Waiting for and/or enjoying my M1 Pro/Max MBP thread…

[Cmaier]

Come on dude, spill...!

X704 - Exponential Technology - WikiChip

X704 (stylized as X704) was a family of high-performance PowerPC microprocessors announced by Exponential Technology in 1996. At the time, these chips ran over three times the clock rate as Motorola's/IBM's or Intel's (albeit not as fast in direct performance). Exponential experienced a few...

en.wikichip.org

 

[B01L]

X704 - Exponential Technology - WikiChip

X704 (stylized as X704) was a family of high-performance PowerPC microprocessors announced by Exponential Technology in 1996. At the time, these chips ran over three times the clock rate as Motorola's/IBM's or Intel's (albeit not as fast in direct performance). Exponential experienced a few...

en.wikichip.org

Doh...!

Totally forgot about your Exponential connection...!

 

[Yoused]

I have a 512Ke out in the garage that I added a daughter card to for RAM & SCSI. Its shell has all the signatures of the original Macintosh team inside it (where most owners would never see them, but I did because of the mod).

 

[jbailey]

I have a 512Ke out in the garage that I added a daughter card to for RAM & SCSI. Its shell has all the signatures of the original Macintosh team inside it (where most owners would never see them, but I did because of the mod).

I had a 512k back when they were new and I added a card that plugged onto the RAM PALs that added 1.5 MB for a total of 2 MB. Workstation class 8 MHz 68000 computer with 2 MB in 1986. (No SCSI though). I added a 20 MB hard disk that plugged onto the Mac’s “high-speed” serial port. It needed a floppy be inserted to boot off of the HDD.

It was a total hack but it worked until I could upgrade to a Mac Plus motherboard with SCSI and 4 MB RAM.

 

[Yoused]

I had a 512k back when they were new and I added a card that plugged onto the RAM PALs that added 1.5 MB for a total of 2 MB. Workstation class 8 MHz 68000 computer with 2 MB in 1986. (No SCSI though). I added a 20 MB hard disk that plugged onto the Mac’s “high-speed” serial port. It needed a floppy be inserted to boot off of the HDD.

It was a total hack but it worked until I could upgrade to a Mac Plus motherboard with SCSI and 4 MB RAM.

The 512Ke had the 800K floppy drive and the larger ROM. The guy that sold it to me for $500 in 1990 included a 400K external floppy (which sounded like a garbage truck), and the mouse was a laser type with a special grid mousepad. The daughtercard clipped onto the CPU, but it became iffy, so I had to solder a permanent connector onto the CPU. My HD was a 88Mb removable.

I wanted to program (for fun), but my budget was too tight at the time for programming software – then I discovered the interrupt switch on the side and worked my way up from there, writing ML code. When I was able to afford a programming tool (Symantec Pascal IIRC), I looked at the compiler's output and it was truly horrible.

 

[jbailey]

The 512Ke had the 800K floppy drive and the larger ROM. The guy that sold it to me for $500 in 1990 included a 400K external floppy (which sounded like a garbage truck), and the mouse was a laser type with a special grid mousepad. The daughtercard clipped onto the CPU, but it became iffy, so I had to solder a permanent connector onto the CPU. My HD was a 88Mb removable.

I wanted to program (for fun), but my budget was too tight at the time for programming software – then I discovered the interrupt switch on the side and worked my way up from there, writing ML code. When I was able to afford a programming tool (Symantec Pascal IIRC), I looked at the compiler's output and it was truly horrible.

Yeah, I did the update to the 512Ke a few years before the Mac Plus upgrade. It was needed to upgrade from MFS (?) to HFS.

I had a horrible Pascal compiler called TML Pascal that pretty much never produced valid 68K macOS code. I eventually switched to Forth and then I ended up paying crazy money to Apple for the the developer program and an early version of MPW (Macintosh Programmers Workshop) which was also pretty buggy.

 

[Nycturne]

Don’t want to interrupt the reminiscing too much, but wanted to share some more thoughts.

I think this laptop is my favorite to come along in a real long time. With some time off from work, I’ve been able to pour a few full days into side projects. A mix of Xcode+Simulator and Swift+Docker work. So far, I’ve finished each day with >20% battery left, and on track to hit around 10 hours of battery life. Being able to simply charge it overnight and not compromise on performance or noise when using it is something I haven’t had since my old Pismo with dual batteries. The hardware here really does get out of the way in that regard.

GPU heavy stuff is another matter, as you can start pulling the battery down into the 5 hour range with games and the like. But since I want GPU grunt more for CAD and Metal-acceleration in Affinity Photo, this isn’t a big problem for me.

