• Semy-D@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Is there a real life scenario where the m3 pro is worth the crazy price tag? What can you do on it that wouldnt work on a 1000€ m1 air for example?

    • Lower_Fan@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      nothing but be fancy. you’ll get a better screen, better speaker and more battery life. but that’s up to you if it’s worth 600

    • casuallylurking@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      I was working for a company a few years ago doing full stack development (React UI, Java based micro services, SQL database). I typically had 4 Docker containers running (3 servlet containers and a PostgreSQL server) and 3 instances of IntelliJ in debug mode for the micro services and WebPack development server to run/debug the UI. I was running Windows 10 on a HP business-class machine: one generation from latest i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and was often memory constrained where I had to close something down. The Product Manager wanted more day-to-day testing done on Safari, and so they asked for a volunteer to switch to a Mac for development. I would much rather use Mac OS than Windows, so I jumped at the chance. I was heartbroken when the new machine arrived: base MacBook Pro 13": 2 generation old i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, and told my team lead it was going to be ugly, and it probably was going to really slow me down but I would give it a try. I was using exactly the same development tools as the Windows team, except substituting Safari for Chrome as my development browser. To my amazement, I was able to work exactly as I had been on the HP box with all the open processes, and performance was at least as good as it was under Windows. So Reddit has been snickering about Apple’s claim that 8GB is as good as 16GB for the past couple of days, but in my experience Mac OS is much better at memory management than Windows. I wouldn’t go as far as saying 8 GB = 16GB in all use cases, but it seemed to be in mine.

  • PicnicBasketPirate@alien.topB
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    11 months ago

    Depends on the programs your using.

    These new macbook seem to be pretty good but in my line of work (professional 3d CAD), if you handed me a top of the range macbook I’d use it to spec up a useful laptop with said intel or amd hardware, wait for it to be delivered, configure it to my desires and probably still come out ahead in my workload by the end of the month.

    • w1n5t0nM1k3y@alien.topB
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      11 months ago

      Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. The new MacBooks look amazing, but they definitely don’t fit everyone’s requirements.

    • Brunonen@alien.topB
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      11 months ago

      Yeha MACs are still lacking for 3D work. In that category they’re still way behind.

      • JiveTalkerFunkyWalkr@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        I thought the new m3 macs have a ray racing chip that fixes their 3d performance gap. Is that true? I can’t remember where I heard it.

        • PicnicBasketPirate@alien.topB
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          10 months ago

          Apple hardware is more than up to the task (so long as you spec enough ram)

          The issue is the software. There is no natively supported professional 3d CAD software. Everything has to be run through parallels which ads so much overhead that you might as well be using a decade old windows machine

      • danidr@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        3D CAD, yes. But Blender runs amazingly well, and rendering engines have started supporting the Apple Silicon architecture. It’s so powerful for the power it consumes, it’s crazy.

    • danidr@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Yes, but in that case, you can’t really blame Apple, at least not directly. There is basically no serious CAD software for Mac, and while that comes from the bad legacy the Mac had for office-related tasks, their current hardware can DEFINITELY flawlessly run a hypothetical 3D CAD such as SolidWorks. If there was one for Mac, that is.

      • PicnicBasketPirate@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        I don’t disagree but nevertheless that is the situation.

        Its like buying a Alfa Romeo SUV for tackling a 4x4 trail. It can probably do it but it’s going to cost you compared to a Land Cruiser that will do it quicker, faster, cheaper, and more comfortably.

  • savage_apples@alien.topB
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    11 months ago

    They’re incredible. I love my M2… until I need to work within a windows environment… then it seems I’m SOL unless I wanna come up with $40/month for windows 365. Or remote a tower via VM. It’s too bad a lot of software just won’t work on an ARM… yet.

    • bradland@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      I run Windows on my Apple Silicon Macs without a Windows 365 subscription. With Parallels, you don’t even need to bother with a Windows Insider account. Parallels just downloads Windows 11 ARM edition and installs it.

    • johnjmcmillion@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Is Parallels a no-go? I am literally one paycheck away from buying a M3 MBP but if Parallels is nonfunctional on Apple silicon I have to reconsider.

      • Tewan@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        I’m using Parallels in a M2 MBP. There are some limitations (DirectX being a big one) but I’m running x64 software using Windows on ARM emulation in Windows 11 which I didn’t expect to be able to do.

