121 replies to this topic

[UmarOMC1]

Apple Plans to Announce Move to Its Own Chips at WWDC

Apple Inc. is preparing to announce a shift to its own main processors in Mac computers, replacing chips from Intel Corp., as early as this month at its annual developer conference, according to people familiar with the plans.
The company is holding WWDC the week of June 22. Unveiling the initiative, codenamed Kalamata, at the event would give outside developers time to adjust before new Macs roll out in 2021, the people said. Since the hardware transition is still months away, the timing of the announcement could change, they added, while asking not to be identified discussing private plans.
The new processors will be based on the same technology used in Apple-designed iPhone and iPad chips…

[Thain Esh Kelch]

ARM Mac Mini, here I come. ....If there's a good emulation layer.

[UmarOMC1]

Long Live Rosetta!

[Spike]

Well now I can buy those Windows games I have been wanting since I will be switching. Still playing WoW classic and I went ahead and installed it in bootcamp and Nice - it runs significantly faster and looks better in Windows.

[Matt Diamond]

I will admit that in the last 2 years I've found fewer and fewer reasons to run Windows in a VM, either at home or at work. So maybe this isn't quite the deal breaker I have been saying it is. But it seems very risky to me. It will be interesting to see Apple try to sell everyone on yet another transition. The benefits for the consumer had better be huge.

[the Battle Cat]

It looks like we may be looking at another software purge with beloved games and apps that only run on legacy systems.

 purge.jpg   811.81K   21 downloads


At least it will be a change from Festival, though I'll miss the looting, burning and raping.

 festival.jpg   78.33K   21 downloads


Thank you 2020.  May I have another?

 2020.jpg   129.94K   15 downloads

[Tetsuya]

This is likely the end of me and Apple, TBH.

Borked software backwards compatability, bad UX decisions (seriously, the Music app gets worse with every update), etc...

Not worth it.

[UmarOMC1]

Tetsuya, on 12 June 2020 - 01:19 AM, said:

This is likely the end of me and Apple, TBH.

Borked software backwards compatability, bad UX decisions (seriously, the Music app gets worse with every update), etc...

Not worth it.

I'm writing this from Manjaro Linux, downloading BioShock: Infinite (because it doesn't work in Catalina), after a fairly easy setup on a secondary HDD in my Hackintosh...right now I feel like if I didn't need files that are on that MacPro I'd be setting up an eBay auction for it already. I've a lot of tinkering to do but this isn't the headache I remember having when I was trying out YellowDog Linux/PPC

[Matt Diamond]

I don't think I'd leave Apple entirely-- the idea of running Windows at home (and making my wife learn it) gives me shudders. But if I bought a new Mac it would be a low end one just for household tasks like Quicken and taxes.

A more interesting question is whether I'll have to give up using a Mac laptop for work.

[Ichigo27]

UmarOMC1, on 12 June 2020 - 02:19 AM, said:

I'm writing this from Manjaro Linux, downloading BioShock: Infinite (because it doesn't work in Catalina), after a fairly easy setup on a secondary HDD in my Hackintosh...right now I feel like if I didn't need files that are on that MacPro I'd be setting up an eBay auction for it already. I've a lot of tinkering to do but this isn't the headache I remember having when I was trying out YellowDog Linux/PPC

Got a opinion on PopOS? What about experimenting with game engines like unity3d or godot? If I had 1,300 dollars burning in my pocket would you recommend a thelio from system76?

[UmarOMC1]

For that money I'd prefer building my own system, if you want to get something and start using it out of the box those system76 boxes look like a great option. An in-between option might be to buy a pre-built PC and be ready with a Linux USB installer.

[Ichigo27]

UmarOMC1, on 12 June 2020 - 09:16 PM, said:

For that money I'd prefer building my own system, if you want to get something and start using it out of the box those system76 boxes look like a great option.

They charge less when you select a AMD Ryzen 3200G(assuming that means theirs integrated Vega8 graphics), my issue is the DDR4 Ram only including 8 gigs, and the harddrive is only 120 GB for $899 excluding shipping and handling plus the Radeon 550 only has 2 GBs of Vram. The base model Thelio does not look like it takes up tons of space.


Plus I was wondering if there would be a huge difference in how a engine like unity 2019 or prior version would be stable enough to run on PopOS compared to OS X, putting aside playing games in the Steam Proton realm. If I were to use a debian linux destro, I would like to try to experiment making games with unity 2019, but not sure if it would be less of a headache even on a ubuntu based OS like Pop.

I am aware that the game engine Godot doesn't require a full install regardless if its Windows or MacOS .

Again, if I bought a linux computer tomorrow, I want one that reduces the amount of time to set up using audio programs that have decent samples like garageband, but freeware applications like blender3d, gimp or Krita so don't know if theirs a huge difference between arch and ubuntu base distros.

[mattw]

Matt Diamond, on 12 June 2020 - 12:07 PM, said:

I don't think I'd leave Apple entirely-- the idea of running Windows at home (and making my wife learn it) gives me shudders. But if I bought a new Mac it would be a low end one just for household tasks like Quicken and taxes.

A more interesting question is whether I'll have to give up using a Mac laptop for work.

Unless Apple surprise me before I'm forced to move I'm thinking the same.

