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M1 Macs have laptop/tablet internals

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Henry Richardson

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Just an observation and not a particularly insightful one, but I was thinking today about all the M1 family computers that Apple has released since November 2020: MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro. The M1 chips run so much cooler than Intel chips that they don't need as much cooling so, at least so far, basically the guts of all the Apple computers just have the electronics all packed in like a laptop or tablet or phone. No need for big fans, big heat sinks, water cooling, air space, etc.

The Mac Mini is the only one so far that has a box with some air space, but we can see from the iMac with its tightly packed like a laptop or tablet electronics that it isn't all that necessary. It is just the size and form needed when it had Intel chips and to provide space for the ports. Maybe a later Mac Mini will be a bit smaller.

So, that leaves the large Mac Pro. Currently they still all use Intel chips. I assume that eventually there will be new ones that use the M1 (or M2 or whatever). It seems that there will not be the need for as much extensive cooling though like is currently used. Will they be smaller and quieter? Or will Apple pack them with an M1 family chip that has so many CPU and GPU cores and memory that uses lots of power so that it needs extensive cooling? I wonder what the next Mac Pros will look like?

You can see the insides of an M1 iMac here:

M1 iMac Teardown


M1 Mac Mini Teardown


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Henry Richardson
http://www.bakubo.com
 
Last edited:
Intel (and AMD) have basically 3 types of CPUs:
  1. mobile
  2. desktop
  3. server
The mobile CPUs use less power, don't need as much cooling, and are smaller, but are also slower/less powerful than the desktop CPUs. The server CPUs are the most powerful, power hungry, and need the most cooling.

Nvidia and Radeon GPUs also are usually of 2 types: mobile/laptop and desktop.

So far, with the M1 family there is just one class for both laptops and desktops. And the M1 is very similar to the iPad and iPhone processors too.
 
Henry Richardson said:
... It seems that there will not be the need for as much extensive cooling though like is currently used. Will they be smaller and quieter? Or will Apple pack them with an M1 family chip that has so many CPU and GPU cores and memory that uses lots of power so that it needs extensive cooling? I wonder what the next Mac Pros will look like?
Click to expand...
Lately I've been pretty good in projecting the future developments - I've been able to predict the specs , configurations and price spot on for the MBP M1 MAX - and I bought one and really like the merits of the cooler and power saving design - basically my M1 MAX replaces my iMP without any shortcomings.

From the rumor and from what I know from my main job and daily activities I'd predict following cascade of things:
  1. large iMac ( PRO MAX )
    • to be announced spring 2022
    • 27 .. 28 ½ " screen size
    • standard or optional miniLED display with 120 Hz
    • up to 64 GB RAM
    • up to 8 TB SSD
    • up to 96 GPU cores ( by tile design of the configuration )
    • up to 40 cores of CPU cores ( by tile design of the configuration )
    • thus up to 300 W heat dissipation needed ( which should be no issue taking the current iMP design into account where 400 .. 500 W are no issue at all
    • thinner and new design
    • better fron camera
    • all metal design
    • smaller bezels around the display
  2. Mac mini ( pro )
    • using the M1 MAX chip
    • otherwise shorter design
  3. Mac PRO
    • new generation of chips M2 MAX
    • Tiel design with multiple chips combined together
    • smaller and more compact design
    • co-processor cards with GPU cores to be put in
    • maybe also usable for external GPUs
    • Tons of memory possible
  4. New mini LED display
    • shared with iMac ( PRO )
    • fraction of the cost from the current one
    • more dimming zones
    • different stand
    • different design
All in all we'll see successors of the current 5 nm technology in two steps down to 4 nm this spring and then down to maybe 3 nm or an enhanced 4 nm process next year for the Mac PRO.

By going don eco nm TSMC can save appryociamaltely 5 .. 15 % power consumption at 10 .. 30 % more computational power simply by shrinking the cluster node.

The upcoming 2 .. 3 think processes will enable Apple to pack even more transistors into their designs - that will predominantly be used for the neural engine and the GPU cores - the CPU is more than fast enough and will receive fewer attention simply because the CPU's main topic today is a kind of house keeping since the ever growing number of co-processors do the work more efficient and much better.

The current MBP can edit in real time 3x 8 k video streams - at the same time without any problems provided you've equipped your MAC with enough Ram and SSD space - it is key to get as much SSD space as feasible since the internal sped is 2x .. 3x the speed of an externally connected SSD - that's a huge difference in real world work experiences.

I'll predict we're going to see:
  • larger number off GPU Cores
  • more efficient GPU cores
  • more efficient CPU cores
  • more powerful Neural Engine
  • higher bandwidth to memory
  • lower power consumption
  • less cooling needs for entry level devices
  • similar design throughout different device clusters
  • common software base for macOS and iOS and iPadOS
Last but not least we'll also see new iPads, Apple Watch and my highly anticipated AR goggles with augmented reality - I am most curious about this AR headset and I can't wait to order one. this will be an immediate buy since it basically replaces any display needs in the real world. While traveling this will be a virtual high resolution display in front of your eyes - rumors say it'll be 4 k to 8 k we'll find out end of 2022 - it's going to be an amazing year with tons of new gadgets and last year was already an amazing year with probably not only the best laptop ever built but the best computer ever built - 2nd to none.

There is no other computer out that has that much computational power at such a low electrical power consumption - which gets more and more important also in summer time when the house gets warmer anyway.

Apple does an amazing job currently and I'd say they are even more influential and innovative as with Steve in charge - the nay sayers that don't like Tim and think that Apple is playing too save are just not getting the effort do design the own chip designs and to execute in such a brilliant way.

