The Future of Apple's Mac Pro Lineup is Uncertain

It will be interesting to get our hands on the new MacBook Pros for direct comparison, as it could be the end of the current lineup as we know it. If the AS M1 CPU is efficient as claimed by Apple, this could mark a significant shift in the company's strategy. However, there are still many questions surrounding the performance and capabilities of these new devices.

The New Mac Mini is Perhaps the Most Disappointing

Despite being priced lower than the previous generation, the Mac Mini is perhaps the most disappointing part of the lineup. Apple clearly knows that it is more powerful by whatever metric they are using here, but there's no expandable memory or storage options available. Even more frustratingly, there is no 10Gig networking option. It seems that Apple prioritized other features over expandability and compatibility.

A Look at the Technical Specifications

The new Macs will be running on Mac OS Big Sur, set for public release this Thursday, November 12th, with support for automatic pinning of tasks to the correct cores in the new big.LITTLE CPU design. This feature aims to improve performance by optimizing task allocation across multiple cores. Additionally, near-instantaneous wake from idle will be available on Apple Silicon Macs.

However, Some Not-So-Nice Features

While Apple's efforts to make Big Sur sound exciting, there are some less-than-desirable features lurking beneath the surface. Universal Binary 2, which theoretically allows developers to compile their apps for both ARM and X86, may not be as straightforward as promised. This could lead to delays in the availability of certain applications, such as Photoshop.

Security Measures Under Fire

Another concern is Apple's decision to move towards even greater security measures within Big Sur, which some developers have warned about. By locking down their ecosystem further, Apple risks alienating independent and open-source developers who may struggle with these new restrictions. To adapt, they will need to find ways to develop software that bypasses these security features or obtain explicit permission from Apple.

Bold Predictions

Based on past trends, we can make a few bold predictions about the future of the Mac lineup. First, it's likely that the AS transition will work out fine in the end, but the first-generation products may look rough and be replaced quickly by new versions. This is similar to how the iPad One and Apple Watch Series Zero were handled. Second, Apple will continue to fight against right-to-repair initiatives, shredding working devices for no reason while pretending to be an environmentally friendly company. Finally, this video will be brought to you by Square Space.