Haven’t used the different display profile modes on the display much yet as most of my photography is during trips, but so far they are exactly what I wanted for my hobby-level work in Affinity. Not something I would have asked for, but something I’ll happily take.

About the only complaint I’ve got right now is that Docker+qemu for amd64 containers is still buggy. Trying to build Swift projects using Docker Desktop tends to crash about as often as it succeeds at the moment when building my multi-arch containers.

I had a horrible Pascal compiler called TML Pascal that pretty much never produced valid 68K macOS code. I eventually switched to Forth and then I ended up paying crazy money to Apple for the the developer program and an early version of MPW (Macintosh Programmers Workshop) which was also pretty buggy.

Can’t really top you folks on this stuff. I was aware of MPW and Apple’s documentation was still pretty Pascal heavy when I got started, but CodeWarrior was starting to become popular, so I decided to start with C/C++. Worked out well at least.

 

[januarydrive7]

... However, preview.app constantly goes nuts ...

If primary use case is viewing/annotating pdfs, I've had a generally positive experience with foxit pdf reader for macOS. I really wish preview.app was more stable, as it's more lightweight and generally does what I want, but those times it does hiccup is quite annoying.

 

[Cmaier]

If primary use case is viewing/annotating pdfs, I've had a generally positive experience with foxit pdf reader for macOS. I really wish preview.app was more stable, as it's more lightweight and generally does what I want, but those times it does hiccup is quite annoying.

I use acrobat pro as my backup - I often need to do Bates-numbering, redactions, etc., so I need it around in any case.

 

[SuperMatt]

I use PDF Expert for light editing. I got a license as part of a bundle a few years back. It is pretty good.

 

[Joelist]

FYI Blender is getting ready to release its Apple Silicon build - based on the betas the speed jumps by something like 400-450% over their prior version. This makes sense and aligns with other applications I have seen experience massive speed jumps once they are using Metal.

 

[User.45]

Haven’t used the different display profile modes on the display much yet as most of my photography is during trips, but so far they are exactly what I wanted for my hobby-level work in Affinity. Not something I would have asked for, but something I’ll happily take.

I haven't heard about this, but it sounds really interesting. Can you elaborate?

 

[Nycturne]

I haven't heard about this, but it sounds really interesting. Can you elaborate?

The MBP XDR displays have the same software features as the 6K XDR. So there are a number of built in profiles aimed at different workflows. Each of these are different from a pure ICC profile, since they set the white point, gamut target, nit target, along with the gamma function and target. I can have a profile with a 5000K whitepoint, the screen locked to 120 nits, and using sRGB or P3 so that I have something relatively close to what I need for getting good matching with my photo printer. Or a version with a 6500K whitepoint if I'm targeting sharing digitally. And since these are persistent, they are easily switchable and you can produce your own tweaked versions, but the main tweak you'll likely make here is to adjust the nit level for SDR on the presets with locked brightness to set it appropriately for your working environment.

Photography gamuts are not represented here, with the focus on video instead. So no Adobe RGB, which is one downside. P3 is a relatively OK stand-in for hobby work IME. Another is that you have to use a spectroradiometer to adjust the the display. So the usual hobby thing of getting something like a ColorMunki (or whatever can be had for cheap) and using a tool like DisplayCAL to generate an ICC profile doesn't work on the internal display. Odds are it'd just make it worse rather than better anyways.

Is it a replacement for a pro monitor, especially if you are a photographer? Probably not. But it's the closest thing that Apple has made in a laptop to date, and having some ability to do more discerning work in the field untethered is interesting in the Mac space.

 

[User.45]

The MBP XDR displays have the same software features as the 6K XDR. So there are a number of built in profiles aimed at different workflows. Each of these are different from a pure ICC profile, since they set the white point, gamut target, nit target, along with the gamma function and target. I can have a profile with a 5000K whitepoint, the screen locked to 120 nits, and using sRGB or P3 so that I have something relatively close to what I need for getting good matching with my photo printer. Or a version with a 6500K whitepoint if I'm targeting sharing digitally. And since these are persistent, they are easily switchable and you can produce your own tweaked versions, but the main tweak you'll likely make here is to adjust the nit level for SDR on the presets with locked brightness to set it appropriately for your working environment.

Photography gamuts are not represented here, with the focus on video instead. So no Adobe RGB, which is one downside. P3 is a relatively OK stand-in for hobby work IME. Another is that you have to use a spectroradiometer to adjust the the display. So the usual hobby thing of getting something like a ColorMunki (or whatever can be had for cheap) and using a tool like DisplayCAL to generate an ICC profile doesn't work on the internal display. Odds are it'd just make it worse rather than better anyways.

