I think this forum is counter productive - very few posts here about transition to Apple Silicon

[theluggage]

Out of 52 posts on this forum page, I see maybe 4 threads that have anything to do with Apple's transition to their own native processors.

Mod's - is there anything to be done about this forum? The stated topic itself is important but I think the discussion has dried up and this forum has become sort of a grab bag of any issue with any M1 machine.

<irony>MODS: Please move this thread to the "Site & Forum Feedback" forum where it belongs.</irony>

...but seriously, although I think your "4 out of 54" figure is a huge exaggeration (unless you take a very, very narrow interpretation of the topic) but I do see that maybe 1/3 of the posts would be more appropriate in one of the model-specific forums, and maybe it's time to start moving "14 inch Mac Pro Display Flickering"-type posts to the MBP section.

Otherwise, it is no great surprise that this forum has transitioned from initial discussions about the merits of ARM vs x86 to more specific questions about actual products now that they're actually here... and the transition isn't complete yet, since the higher-end desktop range is still Intel. In the spirit of "only fudge it once" it's probably best to put up with things for another 6 months/year until the transition is complete (...and the end of mysteries like whether there's going to be a Mac Pro Mini and/or a Mac Mini Pro, a 5k+ iMac/iMac Pro distinction, a return of the "MacBook" name, the demise of the 13" MBP etc.) before having a major revamp of the Mac section and user re-education program.

One result of the transition is that, in an all-Apple Silicon world, there is likely to be far less diversity in CPU and GPU types (mainly just different core counts) - we'll know how far that goes when the high-end Mini and iMac appear but they could easily turn out to be the same M1 Pro/Max systems-on-a-chip as the MBPs. Even some of the Mac Pro replacement rumors are essentially talking about 2 or 4 M1 Max's glued together. That could mean that a single "Apple Silicon Macs" forum is more appropriate to most questions/discussions about Macs.

On a purely "human interface" level, though - it could be better if the first forum in the list was "Mac Basics, Help and Buying Advice" rather than "Apple Silicon Macs" - maybe re-titled something like "General Mac Issues".

 

[Hexley]

Out of 52 posts on this forum page, I see maybe 4 threads that have anything to do with Apple's transition to their own native processors.

Mod's - is there anything to be done about this forum? The stated topic itself is important but I think the discussion has dried up and this forum has become sort of a grab bag of any issue with any M1 machine.

I somewhat agree

A lot of threads are Mac equivalent of hypochondriac.

 

[doolar]

For those of us who went through the last transition to Intel, we know that what we are experiencing now is almost not worth the mention of a transition really. I think most people have had zero issues - the new M1 Mac works just as the old one, albeit a lot faster, cooler and longer.

So what's there to discuss really? Of course there will be people with AS troubles. But most of us are just plain happy, and we can only have so many threads with all the happy campers.

Is there really a need to discuss the "architectural transition"? It is what it is. And it's really hard arguing against it, especially now over a year after the fact. There's no denying that the AS move was brilliant and made the rest of the industry gasping. Which is a good thing, for all of us, independent of which platform we work on.

 

[LeeW]

Is there really a need to discuss the "architectural transition"?

Probably, but then it requires only a couple of threads given the number of people that are interested in it, not a full forum.

 

[Chevysales]

I'm not sure what it is you're looking for but I don't think it coincides with what the average user of this forum is here for. From a cursory glance, I'd argue the majority of threads are about some issue with (or question regarding) users recent change to Apple Silicon. Whether it's issues with external displays (lots of these issues with both Monterey 12.2 and M1 Macs), excessive swapping (this has been a consistent concern of M1 owners from what I've seen), or performance questions (there's a pretty big performance differential between Intel and Apple CPU's and people have questions), they all sound pretty appropriate to me.

Excellent response imo.

 

[steve217]

There are other places to talk about such things

I know, and I've been to your site and have had some good reads.

But it seems like this thread is sucking a lot of discussion that belongs to the individual product forums.

 

[triptolemus]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.
I made exactly the same point a few months ago but it encountered resistance from mods.

Funny, arn seemed to agree that this forum is a mess.

"Apple Silicon (Arm) Macs" forum

It looks like the "Apple Silicon (Arm) Macs" forum may have been intended to discuss the transition from Intel to Apple Silicon, based on the forum's tagline. Instead, it seems the forum is filled with all manner of posts which might possibly be better suited in their 'normal' hardware forum...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[cmaier]

I know, and I've been to your site and have had some good reads.

But it seems like this thread is sucking a lot of discussion that belongs to the individual product forums.

Oh, it’s not my site, and I wouldn’t suggest anyone go anyplace specific. Just saying the internet is full of places where you can have serious discussions about apple silicon.

 

[PsykX]

Out of 52 posts on this forum page, I see maybe 4 threads that have anything to do with Apple's transition to their own native processors.

Mod's - is there anything to be done about this forum? The stated topic itself is important but I think the discussion has dried up and this forum has become sort of a grab bag of any issue with any M1 machine.

I think it's because there's mainly good things to say about it.

