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by criddell 764 days ago
CPU architecture probably doesn't matter.

But then I'm back to my original question: where are the Linux or Windows machines with great battery life and good performance. Is there anything like what Apple sells at Walmart: a 13.3" MacBook Air with the M1 chip, retina display, and 8 GB of RAM for $700. This is a very old machine at this point and still very hard to beat.
1 comments
bryanlarsen 764 days ago
He does talk about why Apple is doing so well. Architecture, but Apple has IC process, top-level designers, a wide well balanced design and RAM bandwidth advantages.
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criddell 764 days ago
I'm saying all this as a frustrated ThinkPad buyer. It's been 3.5 years since the first M1 machines went on the market and I still can't buy a ThinkPad as good as the Apple computers of that generation. I have to remember to power off completely before putting my ThinkPad in my bag otherwise I will have a very hot laptop, fans at full, with 50% battery remaining by the time I get to work.

Sometimes it feels like Apple is the only company even trying. It sucks.

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bryanlarsen 764 days ago
Is it still true? My Ryzen desktop is a lot faster than my M1 Mini. A laptop Ryzen won't be as fast as my desktop, but it should be close?

Regardless, it certainly feels like an own goal that AMD or Intel hasn't yet released a CPU with at least 256 bit wide on package RAM. They'd be able to capture a higher percentage of the BOM cost of the laptop if they did so on top of the speed benefits.

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criddell 764 days ago
The M1 used in the original MacBook Air has a TDP of around 10 watts. I don't track this closely, but AFAIK there aren't any good performing chips on the PC side of the world that can beat that.

I don't really track this directly, but periodically I look for passively cooled (fanless) laptops. I haven't looked into Ryzen, but it would be a very nice surprise if there are fanless Ryzen laptops out there.

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Kuinox 764 days ago
TDP is a lie. M1 can draw up to 100W. https://www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performanc...
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criddell 764 days ago
The real world implications of these number matter more than the numbers themselves.

If you tell me TDP is a lie, I’ll believe you.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that there still aren’t any great fanless laptops from anybody other than Apple. I was attributing it to TDP, but maybe it’s something else.

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lonjil 764 days ago
Did you paste the wrong link? That is about M1 Max, which is a very different, much bigger, chip.
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