Is it a replacement for a pro monitor, especially if you are a photographer? Probably not. But it's the closest thing that Apple has made in a laptop to date, and having some ability to do more discerning work in the field untethered is interesting in the Mac space.

View attachment 10509

Neat! I've found internal screen calibration less and less useful since Snow Leopard, so this interesting. My student has a 14" and all I could say is that it's super bright.

-------

Did you guys notice the resistance on the keyboard being less than that of the 2020 MBA?

 

[Joelist]

Send Apple the feedback - they can probe;ly provide Adobe RGB in a software update. In any event the display is (as is Apple's norm) extremely well calibrated.

 

[leman]

I know am a little bit late tot he party, but my 16" M1 Max has finally arrived! Been using it the entire day and here are some observations:

- It is big, larger than expected. The few mm difference to the 2019 16" model are much more dramatic in real world. The added weight however, that I do not notice at all. Much more evenly distributed than on my 2019 model.
- Despite the size and the more "brutal", industrial appearance, it almost appears more refined. The aluminum is impeccably polished, the sides pleasantly rounded. It just feels... good.
- The display is a game changer. It's subtle, but immediately noticeable, especially if you work with text a lot, like I do. There is this fluidity of operation that I have never had with any other device. The contrast and the black levels are insane. Even compared to an OLED. It is also very bright even on lower brightness levels.
- The notch is not noticeable at all. Completely seamless.
- It is wicked fast and responsive. Still need to benchmark it using my typical workflows, but so far my scripts seem to finish before they start and code is compiled in a blink of an eye.
- The webcam is fantastic, big improvement.
- I miss the Touch Bar. Using physical keys to adjust brightness and volume feels awkward.
- MagSafe is a useless gimmick. Give me another USB port on the right side.

 

[Cmaier]

I know am a little bit late tot he party, but my 16" M1 Max has finally arrived! Been using it the entire day and here are some observations:

- It is big, larger than expected. The few mm difference to the 2019 16" model are much more dramatic in real world. The added weight however, that I do not notice at all. Much more evenly distributed than on my 2019 model.
- Despite the size and the more "brutal", industrial appearance, it almost appears more refined. The aluminum is impeccably polished, the sides pleasantly rounded. It just feels... good.
- The display is a game changer. It's subtle, but immediately noticeable, especially if you work with text a lot, like I do. There is this fluidity of operation that I have never had with any other device. The contrast and the black levels are insane. Even compared to an OLED. It is also very bright even on lower brightness levels.
- The notch is not noticeable at all. Completely seamless.
- It is wicked fast and responsive. Still need to benchmark it using my typical workflows, but so far my scripts seem to finish before they start and code is compiled in a blink of an eye.
- The webcam is fantastic, big improvement.
- I miss the Touch Bar. Using physical keys to adjust brightness and volume feels awkward.
- MagSafe is a useless gimmick. Give me another USB port on the right side.

Two biggest things i noticed are the amazing screen and the speakers. I just realized I haven’t even used the webcam yet! I always zoom/teams/webex from my ipad. Will have to give it a try.

 

[DT]

FYI Blender is getting ready to release its Apple Silicon build - based on the betas the speed jumps by something like 400-450% over their prior version. This makes sense and aligns with other applications I have seen experience massive speed jumps once they are using Metal.

@Renzatic

 

[Renzatic]

@Renzatic

Already read the news, and seen the benchmarks. It's a got a bunch of nerds up in arms, arguing over where exactly the M1 lies on the Geforce scale of rendering quickness.

...tensions have begun escalating recently. I expect violence is inevitable.

 

[Nycturne]

Neat! I've found internal screen calibration less and less useful since Snow Leopard, so this interesting. My student has a 14" and all I could say is that it's super bright.

-------

Did you guys notice the resistance on the keyboard being less than that of the 2020 MBA?

If you mean the contrast/brightness/gamma adjustment tool Apple has included for ages, yeah. It was mostly useful for getting CRTs in the ballpark. ICC profiles that measure a screen’s native gamut is still pretty useful with many consumer displays though. The XDR display just brings it up the next level closer to other pro displays.

Send Apple the feedback - they can probe;ly provide Adobe RGB in a software update. In any event the display is (as is Apple's norm) extremely well calibrated.

It’s been a couple years since this has rolled out for the 6K XDR, so I suspect it’s by design at this point.

The thing is, these profiles are for limiting the display from the native gamut to specific gamuts which are a subset. I can still work with documents in other profiles. It’s mostly a statement that this display cannot display Adobe RGB in a large enough percentage to really be accurate if you need that gamut fully represented for your work.