Apple Confirms Their Future Desktops + Laptops Will Use In-House CPUs

[starshipeleven]

What worries me a lot more than the switch to ARM CPUs is the direction of macOS. I can see benefits, of course, like potentially converging uses of phone and so on. However, my guess is that OpenGL will finally be removed for those new ARM-devices (as in: No driver, not even a bad one). That is something that would hinder my work since I rely on ParaView and to my knowledge, there is no Vulkan-on-Metal or Metal version yet. And even though I personally do not use it, the OpenCL situation is similar. Another cornerstone of compatibility of scientific software is toolkit support. With the focus on Catalyst and the redesign, it remains to be seen whether this support will remain intact. From my point of view, those are the real issues.

The main point that should scare people is that they are closing the ecosystem ala iOS.

MacOS is still more or less open, you can download and install whatever from the internet, just like with Windows.

With these devices I'm strongly suspecting the only accepted (or available) source for applications will be the store, where they can and will control what is available.

[kpedersen]

This is wrong. Apple laptops and "desktops" are far, far from being relevant in their revenue.

I can certainly see that. I think the one thing that is keeping the Apple desktop / laptop market limping along is the fact that Apple refuses to allow proper iOS development on alternative platforms.

That said, if you go into a University and look at what the students have, it is still very much Apple Macbooks for anything that isn't business, science or engineering.

[GruenSein]

The main point that should scare people is that they are closing the ecosystem ala iOS.

MacOS is still more or less open, you can download and install whatever from the internet, just like with Windows.

With these devices I'm strongly suspecting the only accepted (or available) source for applications will be the store, where they can and will control what is available.

That is a concern. However, AFAIK there is no evidence to support this assumption in the WWDC presentation. I am torn on this issue. They might like to do that but if that really happens to the Mac, they effectively kill the professional and semi-professional market. Those things come with a subscription model . Not to mention things like steam. I am not sure if they will do that.

[starshipeleven]

That said, if you go into a University and look at what the students have, it is still very much Apple Macbooks for anything that isn't business, science or engineering.

that's... more or less all degrees worth getting, what others there are after the ones you mention?

Political stuff, Art and women/racial studies (aka sjw's degrees)? Music? Are there degrees for music?
Does people even need a degree to be an artist or a musician or a politician?
Should we care if these less-important people are also wasting money on a MacBook?

[GruenSein]

that's... more or less all degrees worth getting, what others there are after the ones you mention?

Political stuff, Art and women/racial studies (aka sjw's degrees)? Music? Are there degrees for music?
Does people even need a degree to be an artist or a musician or a politician?
Should we care if these less-important people are also wasting money on a MacBook?

We are getting off topic here but.. WOW... That is some serious ignorance right there.

[starshipeleven]

They might like to do that but if that really happens to the Mac, they effectively kill the professional and semi-professional market.
Not to mention things like steam. I am not sure if they will do that.

Apple gets 30% share of all transactions from the store (either from apps or in-app purchases). They have a strong incentive to go this route, and moving to ARM is a good "cover" for this disruption.

Maybe they will let people that pay them some businness fee (i.e. many hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year) to be able to install applications from outside the store or something.

[omer666]

My 2001 Clamshell iBook is not impressed. At the time, you could do so many things with a 350Mhz PowerPC!
Walled garden it is, and one more reason for Valve to push Linux gaming forward.

[starshipeleven]

We are getting off topic here but.. WOW... That is some serious ignorance right there.

Please note, I'm just saying that artists, musicians and politicians/activists are less important than people in business, science or engineering, and this is more or less a fact, regardless of the "feel good" narrative that all men are equal.

We can literally lose half the artists/musicians/politicians tomorrow and the world will still be fine, lose half the people in business, science or engineering... that's an extinction event.

[skeevy420]

that's... more or less all degrees worth getting, what others there are after the ones you mention?

Political stuff, Art and women/racial studies (aka sjw's degrees)? Music? Are there degrees for music?
Does people even need a degree to be an artist or a musician or a politician?
Should we care if these less-important people are also wasting money on a MacBook?

Of course there aren't music degrees. They just find a random person and tell them to teach these kids and bam, high school marching band.

But, no, you don't technically need a degree to be an artist, musician, or politician. I'd reckon the artist and musician have the easier time of getting a job w/o a degree over a politician. Just saying that it's easier for a guitarist or painter to show examples of their skill over a no-term politician who can only say crap like "Well, I was the high school student president so that means I'd make a great comptroller".

[skeevy420]

Apple gets 30% share of all transactions from the store (either from apps or in-app purchases). They have a strong incentive to go this route, and moving to ARM is a good "cover" for this disruption.

Maybe they will let people that pay them some businness fee (i.e. many hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year) to be able to install applications from outside the store or something.

That's why some programs are trying to get around that by using their app to link to a web site that has the service offered, especially streaming services, but email clients and others are trying to use that loophole too. The problem is that loophole technically isn't allowed, but since Apple selectively enforces that rule that email client they're banning from the Apple Store with that rule has a decent chance of suing Apple and winning because of how many high-profile apps Apple allows to operate in that manner.