It’s a SoC and is certainly more power efficient, can fit into smaller form factors, etc. It’s definitely progress in the right direction, but is still to expensive to be a practical alternative to higher-end GPUs. What am I missing?
I guess you do understand what the M chip is, which makes your comparison even more surprising. First, comparing a SoC to a GPU is wildly unfair. Second, you are severely underselling exactly how much more energy efficient an M chip is versus a CPU/GPU combo. My PC laptop with an i7 and a 4070 built in will run for about 20 minutes, maybe 30, under a full workload, all the while being hot enough to fry an egg and noisier than a jet engine. Even then, the performance will be trash and get worse as the temps rise. My MBP M3 Max will run a DAW sessions my PC could never dream of, with multiple plugins, on battery, silent, no heat, for a couple of hours without even the hint of a stutter.
All of that said, when it comes to price, Apple’s gonna Apple.
PS: I’m typing this on my phone while the idle i7/4070 laptop is fanning (again, fully idle) because it runs so hot. I might need to start traveling for work again and, if I do, I might need to switch to a MacBook Air for work on the road unless I can find an ultra-slim, powerful yet efficient, high resolution screen, Linux supported laptop. Simply because of the chip. We need an equivalent on the PC side.
I don’t think you quite grasp what an M chip is if you are comparing it to a 4070 Ti.
It’s a SoC and is certainly more power efficient, can fit into smaller form factors, etc. It’s definitely progress in the right direction, but is still to expensive to be a practical alternative to higher-end GPUs. What am I missing?
I guess you do understand what the M chip is, which makes your comparison even more surprising. First, comparing a SoC to a GPU is wildly unfair. Second, you are severely underselling exactly how much more energy efficient an M chip is versus a CPU/GPU combo. My PC laptop with an i7 and a 4070 built in will run for about 20 minutes, maybe 30, under a full workload, all the while being hot enough to fry an egg and noisier than a jet engine. Even then, the performance will be trash and get worse as the temps rise. My MBP M3 Max will run a DAW sessions my PC could never dream of, with multiple plugins, on battery, silent, no heat, for a couple of hours without even the hint of a stutter.
All of that said, when it comes to price, Apple’s gonna Apple.
PS: I’m typing this on my phone while the idle i7/4070 laptop is fanning (again, fully idle) because it runs so hot. I might need to start traveling for work again and, if I do, I might need to switch to a MacBook Air for work on the road unless I can find an ultra-slim, powerful yet efficient, high resolution screen, Linux supported laptop. Simply because of the chip. We need an equivalent on the PC side.