SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the witty-connection-between-chips,-fries,-and-[Big]-Macs dept.
Apple, which makes its own ARM SoCs for its mobile products such as iPhones and iPads, is planning to include ARM chips in Mac laptops alongside Intel CPUs. The ARM chips will handle various tasks during power conservation modes:
Apple Inc. is designing a new chip for future Mac laptops that would take on more of the functionality currently handled by Intel Corp. processors, according to people familiar with the matter. The chip, which went into development last year, is similar to one already used in the latest MacBook Pro to power the keyboard's Touch Bar feature, the people said. The updated part, internally codenamed T310, would handle some of the computer's low-power mode functionality, they said. The people asked not to be identified talking about private product development. It's built using ARM Holdings Plc. technology and will work alongside an Intel processor.
Although Apple only accounted for 7.5 percent of worldwide computer shipments in the fourth quarter, according to data from IDC, the Mac line has long set the standard for design and component improvements. Its feature additions often start new technology trends that other manufacturers rush to follow. Apple and Intel declined to comment. [...] Apple engineers are planning to offload the Mac's low-power mode, a feature marketed as "Power Nap," to the next-generation ARM-based chip. This function allows Mac laptops to retrieve e-mails, install software updates, and synchronize calendar appointments with the display shut and not in use. The feature currently uses little battery life while run on the Intel chip, but the move to ARM would conserve even more power, according to one of the people.
Do you think we will see Dell, Acer, ASUS, et al. produce mainstream dual-processor laptops? How about big.LITTLE clusters in Chromebooks?
Also at Ars Technica, TechCrunch, and Computerworld.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Friday February 03 2017, @05:13PM
I guess it would depend on the ARM chip. Given the magic they already do in a Hackintosh build, it would be hilarious to see that backfire and someone find a way to get OSX running on every $150 walmart chromebook. I might be giving them too much credit, but they'd probably want to maintain their ability to install Windows, as that's a core need of every dev I know that has a Mac. I guess if not though, then that's just yet another reason why Apple is going to go down the tubes.
Pity, because the number of sane UIs out there is already getting to be slim pickings enough without them making their hardware even more underwhelming for the cost of getting theirs. (Insert obligatory rant about Windows, GNOME, Unity, and KDE)
Would be nice if someone like ElementaryOS stepped up their game a little. And maybe spent some time ditching systemd in addition to working on the UI. Wish I had time to help.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Friday February 03 2017, @05:19PM
I would guess that Windows will run as the x86 stuff is still there, but OS X will check for the ARM processor.
Tried KDE lately? It's back top being stable again and is very fast and flexible. Even Gnome 3 is probably pretty decent these days. I still don't like Unity. I really do love having all the options though.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Friday February 03 2017, @05:25PM
To be fair, I haven't tried it in quite a while. I'm rather a fan of the not-OSX style that Elementary has, but I feel like it's different enough to be jarring. Doesn't handle stuff like Steam well either. MATE is decent, all things considered. I think my problem is that I got too used to what I got used to. Maybe this weekend if I have time I'll spin up a quick VM of something that uses KDE by default and give it a serious shakedown.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Friday February 03 2017, @05:50PM
I use Steam very regularly under the latest KDE (with NVidia proprietary drivers). Zero problems to date.
A while ago I had a few annoyances (in KDE, not when using Steam) if I left the compositor on, but I've switched it back on the last few months and it seems very stable. Keep in mind that I run a laptop that I use for web browsing, music, video, gaming, software development, and running VMs on occasion, and it is typically up for months at a time. It's a pretty rough life for a desktop and I think it holds up quite well. (The machine is a System76 Bonobo).
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Friday February 03 2017, @09:43PM
Thinking about this more, the Hackintosh fix would probably be to just inject some FakeARM.kext similar to how they deal with SMC and power management and just force the computer into the x86 mode full-time. But that's speculation until we actually see some of this stuff rolling out.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!