Make no mistake - the achievements are huge and stating that the MACs use tablet chip designs is the wrong way looking at it - the mobile devices are using work station designs - they are just more optimized and the SoCs are nothing less than the best you can get in the industry 2nd to none.

Hope that helps to budget the next steps from Apple and their designs. One more thing still missing - the Apple Car 🤫

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Last edited:
joger said:
Lately I've been pretty good in projecting the future developments - I've been able to predict the specs , configurations and price spot on for the MBP M1 MAX - and I bought one and really like the merits of the cooler and power saving design - basically my M1 MAX replaces my iMP without any shortcomings.

From the rumor and from what I know from my main job and daily activities I'd predict following cascade of things:
  1. large iMac ( PRO MAX )
    • to be announced spring 2022
    • 27 .. 28 ½ " screen size
    • standard or optional miniLED display with 120 Hz
    • up to 64 GB RAM
    • up to 8 TB SSD
    • up to 96 GPU cores ( by tile design of the configuration )
    • up to 40 cores of CPU cores ( by tile design of the configuration )
    • thus up to 300 W heat dissipation needed ( which should be no issue taking the current iMP design into account where 400 .. 500 W are no issue at all
    • thinner and new design
    • better fron camera
    • all metal design
    • smaller bezels around the display
  2. Mac mini ( pro )
    • using the M1 MAX chip
    • otherwise shorter design
  3. Mac PRO
    • new generation of chips M2 MAX
    • Tiel design with multiple chips combined together
    • smaller and more compact design
    • co-processor cards with GPU cores to be put in
    • maybe also usable for external GPUs
    • Tons of memory possible
  4. New mini LED display
    • shared with iMac ( PRO )
    • fraction of the cost from the current one
    • more dimming zones
    • different stand
    • different design
All in all we'll see successors of the current 5 nm technology in two steps down to 4 nm this spring and then down to maybe 3 nm or an enhanced 4 nm process next year for the Mac PRO.

By going don eco nm TSMC can save appryociamaltely 5 .. 15 % power consumption at 10 .. 30 % more computational power simply by shrinking the cluster node.

The upcoming 2 .. 3 think processes will enable Apple to pack even more transistors into their designs - that will predominantly be used for the neural engine and the GPU cores - the CPU is more than fast enough and will receive fewer attention simply because the CPU's main topic today is a kind of house keeping since the ever growing number of co-processors do the work more efficient and much better.

The current MBP can edit in real time 3x 8 k video streams - at the same time without any problems provided you've equipped your MAC with enough Ram and SSD space - it is key to get as much SSD space as feasible since the internal sped is 2x .. 3x the speed of an externally connected SSD - that's a huge difference in real world work experiences.

I'll predict we're going to see:
  • larger number off GPU Cores
  • more efficient GPU cores
  • more efficient CPU cores
  • more powerful Neural Engine
  • higher bandwidth to memory
  • lower power consumption
  • less cooling needs for entry level devices
  • similar design throughout different device clusters
  • common software base for macOS and iOS and iPadOS
Last but not least we'll also see new iPads, Apple Watch and my highly anticipated AR goggles with augmented reality - I am most curious about this AR headset and I can't wait to order one. this will be an immediate buy since it basically replaces any display needs in the real world. While traveling this will be a virtual high resolution display in front of your eyes - rumors say it'll be 4 k to 8 k we'll find out end of 2022 - it's going to be an amazing year with tons of new gadgets and last year was already an amazing year with probably not only the best laptop ever built but the best computer ever built - 2nd to none.

There is no other computer out that has that much computational power at such a low electrical power consumption - which gets more and more important also in summer time when the house gets warmer anyway.

Apple does an amazing job currently and I'd say they are even more influential and innovative as with Steve in charge - the nay sayers that don't like Tim and think that Apple is playing too save are just not getting the effort do design the own chip designs and to execute in such a brilliant way.

Make no mistake - the achievements are huge and stating that the MACs use tablet chip designs is the wrong way looking at it - the mobile devices are using work station designs - they are just more optimized and the SoCs are nothing less than the best you can get in the industry 2nd to none.

Hope that helps to budget the next steps from Apple and their designs. One more thing still missing - the Apple Car 🤫
Click to expand...
Thanks. That was interesting. We shall see what happens in 2022.
 
Henry Richardson said:
It is just the size and form needed when it had Intel chips and to provide space for the ports. Maybe a later Mac Mini will be a bit smaller.

So, that leaves the large Mac Pro. Currently they still all use Intel chips. I assume that eventually there will be new ones that use the M1 (or M2 or whatever). It seems that there will not be the need for as much extensive cooling though like is currently used. Will they be smaller and quieter? Or will Apple pack them with an M1 family chip that has so many CPU and GPU cores and memory that uses lots of power so that it needs extensive cooling? I wonder what the next Mac Pros will look like?

You can see the insides of an M1 iMac here:

M1 iMac Teardown


M1 Mac Mini Teardown

Click to expand...
Yeah probably, the Powermac G4 was very small and convection cooled. It was built like a chimney with a big inlet at the bottom and smaller outlet at the top, so heat generated would rise and draw in cold air from the bottom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G4_Cube


Of course fast SSD transfers and powerful graphics cards might also generate a lot of heat and need a big power supply
 
Last edited:
kierenlon said:
Yeah probably, the Powermac G4 was very small and convection cooled. It was built like a chimney with a big inlet at the bottom and smaller outlet at the top, so heat generated would rise and draw in cold air from the bottom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G4_Cube
Click to expand...
The name "Power Mac G4" covers not only the Cube, but a series of minitowers.

The Cube was a work of art, but it also had its ports on its underside, and the sleek chassis came with a separate power brick. When the first Mac Mini (also G4-based) came out several years later, it addressed both of these issues.
 
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