Comment on Apple argues in favor of selling Macs with only 8GB of RAM
billiam0202@lemmy.world 9 months ago“Unified” only means there’s not a discrete block for the CPU and a discrete block for the GPU to use. But it’s still RAM- specifically, LPDDR4x (for M1), LPDDR5 (for M2), or LPDDR5X (for M3).
Besides, low-end PCs with integrated graphics have been using unified memory for decades.
disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Yes, that’s true, but it’s still an indicator of an uninformed reporter.
Apple Silicon chips pass data from one dedicated cores directly to another without the need of passing through memory, hence the smaller processor cache. There are between 18 and 58 cores in the M4 (model dependent). The architecture works very differently than the conventional CPU/GPU/RAM model.
I can run FCP and Logic Pro and have memory to spare with 16GB of UM. The only thing that pushes me into swap is Chrome. lol
BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 9 months ago
It’s a pointless distinction.
And in this case, it makes 8gig look even worse.
disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Maybe you’re not familiar with the apps I’m referring to. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are professional video and audio workstations.
8GB of UM is not for someone running two pro apps at once. If I tried to master an export from Adobe Premiere Pro in Protools on PC I’d need 32GB of RAM to to prevent stutter. I only use ~12GB of 16GB doing the same on Apple Silicon.
billiam0202@lemmy.world 9 months ago
My dude, you’re literally in here arguing that because Apple has a blob for both CPU memory and GPU memory that somehow makes that blob “not RAM.” Apple’s design might give fantastic performance, but that’s irrelevant to the fact that the memory on the chip is RAM of known and established standards.
disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Read my other replies to this comment. There’s no GPU. It’s an SoC.
uis@lemm.ee 9 months ago
BCM2835 is SoC too. And RK3328. And Mali-450 is GPU.