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Comment by raxxorrax | Hacker News Reader

I have an M1 from work (which I now mainly use for private stuff...) and it does have 16gb memory. It did cost a bit less than $1700 (after taxes) I believe, although I am not sure. I know it has some upgraded gpu compared to the standard model in some form, but didn't know about the memory.

As for the device: It is neat, but not revolutionary to any degree. I do paint and model and can run blender/krita just fine, it is even quite performant. This is through emulation, I don't have native builds for arm. Maybe those have become available in the meantime, but you don't notice the emulation at all.

But it won't be the end of x86 in my opinion. Why would it?

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The M1 isn't what kills x86 (if it ever does completely). ARM kills x86.

Microsoft is working on the ARM transition. ARM has good control of mobile hardware. And Apple will be only selling ARM hardware (in the form of Apple Silicon) in another 12-18 months.

M1 and Apple Silicon are just part of the trend.

The main feature for me isn't the ARM, it is that the device is passively cooled and still very performant. If that isn't possible with x68, ARM might have a chance perhaps. But 99% of my time is still spend on that platform.

I just wish I could install Linux.... If MS and Apple just provide their locked down environments, it will never be more to me than a neat device and I would still crosscompile instead of binding myself to a manufacturer.

http://vaibhavkaushal.com/ubuntu-focal-on-apple-silicon-m1/

I ran Linux for years on laptops/desktops/servers, doing OLTP software that does millions txns/day. I adopted Linux back when Solaris was the way to go for backends.

But moved to Mac (and OSX) about 8 years ago.

I don't get the "locked down" thing. On my current macs (a 2020 iMac and a 2015 MBP) I run Macports that lets me install pretty much every bit of userland software that I want. I also get the advantages of the MacOS gui environment and the availability of most "user" software.

Yes SIP and the new sandboxes lock down the MacOS part of the system, and things like VPNs (eg Wireguard) need to get a dev cert and distribution from Apple.

But the "lockdown" is very lightweight. There's nothing I can't do on this devices that I used to do on my Linux environments.

If I truly need a "native" Linux, then there are a number of VM and container environments also available.

But there is no technical reason for it being locked down. I don't want to subject myself to more of this, which would be the result if I get dependent on it. Why would I? There are only disadvantages if I don't want to sell software for the ecosystem.

I do some low level system developing and I doubt I would ever switch to MacOS for this. Higher level software? Maybe, but as I said, why give Apple any handle here and these sandboxes don't provide security for me. I will also not get a dev cert from anyone, that is just something that will never happen.

Then just turn SIP off via csrutil disable.

You can then debug anything, load unsigned kernel modules...

> Microsoft is working on the ARM transition.

And has been for years. Unlike Apple they don’t have the ability (or the courage) to tell their partners to get on the train or get out of their way.

It’s not obvious they’ll ever be able to leave x86 behind.

That ARM is on the cusp of finally dethroning x86, is really, for me, amazing me that Intel has kept it dominant for so long (3+ decades).

Partially it's amazing they remained on top, and also partially that they never managed to cannibalize their own success (like Apple and later Microsoft have done).

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