MacBook Pro with the M1 processor

[Clix Pix]

This is the current 21.5" machine that I'm betting will be replaced by a new 24" M1 iMac:

3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
256GB Storage
Retina 4K Display​

• 3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor
• 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory, configurable up to 32GB
• 256GB SSD storage¹
• Radeon Pro 555X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Retina 4K 4096-by-2304 P3 display

$1,299.00

It's the one in the middle just above the actual baseline one. This one offers the Retina 4K display, and I'm sure that would be featured with a new M1 machine.

Note the specs: 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, just two Thunderbolt 3 ports (no legacy USB-3 ports?) Retina display....... All Apple has to do is redesign the iMac so that the display is larger (trimming away the bezels) and doing something with the innards so that there is no longer the need for that "chin," stick in the M1 processor and that's it....

We won't see more advanced machines until Autumn, I'm pretty sure of it.

 

[Renzatic]

Which will become a big problem for many, as that door to put in your own memory is a distinct selling point for the 27.

With Apple's ram prices they are going to need one hell of a sales pitch to make up for that.

I know it borders on being a deal breaker for me.

That is the M1's greatest strength and weakness. The CPU having nigh instantaneous access to the RAM is one of the reasons why it's such a powerful and efficient chip, but it comes at the cost of not being able to upgrade later.

Though Apple's generally high resale value is a mitigating factor here.

 

[Renzatic]

This is the current 21.5" machine that I'm betting will be replaced by a new 24" M1 iMac:

3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor​

256GB Storage​

Retina 4K Display​

• 3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor
• 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory, configurable up to 32GB
• 256GB SSD storage¹
• Radeon Pro 555X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Retina 4K 4096-by-2304 P3 display

$1,299.00

I highly doubt any of the upcoming iMacs will have discrete 3rd party GPU. From here on out, I'm thinking it's all Apple silicon exclusively, with an eGPU option for those who need some extra power.

 

[Clix Pix]

It's been years now since I've replaced RAM in a machine -- last time I did it was back in my Windows days. Even though it costs more to purchase the RAM one thinks they'll need in the future, which is sometimes hard to anticipate if one is planning to keep a machine for many years, in the long run it is easier and simpler, even if it does feel like a real ouchie in the pocketbook at the time of making the purchase.

 

[Clix Pix]

I highly doubt any of the upcoming iMacs will have discrete 3rd party GPU. From here on out, I'm thinking it's all Apple silicon exclusively, with an eGPU option for those who need some extra power.

Right, I agree with that; there won't be a need for the discrete third-party GPU with the new Apple Silicon chip. The machine I'm typing on right now, the 15" 2018 MBP, has the Radeon Pro Vega 20, but I'd be very surprised if there would be such a thing included in the M1X machines, and certainly there isn't one included in the current M1 ones.

 

[Renzatic]

Right, I agree with that; there won't be a need for the discrete third-party GPU with the new Apple Silicon chip. The machine I'm typing on right now, the 15" 2018 MBP, has the Radeon Pro Vega 20, but I'd be very surprised if there would be such a thing included in the M1X machines, and certainly there isn't one included in the current M1 ones.

Gotcha. I misread you. Thought you were talking about the potential specs on the upcoming iMacs.

...which I should've caught with the whole "Core i3" bit, but, you know, these things happen.

 

[Clix Pix]

Here's the bottom-of-the-heap baseline iMac as it is currently being offered:

2.3GHz Dual-Core Processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz​

256GB Storage​

• 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
• Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
• 8GB 2133MHz memory, configurable to 16GB
• 256GB SSD storage¹
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• 1920-by-1080 sRGB display

$1,099.00

The primary differences between it and the one I posted in my earlier post are absence of retina screen and absence of discrete graphics. It makes sense that Apple would include the retina screen in the new M1 iMac, but not the discrete graphics.

The point here is that if Apple announces and releases a new iMac tomorrow that it will be, just as earlier they did with the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro machines, a pretty basic machine with just two Thunderbolt ports and the M1 processor as opposed to what we will see later in the autumn, much more powerful machines with M1X and four Thunderbolt ports, etc. That said, an M1 24" iMac will still be a huge improvement over the current lineup of base-level iMacs!

 

[Renzatic]

Here's the bottom-of-the-heap baseline iMac as it is currently being offered...

They're still offering 7th gen Intels at that price point? The two TB3 ports are pretty nice, but otherwise, it's a $300 machine in a $1000 package.

 

[DT]

Someone over at Blenderartists posted this yesterday. It's based upon the rumored designs of the upcoming iMacs.

In much the same way the old iMacs looked a bit like fat iPads with a chin on the front, these new iMacs will probably look quite a bit like the current iPad Pros.

Ha! There's Jay's Space Black

If they announce a AS iMac with higher specs I would be so tempted to get one. I'm kind of holding out for that rumored Mac Pro Mini. I would buy the shit out of a Mac Pro Mini.

Yeah, me too. Well, heck I don't even need a "Pro" model, just the same FF with a 32GB RAM option, and a 12/16 CPU/GPU setup, 4 ports, but I do like the idea of making it a cube, maybe adding an NVME socket (to supplement the internal storage with a BYO).

