one together on Apple site for a £4500!

I put the same All in One PC WITH a superior graphics card - exact same specs.
And it was a 34inch curved screen too.

Exact same specs - £2000.

M1 chip is nice. I have no need or desire to work on a 13 inch screen, portability is not for me. If it is for some people it’s a great choice as there are no there processors of similar calibre in a 13 inch.

But you can certainly do much better specs for your money in the 15-17 inch range of laptop.

As I said the new chips from Intel and AMD are coming. The new Intel Iris XE looks like a game-changer too.

AMD chips are overtaking Intel chips at some levels.

It makes for an interesting battle of processors.

But I won’t be buying Mac - or any Apple product.

Fact as well is the M1 chip is limited to 16gb is a huge NO for me.

And the hard drive is too small - to upgrade to the 2TB storage is £600?
No thanks.

I’d rather have a cheaper computer that does everything I want - really strong graphics card - all the RAM I want/need - all the storage I want/need and a better processor than the M1 - and a larger screen.

It’s a resounding no from me.

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I know for a fact they are. It’s been announced already.
And why wouldn’t they? I’d say a lot of designers/prints stuidos/ etc. throughout the world are running Macs.

It makes sense for them to run on the M1 architecture natively.

What does it mean for everyone else? Nothing really.

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I’d argue that PC’s are slowly becoming the default for Designers.

I’m not gonna argue. I don’t care what computer you use, like, or hate.

Except for the fact that Adobe is not up to speed on this chip yet and if you buy one of these computers right now, you will be running in Rosetta emulator mode.

There is always something better, faster, stronger the minute you buy a new unit. I’ve given up playing that game too. I get my money’s worth after 4-5 years. Anything beyond that makes me happy. Unfortunately my home laptop is pushing 10.

No preference either. I’ve a laptop and an iMac side by side here.

The iMac unfortunately is needed as some fonts won’t work on the PC. That’s the only reason. And I can’t substitute the fonts because the packaging is regulated by the industry and any deviation, even font version numbers, throws rejections back.

But like PD - I’ve given up with the buying all newest tech.
The tech I have works perfectly fine, and I don’t care if something is computed in a trillionth or a billionth of a nanosecond, or if it has 16bn transistors compared to 14bn.

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They require the use of 25-year-old Type 1 Macintosh fonts? Weird. What kind of industry is this?

Sounds like pharma or governmental (emphasis on mental.)
Has to be that there typeface approved “as is” No substitutions.

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