      • mikewilkinsjr@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        Parallels works great. VMWare launched a version of Fusion recently that works well (and has an easy install similar to Parallels for Windows ARM).

      • crlogic@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        Parallels works but only with Windows 11 ARM. Which means no 64bit x86 programs. 32bit ones however can run on ARM

      • bradland@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        I run Windows 11 under Parallels in an M1 Mac Studio all day every day. I run primarily Microsoft Office with it and Chrome. No issues.

    • mikewilkinsjr@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      The newest version of VMWare Fusion not only supports Windows on ARM but has streamlined the installation (as long as you have a valid Windows license).

    • casuallylurking@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      I got my M3 Pro yesterday. Gotta hand it to Apple with their Migration Assistant: I sat the new machine next to my M1 MBP, started the migration, and after 3-4 hours it coped everything (about 880GB) except for the authorization of the credit cards in my Apple Wallet. Logging into the new machine this morning, it was just like I left the old one: browser tabs still open, all the Terminal windows in their correct directories, etc. They really could not make it any easier to switch to a new machine.

      • Interdimension@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        That’s one of the most underrated pros of the Apple ecosystem: the ease of migration to new machines. Apple has made it incredibly easy to just make a mirror copy of your old machine into the new one. It even copies currently open browser tabs on iOS and iPadOS! For most people who aren’t looking for too closely, a newly setup Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch is almost indistinguishable from their old one because of how close of a carbon copy it is.

        I have multiple Windows machines and keep Google Pixels on me just for variety/testing. The migration process isn’t as streamlined or good. It’s actually annoying and ends up being something I have to be concerned about when I get a new machine.

        But for Apple devices? Migrating to a new phone isn’t something I even remotely worry about.

  • AnotherSoftEng@alien.topB
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    11 months ago

    Regardless of your thoughts on Apple, it’s crazy to think how quickly they’ve managed to jump in performance after switching to their own chips.

    When I first heard they were switching from dedicated chip manufacturers, I remember thinking, “oh boy” lol. To say that I had my doubts would be an understatement. But watching all this happen in real time has been wild to behold.

    • BornPotato5857@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      apple were designing their own soc in house since the iphone 4, and they were consistently beating their android counterparts for years in both performance and battery life. it was only a matter of time until they started doing the same with their macs and succeed in that segment too.

      • cujobob@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        The issue was mostly getting the software to be compatible with the different chipset as instructions are totally different.

    • NotAnotherNekopan@alien.topB
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      11 months ago

      I agree. I’ve just sold my x86 laptop to switch to Mac and M3.

      I remember hearing about M1 and thinking how that would tank performance metrics, screw over professional users, other misc doom and gloom. However the real world performance articles started coming out and I shifted my opinion on that really quickly.

      The battery life metrics alone are stunning. I’ve come to realize how desensitized I’ve become to lugging around a mobile Xeon processor and how hot it gets (and 5 hour battery if I’m lucky), but it’s a far better idea for me to offload the tasks that do require that architecture and power to a server and have a clean and light laptop. It’s an extreme example but my work laptop, also x86, isn’t really that much better despite being marketed as far more portable.

      • Integrity32@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        My M1 lasts damn near all day unless I’m rendering. It chews through tasks about as fast as a full desktop, but it’s a fucking laptop. And it’s dead silent.

        A comparable device from intel or AMD is twice as thick, and filled with bloat ware.

    • fairlyoblivious@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      It’s not crazy at all, TSMC makes their chips just like TSMC makes your nvidia chips, your AMD chips, and even your Intel GPU chips. Why would it surprise anyone that they can make decent chips for literally any company that pays them to? Honestly Apple would have had to fuck up SEVERELY to have their chips made by TSMC on the 5nm process and NOT perform decently.

      • Bran_Solo@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        TSMC is a manufacturer only, they do not have a role in the design of the chips.

    • p3dal@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      It’s bizarre to me that they’ve gone full circle in like 10 years. May last PowerBook had a powerPC chip in it.

  • Green-Salmon@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    As a gamer I just can’t make that jump. Right now my x86 laptop can run Alan wake 2 and anything else i throw at it. With current gen consoles also being x86, hopefully i won’t have to switch to an arm processor anytime soon.