That won't happen with any of the M1 machines, since the RAM is entwined within the processor itself.

edit: though there have been reports of people upgrading their RAM in the current M1 laptops. Thing is, you have to have an exceedingly steady hand, nigh superhuman soldering skills, and enough disposable income to write off the 50% chance you have of ruining your machine.

It's part of the package, but still an isolated set of chips, so I think they could provide an external-to-the-SOC 128bit bus and sockets, though it's also fairly high performance RAM (I believe I recall ~68GB/s), LPDDR4X, so it's not cheap even if you source your own.

 

[DT]

I highly doubt any of the upcoming iMacs will have discrete 3rd party GPU. From here on out, I'm thinking it's all Apple silicon exclusively, with an eGPU option for those who need some extra power.

The M1 GPU is pretty decent, I see it falls between a GTX-1050 Ti and a GTX-1660 Ti, looks like it's ~17% faster than a Pro Vega 20, I figure if that performance was nearly doubled that's getting pretty stout. And certainly vs. the existing Mini, it's like a zillion times faster, without the hassle of an eGPU ...

 

[User.45]

The M1 GPU is pretty decent, I see it falls between a GTX-1050 Ti and a GTX-1660 Ti, looks like it's ~17% faster than a Pro Vega 20, I figure if that performance was nearly doubled that's getting pretty stout. And certainly vs. the existing Mini, it's like a zillion times faster, without the hassle of an eGPU ...

eGPUs are disappointing with BigSur requiring you to quit everything when you disconnect it.

 

[Renzatic]

The M1 GPU is pretty decent, I see it falls between a GTX-1050 Ti and a GTX-1660 Ti, looks like it's ~17% faster than a Pro Vega 20, I figure if that performance was nearly doubled that's getting pretty stout. And certainly vs. the existing Mini, it's like a zillion times faster, without the hassle of an eGPU ...

It's a solid performer, and I'll imagine it'll be even better in the iMacs, where heat and power drain aren't so much of an issue, but there are always people who need more GPU power. Like, for instance, 3D renderers, or anything that leverages CUDA/OpenCL for a GPGPU speed boost.

I'll say this much, for a 10w processor, the M1's performance is absolutely obscene. If it can scale well, it'll be a monster of a chip.

 

[Yoused]

Someone over at Blenderartists posted this yesterday. It's based upon the rumored designs of the upcoming iMacs.

In much the same way the old iMacs looked a bit like fat iPads with a chin on the front, these new iMacs will probably look quite a bit like the current iPad Pros.

View attachment 4588

I mean, eww. Those are not at all appealing.

I could see a touch-screen iMac, but maybe not on the base model. It would be awesome if Apple would produce a screen-overlay plate that could allow a touchscreen option on iMac and ~books, but that would have to be next year (if it is not already in the pipe). And of course that is way too many ports. They will not be including SD, at the very least.



As to memory, it goes

register->L1->L2(shared)->RAM(SoC)->Flash->externalStorage->networks

As I see it, there is a space between SoC-RAM and Flash where you could put in a block of RAM that would be a lot faster than Flash while not as fast as embedded RAM and not GPU-accessible. It could be a sort of storage ultra-cache, a swap space that does now leave toothmarks in the SSD. There could be a memory slot in the iMac. Probably not this one, though.

 

[SuperMatt]

I wish they would bring this one back:

 

[Renzatic]

It's part of the package, but still an isolated set of chips, so I think they could provide an external-to-the-SOC 128bit bus and sockets, though it's also fairly high performance RAM (I believe I recall ~68GB/s), LPDDR4X, so it's not cheap even if you source your own.

I don't really know enough about it to offer up a comment, to be honest.

On a random semi-uneducated guess, I'd say it's technically possible to have swappable ram without sacrificing any speed, though it'd probably require something specific and/or proprietary to achieve. The real question is whether Apple allow it or not.

...and I think we all know the answer to that, given Apple's love of putting the thumbscrews to people who want more than baseline memory.

 

[thekev]

eGPUs are disappointing with BigSur requiring you to quit everything when you disconnect it.

it's mostly that gpus don't expect to be hot plugged, and their drivers weren't written for it. I said at the very beginning (long ago in a galaxy far away..) that I wouldn't expect much until we see a native box + card solution. Even those didn't turn out so great.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Someone over at Blenderartists posted this yesterday. It's based upon the rumored designs of the upcoming iMacs.

In much the same way the old iMacs looked a bit like fat iPads with a chin on the front, these new iMacs will probably look quite a bit like the current iPad Pros.

View attachment 4588

I actually like these. Apparently it’s an unpopular opinion lol

 

[Renzatic]

I actually like these. Apparently it’s an unpopular opinion lol

I think they're pretty alright. Though I am glad they finally got rid of the rose gold color. Or as I liked to call it: smokers white.

 

[Renzatic]

I could see a touch-screen iMac, but maybe not on the base model.

I doubt we'll ever seen a touchscreen Mac, not while Apple's selling a big iPad that can be sidecar'd to it.

 

[User.45]

it's mostly that gpus don't expect to be hot plugged, and their drivers weren't written for it. I said at the very beginning (long ago in a galaxy far away..) that I wouldn't expect much until we see a native box + card solution. Even those didn't turn out so great.

You're right, but my grief is that under Mojave I could hot plug without an essential soft reset through all software getting closed. It did have some kernel panics tho...