Apple M1 5nm chip launched for macbook air and pro 13 inch

[superczar]

Saw this yday. Not surprised. Great stuff by Apple ! 20 hours of streaming video playback - that's beats an iPad.
But... 256 gb of storage, eh.
Currently sitting on 2 tb SSDs on my laptop. Can't really do with such low storage.

Storage requirements can vary quite a bit
At one point I used to feel that even 2TB of storage is inadequate
Now I am comfortable with even 128 on a laptop - No really!

I moved multimedia storage to a LAN server almost a decade ago.
Documents - probably a few GB
Outlook PST - maybe another 5?
Photos - probably a few hundred GB - but I let iCloud manage that so local (i.e. recent pics) occupy only maybe 20? - I do keep a local copy of my pics on the network storage but that's probably out of paranoia than anything else

Other than avid gamers or multimedia professionals - I am genuinely surprised when I hear people say that they need tonnes of storage on a mobile device
But personally, I have been sticking to the lowest storage option available with phones/ tablets /laptops for several years now - and have never felt shortchanged
Well, except maybe a 16GB iPhone 6 I had

 

[Nalin]

Storage requirements can vary quite a bit
At one point I used to feel that even 2TB of storage is inadequate
Now I am comfortable with even 128 on a laptop - No really!

I moved multimedia storage to a LAN server almost a decade ago.
Documents - probably a few GB
Outlook PST - maybe another 5?
Photos - probably a few hundred GB - but I let iCloud manage that so local (i.e. recent pics) occupy only maybe 20? - I do keep a local copy of my pics on the network storage but that's probably out of paranoia than anything else

Other than avid gamers or multimedia professionals - I am genuinely surprised when I hear people say that they need tonnes of storage on a mobile device
But personally, I have been sticking to the lowest storage option available with phones/ tablets /laptops for several years now - and have never felt shortchanged
Well, except maybe a 16GB iPhone 6 I had

I am on the same boat, used to have 16GB Galaxy Nexus back in the day. That made me shift to streaming for all my needs.

Personally using 128GB MacBook here, I feel it to be adequate for all the softwares I need. But recently MacOS updates have been really big. Now I feel 256GB is bare minimum even for software needs. The more the better.

 

[rdst_1]

I was not referring to Parallels either. I tried windows 10 on my 2015 mpbr and it was worse than macos performance wise. not to mention battery as well.

I thought you required Windows for your workflow. uhm.. not sure it's a logical reason. switch to macos is fairly easy. many things are much more intuitive than windows.

Switching from anything that you are accustomed to for a decade and a half is not easy. In fact, this is exactly same as asking someone who is used to MacOS/iOs to move to Windows/Android.
For me, the appeal of an Apple laptop is the same as it was back in 2013, that I like the hardware. Back then it was one of the only ultrabooks available under a lakh and today, they have the only ARM offering, which I want to try. I am someone who doesn't even want to upgrade to Windows 10, so changing the OS completely is a concept even more alien for me.
Plus, like Alekhkhanna, I am contemplating upgrading to 2TB SSD for my laptop, hence an Apple device is never gonna cut it for me considering I already have 640GB storage just for my phone. My music requirements(only listen to lossless stuff) and slow internet connection doesn't allow me to use cloud services that easily and hence high internal storage is somewhat of a necessity for me.
So, for me, I thank Apple for pushing for innovation, but also lament their stubbornness that stops them for providing some stuff that should be very easy for them (higher RAM and storage options at genuine markup) , but they won't, for reasons best known to them.

 

[rdst_1]

I moved multimedia storage to a LAN server almost a decade ago.

What OS are you running on the LAN server. When you switched a decade back, or even now, do you use an iPad to access multimedia files from the server. Which app do you use for that?
One of my reasons to sell off my iPad just after few days of buying it was that, at that time, Apple required some version of the app running on the server (in my case it was my laptop). So, at that time, Apple, for some reason, only allowed the processing of the video/audio happen on the server and then stream over that to the iPad. This was very counter-intuitive in my book as I wanted the processing to happen on the iPad so I could use a dumb device as storage over wifi. I was wondering if the situation has changed since you use a dedicated server for multimedia.

 

[Muathaz]

Personally using 128GB MacBook here, I feel it to be adequate for all the softwares I need. But recently MacOS updates have been really big. Now I feel 256GB is bare minimum even for software needs. The more the better.

Same. 256 is the minimum now. I still feel I could do away with 128, but that'd be constantly on my mind and rob me of my peace of mind. 128gb in 2020 on a 1000$ machine would be a joke anyway.

