I really wish this tech was available outside of the Apple ecosystem.
If Apple continue like this, x86 machines won't be able to compete. I wonder if other vendors are looking at this and contemplating transitioning to ARM as well.
If Apple continue like this, x86 machines won't be able to compete. I wonder if other vendors are looking at this and contemplating transitioning to ARM as well.
https://www.linuxmadesimple.info/2019/08/all-chromebooks-wit...
It's a Chromebook/Android Tablet hybrid for $300. It's now my primary ereader and "laptop" when I'm away from home since it has decent Android and Linux support.
Chromebooks keep being overpriced for what they offer.
Perhaps, but with what hardware? The PC era was defined by mostly open hardware that had a high degree of interoperability. ARM does not bring the same.
The only reason why ARM seems more closed is that you primarily interact with ARM chips on highly restrictive platforms. The M1 chip will go along way to changing that perception as consumers will now be able to use an ARM based platform as they normally would a regular computer. But, that's not the only way, you can buy a wide array of ARM based devices with recent-generation ARM designs and very flexible IO.
Also until you can run non-linux "desktop software" on one, it will always feel like a "tablet"
The closest analogue to what you described in the ARM world would be plugging either a Computer-on-Module or System-on-Chip into a carrier board. Today's ARM deployments are presently largely focused on energy efficiency, so they make heavier use of integration than typical x86 deployments.
e.g. https://www.toradex.com/computer-on-modules/apalis-arm-famil... https://www.toradex.com/support/partner-network/hardware https://www.toradex.com/products/carrier-board
> Also until you can run non-linux "desktop software" on one, it will always feel like a "tablet"
There are millions of linux users around the world that would challenge your assertion that desktop linux doesn't qualify as anything beyond a tablet. In any event, Windows already runs on ARM and some rapscallions have already got it up and running on a Raspberry Pi despite Microsoft's present prohibition on doing so. I'm sure Microsoft will free up the licensing in due time as market demand presents itself (if only to allow interoperability with M1 Mac VMs).
Until you can build your own general-purpose PC and can decide to make it ARM, it will not be considered an equivalent option, it will just be another tablet, “chromebook” or “board for hackers”
You can build your own general purpose PC with ARM today. It's not done regularly because ARM chips historically tended to be less powerful, so the type of person that went out and built their own PC wouldn't want to build an ARM PC. This is now rapidly changing given chips like Apple's M1 and the upcoming Arm Cortex-X1 are surpassing their x86 competitors in performance orientated benchmarks.
Once Microsoft gets their act together with their own version of Rosetta 2 and we reach the X2 generation, you'll start to see a rapid shift towards ARM desktops with X1 chips in the mid-tier segment. Eventually the premium "gamer" tier will follow as M1 has proven that it's possible create an ARM SoC that surpasses top tier x86 single threaded performance at a fraction of the power budget and mountains of thermal headroom. This will be accelerated by the fact Nvidia is purchasing ARM and now has massive incentive to get Nvidia discrete graphics cards paired up with ARM SoCs.
Pretty much all ARM application processors use soldered BGA packages over sockets, and there also isn't the same tradition of defining a standard pinout for a generation or two (or five) of chips like there has been for x86 (e.g. LGA1151, AM4, etc.).
You can't really design a motherboard without this, so each design tends to have a custom breakout board or carrier card that's designed to be used in relatively specific installations.
Most ARM SoCs are the opposite of open - they're proprietary to the max and don't even support an open boot process.
> The M1 chip will go along way to changing that perception as consumers
The M1-chip will change nothing w.r.t. to perception of "openness" - consumers don't care about the CPU inside their devices. What consumers see is a machine that'll last longer on battery, is much quieter and performs outstandingly well.
Openness is important to developers and enthusiasts who want to use the hardware as more than just a commodity.
Apple Silicon will kill the ability to upgrade your Apple device - no more RAM expansion slots, no more external GPU support, no more upgrading of internal storage, no more 3rd party repairs.
Apple Silicon turns laptops and Macs into consoles: closed ecosystems in terms of software and hardware. I wouldn't call that "openness" at all.
The RK3399 inside the Pinebook Pro is also not exactly "open" from a hardware point of view: still no open source drivers for the GPU for example (other than reverse-engineered volunteer efforts).
It would seem that ARM has a much higher potential performance ceiling than already relatively optimized x86 and derivatives and so once we have enough viable ARM options for desktop or high-performance laptops, the industry won't have a choice but move along with it.
If you're building software and your competitor releases ARM support and suddenly their product performs better than yours, users will go to them.
If videogame makers realize that they can push more performance on ARM, they will start releasing ARM-optimizing games or even shift to ARM-first in time.
That said I seriously doubt that the ISA in and of itself is the reason the chips are slower. After all, underneath is a state of the art architecture. Until I see a independent true cross platform benchmark in e.g. in dotnet be significantly faster and more efficient, I remain skeptical of such incredible claims.
Mine is a delight.
https://www.solid-run.com/nxp-lx2160a-family/honeycomb-works...
They could even do it like the MacPro and couple it with some whackadoodle system for connecting modules (like Raspberry Pi hats) without having to worry too much about how exactly they'll integrate.