The Apple M1, The Good, the Bad and the (not) Ugly
I used to read and know a lot about computer hardware frontiers when I was in college, but after graduation, I could barely find enough time to catch up. However, the new Apple M1 SoC caught my attention, and I decided to devote some time to read about it.
The Apple M1 System on Chip (SoC) represents a significant step forward for Apple. The M1 is not the fastest CPU on the planet, but it seems to be the fastest for ultra-portable laptops. It is worth noting that the integrated GPU is astonishingly powerful. For example, it leaves Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1050Ti in the dust. The Apple M1 uses LP-DDR4X memory running at 3733MHz that allows both the CPU and GPU to access it at high speeds. In addition to these, M1 carries a 16-core Neural Engine, a multitask processor for image and signal processing, and AES encryption and offers many other benefits. However, there are some downsides, mostly for developers and power users.
The main problem is that they may face software compatibility issues, at least for the time being. The M1 is an ARM-based processor, not an x86-based, which means that there may be severe compatibility issues when running x86 applications on M1. Apple designed Rosetta 2 dynamic library translation to allow running x86 software on M1, but it comes at the cost of performance reduction and some stability issues. For example, Dockers x86 images may face serious problems running on M1.
The other issues are that the maximum RAM size is 16GB, and there is no option to use an eGPU.
If you are thinking of buying a new Apple M1, you may want to check here for software compatibility first.