Switching from anything that you are accustomed to for a decade and a half is not easy. In fact, this is exactly same as asking someone who is used to MacOS/iOs to move to Windows/Android.
For me, the appeal of an Apple laptop is the same as it was back in 2013, that I like the hardware. Back then it was one of the only ultrabooks available under a lakh and today, they have the only ARM offering, which I want to try. I am someone who doesn't even want to upgrade to Windows 10, so changing the OS completely is a concept even more alien for me.
Plus, like Alekhkhanna, I am contemplating upgrading to 2TB SSD for my laptop, hence an Apple device is never gonna cut it for me considering I already have 640GB storage just for my phone. My music requirements(only listen to lossless stuff) and slow internet connection doesn't allow me to use cloud services that easily and hence high internal storage is somewhat of a necessity for me.
So, for me, I thank Apple for pushing for innovation, but also lament their stubbornness that stops them for providing some stuff that should be very easy for them (higher RAM and storage options at genuine markup) , but they won't, for reasons best known to them.

Fair enough. personally even if i were in your shoes, I'd be ready to make one single sacrifice (storage) to get a substantially better device on all other fronts. Agree their storage upgrade prices are just ridiculous.

 

[superczar]

What OS are you running on the LAN server. When you switched a decade back, or even now, do you use an iPad to access multimedia files from the server. Which app do you use for that?
One of my reasons to sell off my iPad just after few days of buying it was that, at that time, Apple required some version of the app running on the server (in my case it was my laptop). So, at that time, Apple, for some reason, only allowed the processing of the video/audio happen on the server and then stream over that to the iPad. This was very counter-intuitive in my book as I wanted the processing to happen on the iPad so I could use a dumb device as storage over wifi. I was wondering if the situation has changed since you use a dedicated server for multimedia.

It has gone through several iterations over the years
From a fairly basic NAS box to a rpi to a x86 pc running xpenology - and then onto the final solution (that has been going strong for many years now) which is a Ubuntu VM running on a proxmox server
But for video streaming (4k), even a rpi4 will be more than adequate

And no, you don’t need plex or any transcoding software anymore
There are several options on ipad OS (and reg iOS as well as TVOS) that will play any mkv - or any other format directly
My preferred app is infuse - but several people swear by VLC

You simply point the ipad to your network folder and play back the file - the way you would with a laptop

Same. 256 is the minimum now. I still feel I could do away with 128, but that'd be constantly on my mind and rob me of my peace of mind. 128gb in 2020 on a 1000$ machine would be a joke anyway.

Fair enough. personally even if i were in your shoes, I'd be ready to make one single sacrifice (storage) to get a substantially better device on all other fronts. Agree their storage upgrade prices are just ridiculous.

Yeah, 256 is a good point to be at currently
I think what many of us do not realize or notice is that caching and local storage methods with both iOS and OS X are very different from android
If there is adequate space, the OS will retain a larger chunk of files locally and vice versa

At this point, I don’t even recall what storage config my phone (ipX ) has and what my wife has (ip11PM) other than the fact that hers is double.. Mine is probably 64 and hers 128, or maybe it is 128 and 256 respectively..
Even with very similar usage profiles, her available storage is not much higher than mine ..

However , (I think) you do need to use a reasonable sized icloud plan for all of it to work properly - but hey, paying a couple of hundred a month for a family plan is a far better choice than paying 20K upfront for each device you or your family members buy

 

[alekhkhanna]

Storage requirements can vary quite a bit
At one point I used to feel that even 2TB of storage is inadequate
Now I am comfortable with even 128 on a laptop - No really!

I moved multimedia storage to a LAN server almost a decade ago.
Documents - probably a few GB
Outlook PST - maybe another 5?
Photos - probably a few hundred GB - but I let iCloud manage that so local (i.e. recent pics) occupy only maybe 20? - I do keep a local copy of my pics on the network storage but that's probably out of paranoia than anything else

Other than avid gamers or multimedia professionals - I am genuinely surprised when I hear people say that they need tonnes of storage on a mobile device
But personally, I have been sticking to the lowest storage option available with phones/ tablets /laptops for several years now - and have never felt shortchanged
Well, except maybe a 16GB iPhone 6 I had

It's just difficult for someone who's used to having much of the important data at hand at all times.

I have most of my *urgent* work files on my laptop (about 300 GB odd), my phone photo backup (you can't trust online backups much - there have been instances where Google Photos has deleted a bunch of stuff from user's accounts), all my downloads (I am a bluray remux guy, so about 70-80 GB per download, comics etc) stay till I move them to an external HDD. Then all photo editing projects take up space.

Heck, my iPad is 512 GB, and is about 90% full.

LAN is really difficult for me since my work involves a lot of travel, hence offline backup is super important.

Hence as much as I like Apple's pathbreaking M1, it's not ready for people like me due to storage constraints. I hope this improves things on Windows though, and we can get similar battery life and performance from other ultrabooks.

 

[superczar]

It's just difficult for someone who's used to having much of the important data at hand at all times.

I have most of my *urgent* work files on my laptop (about 300 GB odd), my phone photo backup (you can't trust online backups much - there have been instances where Google Photos has deleted a bunch of stuff from user's accounts), all my downloads (I am a bluray remux guy, so about 70-80 GB per download, comics etc) stay till I move them to an external HDD. Then all photo editing projects take up space.