Pros : It's fast, it's cheap (in terms of $/performance of course), it's well optimized, it had a good transition, because an SoC it's really small, it brings good thermals and good battery life, it seems like it's finally part of the ecosystem and differentiates Apple again.
Cons : Memory cannot be upgraded anymore, it lost support for Windows, it's not (yet) optimized for games (who knows if it ever will).

It basically sums it up.

Remember this :
People don't write to praise.
People write to whine.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Probably the biggest comment I have about the transition is just that it made a personal frustration for me as I still use Windows for gaming and now one machine won’t cut it anymore.

That said, I’ve been using a Hack for years and may not personally go ASi for a long time

If a Mini Pro becomes a thing I might…and just repurpose my hack for only gaming with an Nvidia GPU

Have to see a Mini update first though
That product might just be wishful thinking from all of us.

 

[LeeW]

If a Mini Pro becomes a thing I might…and just repurpose my hack for only gaming with an Nvidia GPU

I have got to the point where a Mac Mini is great for the majority of the time then for Gaming it's a PC. I have a decent set-up now with an LG 34", MX Keys and MX Master 3. Switching takes seconds and I get the best of both worlds.

Could I definitely say I wouldn't buy a Mac Mini Pro? Probably not until I see the price. It's not about the money it's about value. If an MMP comes along at say $2k would it actually do anything more than my M1 MM today? Probably not.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yeah, I just don't love the current Mini (M1 slapped inside old chassis) and am hoping there's a refresh of the whole concept coming.

(I've never had a Mini w/o BT issues for instance -- hoping a new design could make that better for those of us who report this problem -- there are many who share that frustration)

 

[Tagbert]

I was expecting more of a high level discussion about the architectural transition.

If it's about an individual experience when someone buys an M1, then yeah, that's what's mostly being posted here.

You could start a post asking specific questions about that. It will likely pickup a number of responses. There have been several similar threads recently and they have ongoing discussions.

I don’t think it is unreasonable for people to post about all aspects of the transition. some about architecture, some about their views on where the transition will go, some on their experiences of switching to AS, others about problems. There does seem to be a common theme.

 

[jdb8167]

I don’t think it is unreasonable for people to post about all aspects of the transition. some about architecture, some about their views on where the transition will go, some on their experiences of switching to AS, others about problems. There does seem to be a common theme.

There are a bunch of posts that would be better suited for various specialty forums. Endless posts about displays not turning on after sleep belong in either the macOS forums or Mac peripherals. Ditto for questions about choosing the amount of RAM on a MacBook or between a M1 Pro vs M1 Max. These really have nothing to do with the transition.

Having said that, I just skip the boring questions that have been asked and answered multiple times. If people would ignore them or respond with a pointer to existing threads, they wouldn’t clutter up the forum as much but honestly it isn’t a lot of effort to just skip them.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Well, in a way, the "macOS ___ on unsupported machines" threads are also about M1 or are already in transit...

 

[steve217]

Funny, arn seemed to agree that this forum is a mess.

"Apple Silicon (Arm) Macs" forum

It looks like the "Apple Silicon (Arm) Macs" forum may have been intended to discuss the transition from Intel to Apple Silicon, based on the forum's tagline. Instead, it seems the forum is filled with all manner of posts which might possibly be better suited in their 'normal' hardware forum...

forums.macrumors.com

If @arn noticed, then that's encouraging.

 

[steve217]

Oh, it’s not my site, and I wouldn’t suggest anyone go anyplace specific. Just saying the internet is full of places where you can have serious discussions about apple silicon.

I know, I meant the link in your signature.

Honestly, I'm not looking for more discussion about chip technology strategies - I have nothing to contribute and can barely follow the deeper mysteries.

It's just a case of one forum being a catch-all for anything M1 related. I guess it offends my inner sense of order.

INSERT John Goodman/Walter "Am I the only who cares about ____?" meme.

 

[06tb06]

After much thought and revisiting of some old YouTube videos of past Apple keynotes, it seems the Steve Jobs era gave more of a deep dive of the underpinnings of the chip architecture, namely when comparing G5 to G4, or G5 to Intel, for example. I remember seeing a lot of high-level slides on the Velocity Engine, Branch Prediction, Pipelining, etc.

A room packed full of developers at a developer conference may have a more higher understanding of such topics, but the average consumer won't understand or care about how it works, they just want to get some use out of it. Therefore, the Apple of today under Cook's leadership seems to focus more on user experiences and how technology can add enrichment to our lives.

 

[Internaut]

This is the bit of the MacRumors forum I visit the most. Yet it is clearly temporary. Give it a couple of years and, I think, there will be a legacy Intel forum instead… Enjoy!

 

[EPO75]

Totally agree, every week more total nonsense topic's are created which are helping no-one but the trolls.

 

[Technerd108]

I think maybe a new forum on M1 based Macs would be a good idea. Now the transition is happening the merits of x86 vs. Arm are less of an issue in terms of what the difference is because now people have had them for over a year and as they say the proof is in the pudding! M1 Macs have been a huge success so discussing the architecture is less important to real world experience for many users.

 

[Tagbert]

Totally agree, every week more total nonsense topic's are created which are helping no-one but the trolls.

This one seems a little low on content and high on opinion.