[ericmay]

I'm not sure if this changes anything here but when I think about performance at least for laptops but even for other products I think not just actual CPU operations but energy efficiency as well.

I do agree that Apple's CPU releases are incremental updates (and mostly always have been), but when I used an M-series Mac for the first time it was a step grade upgrade from the previous gen even if it's somehow not accounted for in CPU performance metrics (though I think it will be if you account for energy as well).

[Maursault]

> I think not just actual CPU operations but energy efficiency as well.

Since when? Seriously. Since the first Apple Silicon release, undoubtedly.

[2fast4you]

Yup. Apple really set the bar. I’ve never expected battery life like this from my laptop. Now that I know I can get the same(or better) performance with much higher efficiency, I’m never going back.

My laptop doesn’t heat up anymore. It doesn’t die. If it has fans, they’re absolutely silent. All this, and I haven’t had to change my workload at all.

[Maursault]

No one cared (not entirely true, but for most) until Apple made power efficiency relevant. There were efficient processors prior to Apple Silicon. No one (again, exaggerating) cared until Apple made them care.

[nordsieck]

> No one cared (not entirely true, but for most) until Apple made power efficiency relevant. There were efficient processors prior to Apple Silicon. No one (again, exaggerating) cared until Apple made them care.

I don't think that's really true.

The major cause for the failure of the macbook was a lack of power efficiency. Intel just didn't make a performant enough low power chip to make the concept work outside of a small group of people who value portability over everything else.

But even beyond that, there have been frequent complaints of Apple's laptops running hot. Those complaints don't necessarily show up in benchmark numbers, but I've run across them many, many times.

[tomnipotent]

> The major cause for the failure of the macbook was a lack of power efficiency

In what world or category did the Macbook fail? It's consistently top selling and top rated.

[wtallis]

I think he's referring specifically to the most recent machine branded simply MacBook, with no Air or Pro suffix. That was a 12" fanless notebook introduced in 2015, a few years before the MacBook Air got a Retina Display upgrade.

[dastbe]

for all of the commenters, i'm fairly sure the macbook being referred to is the 12-inch macbook. that was absolutely a failure due to lack of a power efficient and performant cpu

[nordsieck]

> for all of the commenters, i'm fairly sure the macbook being referred to is the 12-inch macbook.

Yeah - sorry. I should have said "12 inch Macbook". It's unfortunate that Apple's naming in that instance is so confusing.

[Maursault]

If by failure you mean the best selling laptop of its model year, sure.