Apple transitioning from Intel x86 to custom ARM - FIRST TEST
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:18 pm
Hi all,
For the little Mac users among us... And tech minded souls
An important update: Apple is starting to transition its entire lineup from X86 architecture to their own custom silicon.
https://www.apple.com/mac/m1/
With some dramatic performance and efficiency improvements, as some early benchmarks have suggested...
Curious to test this out I used my girlfriends new MacBook Pro 13 inch with the new M1 processor (got delivered this morning). And tested it against my 2017 27-inch 5K iMac.
The specs:
2017 27-inch 5K iMac
4,2 GHz Quad-Core i7
32GB RAM
Radeon Pro 8GB
VS
2020 13-inch MacBook Pro
M1
8GB RAM
(GPU is integrated in the M1)
Started rendering the same file (a restaurant I'm working on, +/-300MB, 3.300.000 edges, 120 materials).
While navigating the model, it was a little bit smoother on the iMac. No big difference.
Then I tested twilight and was frankly blown away by the performance of this little MacBook Pro.
It kept up with the iMac during rendering! Being only 5% slower.
All while remaining cool with -after a couple of passes- its fan starting to spin up to idle - barely noticeable. The iMan on the other hand was blowing at max speed, discharging large amounts of hot air...
And consuming 150+ watts of power. The MacBook Pro uses 30 watts at full power.
Honestly... I'm impressed. Keep in mind that SketchUp nor Twilight are optimized to run on the new architecture... They are running in an emulator (Rosetta 2) so its performance will increase IF the team decides to update Twilight.
Or is this up to SketchUp? I don't know.
Keeping in mind that this is the first product to be updated... Second to the MacBook Air this is the absolute base model of their lineup. I cannot wait to see what they will do with the more powerful MacBook Pro's, the iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, ... Really impressive...
Take care,
C
For the little Mac users among us... And tech minded souls
An important update: Apple is starting to transition its entire lineup from X86 architecture to their own custom silicon.
https://www.apple.com/mac/m1/
With some dramatic performance and efficiency improvements, as some early benchmarks have suggested...
Curious to test this out I used my girlfriends new MacBook Pro 13 inch with the new M1 processor (got delivered this morning). And tested it against my 2017 27-inch 5K iMac.
The specs:
2017 27-inch 5K iMac
4,2 GHz Quad-Core i7
32GB RAM
Radeon Pro 8GB
VS
2020 13-inch MacBook Pro
M1
8GB RAM
(GPU is integrated in the M1)
Started rendering the same file (a restaurant I'm working on, +/-300MB, 3.300.000 edges, 120 materials).
While navigating the model, it was a little bit smoother on the iMac. No big difference.
Then I tested twilight and was frankly blown away by the performance of this little MacBook Pro.
It kept up with the iMac during rendering! Being only 5% slower.
All while remaining cool with -after a couple of passes- its fan starting to spin up to idle - barely noticeable. The iMan on the other hand was blowing at max speed, discharging large amounts of hot air...
And consuming 150+ watts of power. The MacBook Pro uses 30 watts at full power.
Honestly... I'm impressed. Keep in mind that SketchUp nor Twilight are optimized to run on the new architecture... They are running in an emulator (Rosetta 2) so its performance will increase IF the team decides to update Twilight.
Or is this up to SketchUp? I don't know.
Keeping in mind that this is the first product to be updated... Second to the MacBook Air this is the absolute base model of their lineup. I cannot wait to see what they will do with the more powerful MacBook Pro's, the iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, ... Really impressive...
Take care,
C