I was thinking reduced GPU power was going to be an issue with a Mac Mini or cheaper 27" iMac (I do like the idea of a crisp Retina display) but I'm going to struggle to run my old Mac games on a new 64-bit only Mac anyway so likely would have to keep an old one around somewhere rather than sell it on. A gaming PC could likely take over for modern games and video encodes - maybe a headless one in a cupboard if Steam in home streaming works well. Just don't think I could be happy with Windows for the day to day tasks.

[nick68k]

Tetsuya, on 12 June 2020 - 01:19 AM, said:

This is likely the end of me and Apple, TBH.

Borked software backwards compatability, bad UX decisions (seriously, the Music app gets worse with every update), etc...

Not worth it.

Yeah I have a lot of sympathy here.

To borrow a metaphor, I don't want a Ferrari. I just want a truck. I'm getting old, I have a job to do, and I just want my software to work.

(And relatedly, who thinks that the new TV app UI is in any way better than iTunes? So much wasted white space and missing content.)

[macdude22]

Can't wait for the reRISC order. Won't miss any of you windows doofuses. TALKING ABOUT YOU THE BATTLE CAT ESPECIALLY.

[jeannot]

Great. The new ARM Macs will start with about zero game (not counting Apple arcade).
At least the intel transition compensated with boot camp, and the fact that most games were coded for x86 (remember that games consoles have x86 CPUs).

This is not looking good at all for the future of Mac gaming. You can expect even fewer games with big performance penalties.
This may be why Feral doesn't appear too keen on porting games to the Mac these days. They're moving to the Switch.

Thain Esh Kelch, on 10 June 2020 - 12:11 AM, said:

ARM Mac Mini, here I come. ....If there's a good emulation layer.

For games? You can forget about it. Cider and Crossover were no very good, even though they didn't have to emulate anything. They mostly have to translate directX calls to openGL.
Now we're talking about emulating an x86 CPU on ARM + translating GPU calls. This is not going to work well.
This would work better for a Metal game that has not been ported to ARM, but I don't expect good performance.

[UmarOMC1]

Ichigo27, on 12 June 2020 - 10:47 PM, said:

They charge less when you select a AMD Ryzen 3200G(assuming that means theirs integrated Vega8 graphics), my issue is the DDR4 Ram only including 8 gigs, and the harddrive is only 120 GB for $899 excluding shipping and handling plus the Radeon 550 only has 2 GBs of Vram. The base model Thelio does not look like it takes up tons of space.


Plus I was wondering if there would be a huge difference in how a engine like unity 2019 or prior version would be stable enough to run on PopOS compared to OS X, putting aside playing games in the Steam Proton realm. If I were to use a debian linux destro, I would like to try to experiment making games with unity 2019, but not sure if it would be less of a headache even on a ubuntu based OS like Pop.

I am aware that the game engine Godot doesn't require a full install regardless if its Windows or MacOS .

Again, if I bought a linux computer tomorrow, I want one that reduces the amount of time to set up using audio programs that have decent samples like garageband, but freeware applications like blender3d, gimp or Krita so don't know if theirs a huge difference between arch and ubuntu base distros.

Unless you need the system today (ASAP), I'd create a virtual build list on PC Part Picker and wait for sales on the parts. The only down side I felt with the system76 shopping experience was that it was reminiscent of shopping on Apple's online store, albeit not nearly as egregious. system76 have nice cases, not as nice as Apple's, but I think you'd want more bang for your buck, not a Ferrari body and Yugo engine. For audio, have you looked into LMMS?

As far as distros, you're never going to hear the end of it when it comes to someone's opinion. I suggest watching a lot of related YouTube videos and steer clear of distros that are only recommended for the sadomasochists.



Off topic; I just realized I can finally finish Shadow Warrior! BBL

[Thain Esh Kelch]

jeannot, on 14 June 2020 - 01:53 AM, said:

For games? You can forget about it. Cider and Crossover were no very good, even though they didn't have to emulate anything. They mostly have to translate directX calls to openGL.
Now we're talking about emulating an x86 CPU on ARM + translating GPU calls. This is not going to work well.
This would work better for a Metal game that has not been ported to ARM, but I don't expect good performance.

I would have loved to use it for gaming, but realistically, only for work and the occasional Blu-ray rip. This may force me to build a gaming PC on the side, but that is just something I would have to live with.

[Janichsan]

jeannot, on 14 June 2020 - 01:53 AM, said:

This is not looking good at all for the future of Mac gaming. You can expect even fewer games with big performance penalties.
This may be why Feral doesn't appear too keen on porting games to the Mac these days. They're moving to the Switch.

I wouldn't necessarily say that I fully expect Feral to move to greener pastures in every case when Apple switches to ARM, but I also would not be surprised.

Apple has done a lot to make their work more difficult in the last couple of years, from adopting a proprietary graphics API, to dropping support for all 32-bit applications. A complete platform switch making yet another round of re-porting their back catalog necessary could be the final straw breaking the camel's back.

[Atticus]

Personally, I welcome the ARM transition. Intel is a pain in the ass and is holding Apple back. Switching to in-house processors will mean more-powerful and efficient Macs that might actually be released on a regular basis. I gave up on Mac gaming back in 2006 and built a PC. Haven't looked back. :-) Windows? I use that on my work laptop...for work. For everything else I have a 2014 Mini that does fine.

But I know everyone's situation is different, and for those who rely on Macs/MacOS for work, maybe it will be rough transition. Who knows? I'm just some moran.

HERE YOU GO