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Conclusion

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- After the Apple silicon announcementat WWDC this year, weknew they were coming.But it still felt weirdto see Apple executivesget up on stage, and proudlyannounce to the worldthat you can now pay real, actual moneyfor a computer with basicallythe same guts as an iPad.That's right, three different machinesat three different pricepoints, one spec sheet.I mean, remember howpeople thought the iPadwas gonna be a portabletouch screen MacBook?Turns out it was opposite day.But now that opposite day has arrived,if I'm an Apple user,looking for a new Mac,do I want the iPad with no touch screen,the iPad with no screen,or the iPad with a touch bar?Hard to say.What I do know is that I wannatell you about our sponsor,Honey.Honey is a free web browser extensionthat will find you the best promo codeson shopping web sites likeAmazon, Ebay, and more.Get it today at joinhoney.com/ltt.(upbeat music)If you've got no ideawhat Apple Silicon is,it's an ARM CPU,kinda like you would findin your phone or your smart toaster,but also not.ARM does license their core designs,allowing customers likeSamsung or Qualcomm,to integrate their ownintellectual property,adding, let's say, a more powerful GPU,to create a full SOC.But, they also offer what'scalled an architecture license.This allows customers,with the engineering chops to pull it off,to build off of ARM's technology,using what they want,and altering or outrightdiscarding what they don't.The resulting SOC, or system on a chip,will run code compiled for ARM processors,but may have markedlydifferent performance,and/or power consumption characteristics.It's not quite the same thing,but you can think of it kind of likehow Intel and AMD both makeX86 compatible processors,but with very different approaches,and in some cases, evendifferent features.On the subject of Intel,after Intel's post-Skylink CPUsfailed to meet their expectations,Apple took it upon themselvesto be the change theywanted to see in the world.Who wrote this crap?Anthony did you pull thatright out of their slides?- Sounds like it, doesn't it?- Anyway, this is a huge move for Apple.But it also isn't unprecedented.Apple was among the three founding membersof the AIM Alliance,that developed the power architecturethat Mac computers usedprior to switching to Intelin the first place.And in fact, most of Apple's historyhas involved CPUs other than Intel X86.So, they've survivedthis kind of painful transition twice now.What's one more time?The new thingis that they've neverreally gone it alone before,and there's never reallybeen a direct competitorin PC hardware, since the power days.So, everyone was hopingfor a big, splashy announcement today.And that's what we got.Three new Macs were announced:The MacBook Air, MacBookPro 13, and Mac Mini,all powered by the AppleSilicon M1 processor.I guess they really areofficially calling itApple Silicon.I think I'll call it AS for short.The AS M1 processor is Apple'sfirst PC-grade processor,and consists of a big.LITTLE design,with four fast cores thatlight up for heavy tasks,and four power efficient coresfor background and lighter workloads,to extend battery life for thenew Macs to almost 20 hours,or just lower their power consumption.Virtually everythingthat makes the Mac a Mac,is baked right into one silicon die.CPU cores, GPU cores, IO secure enclave,and neural accelerator,all of which can communicatedirectly with each other,and access the same pool of system memory,which, by the way, is also built in.So, RIP after-purchase RAM upgrades.Apple claims that this arrangementgives the AS M1 the title ofThe World's Fastest CPU core.But, their comparisons allseemed intentionally vague.What exactly is the mostpopular Windows laptop?Is it a fast one?I kinda doubt it.But, an improvement over last gen Macsof up to three-and-a-halftimes the CPU speed,and up to six times in GPU speed,all while using just 10 watts of power,sounds pretty good,especially because, like the iPad Pro,the MacBook air is completely fanless,which Apple boats, makesthe system fully silent,although what this costs inchassis surface temperatures,or CPU throttling, we don't know.Now because CPU and wireless connectivityis identical for all three new Macs,Apple has got some big claimsfor MacBook Air performance,including the ability tohandle multiple streamsof 4K ProRes at a time,which as Colin over at ThatDoes Not Compute points out,isn't actually all that impressive,until you remember, it's fanless.As for the MacBook Pro, it's got a fan.And while in many respects,resembles a larger MacBook Air,no, yeah, that's pretty much what it is.But that's okay,because for your extra $300,you still get a touch bar.And, with that extra internal space,they were also able to crama whole lot more batter in there,so even with thermal limitations removed,thanks to active cooling,the AS M1-based MacBook Propromises to have even betterendurance than the Air.Disappointingly, despite being called Pro,we're stuck with a 720p webcam,rather than the 1080 versionfound in the new iMacs,although Apple claimsthat they're able to usethe advanced image processingthat they developed for eye devices,to clean up the image.With so little to differentiatethe Air from the Pro now,it will be interestingto get our hands on themfor direct comparison.Honestly, I think this couldbe the end of the MacBook Proas we know it, assuming, of course,that the AS M1 CPU is asefficient as Apple claims.As for the new Mac Mini,it looks to be essentiallythe same computeras Apple's Developer's Transition Kit,which we tried, and succeeded,in getting our hands on.But unfortunately, weren'table to do anything with,because Apple's legal teamsmelled blood in the water.So, rather than risklegal action against us,or worse, our informant,we sent it back and abandoned the project,so we could make more shirtson lttstore.com instead.Hey, nice.Despite that drama, the Mac Miniis perhaps the mostdisappointing of the lineup.And given the $100 pricedrop over last gen,Apple clearly knows it.While it may be morepowerful by whatever metricApple is using here,there's no expandablememory or storage even,and there's no 10 gig networking option.Damn it Apple.You were doing so well.I even bought like three of these things.I guess it could be justdown to Apple's M1 processorsnot having enough IObandwidth or something.But as it stands,there's a lot of emptyspace in the Mac Mini,when they probably couldhave put an SSD in there,or just put it in somethingthe size of an Apple TV,or smartphone instead.I don't know.At least it has Thunderbolt, ish.All of these new Macs willbe running Mac Os Big Sur,set for public release thisThursday, November the 12th,with support forautomatic pinning of tasksto the correct cores in thenew big.LITTLE CPU design,and fun features like near instantaneouswake from idle on Apple Silicon Macs.Neat.Unfortunately, it also comeswith some less neat stuff.While Apple tried to make it soundlike Universal Binary 2had pretty good supportout of the gate, whichtheoretically would allow developersto compile their apps forboth ARM and X86 simply,Photoshop, for example, won'tbe available until 2021,meaning anyone who'srunning creative cloudwill probably wanna holdoff on buying for now,that is, unless theyreally wanna figure outwhether or not Rosetta 2 is anygood on their work computer.Derp.Oh, and additional security measuresbaked into the operating systemreinforce what a lot of open sourceand independent developers already feared.Apple is moving to lock downtheir ecosystem even furtherin the name of security,which means anyone whowants to develop for the Macwill have to either get theirsoftware blessed by Apple,or convince end users to bypass it.Still, this transition is happening,whether you're ready or not.Apple's holding a lot of cards right now,and compatibility with IOS appsmay make this transitioneasier than the previous two.We've got ours on order already.So make sure that you get subscribed,so you don't miss our reviews.Before that though, it'sbold prediction time.Number one, the AS transitionworks out fine in the end,but these first generationproducts look pretty rough,and Apple's gonna replace them,and sweep them under therug as quickly as possible,kind of like the iPad One,and Apple Watch Series Zero.Second, Apple will continueto fight right-to-repairbehind the scenes, and shredworking devices for no reason,while posturing as anenvironmentally-friendly company.And, third, this videowill be brought to youby Square Space.Thanks to Square Space forsponsoring today's video.You may have heard of Square Space.It's an easy way for you to make a websitein just minutes.Square Space is a leaderin website design,and their all-in-one platform allows youto do all kinds of stuff.You can even buy domains through them,and create email campaigns.With Square Space, youcan make any website,from a personal portfolio, to a resume,to fan fiction, or even a shopping site.And they've got website analytics toolsto help keep track ofhow your website's doing,and find all the weak areas to make sureyou have a steady stream of traffic.Their award-winning templateswill help your website stand out,instead of looking like it's from the 90s.And if you're ever stuck,their 24/7 support teamis ready to help you out.So go to squarespace.com/lttfor a free trial.And when you're ready to launch,you can get 10% off at the link below.Thanks for watching guys.Go check out our video from WWDCwhere we talk a little bit moreabout what this transitionmeans, not just for Apple,but for the computer industry as a whole.\n"