Heck, my iPad is 512 GB, and is about 90% full.

LAN is really difficult for me since my work involves a lot of travel, hence offline backup is super important.

Hence as much as I like Apple's pathbreaking M1, it's not ready for people like me due to storage constraints. I hope this improves things on Windows though, and we can get similar battery life and performance from other ultrabooks.

Amen to that - Windows has been on a downward spiral for many years now , to the extent I had practically written it off for personal usage
However a recent attempt at refamiliarizng myself with windows was pleasently nicer than what I remembered so hopefully MS is back on the right track...
Better ultrabook choices are alway a good thing - so once again, amen to that...

On a side note, it may still be worth exploring options that allow for reducing clutter/ space on the travel machine
Even if you don’t end up going the M1 route, it may still be worthwhile

e.g. Using USB C nvme drives to store your archives (or at least non regular usage files that you still want to have with you on the go)
They are reasonably cheap now and can be accessed from the ipad as well if and when needed

For a short period of time, I used to use a USB drive with wifi with a 32gig ipad to store movies for long flights - that wasn’t too bad either - although of course, C nvme drives will be a whole lot faster

 

[rdst_1]

And no, you don’t need plex or any transcoding software anymore
There are several options on ipad OS (and reg iOS as well as TVOS) that will play any mkv - or any other format directly
My preferred app is infuse - but several people swear by VLC

You simply point the ipad to your network folder and play back the file - the way you would with a laptop

This is good to know. Maybe I can finally buy an iPad now. Any idea when it all changed. I certainly bought and sold off my iPad in this decade and I clearly remember all apps including VLC, requiring a server side application constantly running and using the server resources instead of the iPad.

 

[superczar]

This is good to know. Maybe I can finally buy an iPad now. Any idea when it all changed. I certainly bought and sold off my iPad in this decade and I clearly remember all apps including VLC, requiring a server side application constantly running and using the server resources instead of the iPad.

Can’t recall TBH - it has been this way for a while now
And yes, I also do remember struggling to setup a plex server for transcoding but that was many many years ago

I have been using infuse since at least ‘16 or ‘17 though so certainly before that
Also, unless you use some really esoteric transcodes, it will be a hw decode so battery life remains fantastic

 

[Nalin]

Same. 256 is the minimum now. I still feel I could do away with 128, but that'd be constantly on my mind and rob me of my peace of mind. 128gb in 2020 on a 1000$ machine would be a joke anyway.

I feel Internet companies do this deliberately, Google and Apple is what I consider Internet companies because they have their own services like iCloud and Apple Music etc. to promote. On the other hand, hardware companies does not benefit from selling their subscription services and hence are providing good storage space in their devices.

 

[dissel]

Just for the que, Isn’t possible to run current Mac OS from external usb ssd in Mac hardware? of-course in home environment..

can anybody confirm ?

 

[pauldmps]

I don't think so. The Secure Enclave will make it impossible.

 

[dissel]

I don't think so. The Secure Enclave will make it impossible.

So how this guy doing it ? Or is it due to of his old machine ?

https://www.youtube.com/c/SunKnudsen/videos

 

[superczar]

Just for the que, Isn’t possible to run current Mac OS from external usb ssd in Mac hardware? of-course in home environment..

can anybody confirm ?

Was definitely possible with the Intel ones..
M1 should be the same in all likelihood...

Having said that, can't think of a single reason Why anyone would want to do it though?

 

[nishthecooldude]

Does anyone have any updates on when will the 16inch be getting m1 or m1x? As per rumours it is expected around 3quarter of 2021 but any updates?

 

[dissel]

Was definitely possible with the Intel ones..
M1 should be the same in all likelihood...

Having said that, can't think of a single reason Why anyone would want to do it though?

To keep the Installed OS fresh & clean for important work / office - business work

And do whatever with 512GB or 1TB SSD (Type - C) at home usage....Movie storage or what ever.

 

[superczar]

To keep the Installed OS fresh & clean for important work / office - business work

And do whatever with 512GB or 1TB SSD (Type - C) at home usage....Movie storage or what ever.

I still don't get it..
Why would that require you to run the OS from the external drive?

Add an external drive and store whatever content you want to on that.

 

[pauldmps]

To keep the Installed OS fresh & clean for important work / office - business work

Unlike Windows, MacOS does not get bloated with time. So this is not required. Plus the inbuilt SSD will always be much faster than any external ones.

And do whatever with 512GB or 1TB SSD (Type - C) at home usage....Movie storage or what ever.

You can still store files and movies in type C SSD and connect it to the laptop.

 

[Nalin]

Does anyone have any updates on when will the 16inch be getting m1 or m1x? As per rumours it is expected around 3quarter of 2021 but any updates?

MacBook Pro 16 with M1X or whatever the chip name is rumoured to come in Q1, 2021. It will be a low-key launch most probably. I am waiting for it too.

@dissel
External bootable drive is only used for installing macOS. There is a recovery file present for such situations so you may not even need that.