Mac

Thinking about ordering an M1 Mac? Got one on order?

Follow the headline link and check the status of a bunch of apps. The list shows whether they are:

• ✅: Intel and Apple Silicon compatible universal binary is available;
• 🆙: the Apple Silicon version is almost ready and should be released before the end of the year;
• 🔶: the Apple Silicon version is under development, but it will not be released immediately;
• 🛑: no Apple Silicon version known for the moment.

Good resource.

UPDATE: This list on the MacRumors Forum is worth scanning, more comprehensive [H/T Maxim].

Arnold Kim, MacRumors:

The benchmarks confirm that the new ‌MacBook Air‌ SSD is approximately twice as fast as the previous model with 2190 MB/s writes and 2675 MB/s reads.

As promised by Apple, here:

The M1 chip’s storage controller and latest flash technology deliver up to 2x faster SSD performance

Apple promised a lot with these M1 chips, but everything I’ve read shows they’ve delivered on those promises. This is a major step forward.

Speaking of M1 benchmarks, follow the headline link to check out the Rosetta benchmarks. The Rosetta translates Intel apps so they can run on the M1. Though the translation takes time, I believe once the translation is done, the app runs at native M1 speeds.

My question (posted here if you happen to know the details): Is the translation saved in the app bundle so it only needs to be performed the first time the app is run? Also, is the translation redone each time the app is updated? Is this redo automated, or triggered when the user runs the app?

The Independent:

The company’s representatives kept stressing that fact throughout the announcement of the M1 and the three new computers that have it inside: they love the Mac, and they love these Macs. Soon after that event finished, some of Apple’s most senior executives – marketing chief Greg ‘Joz’ Joswiak, software boss Craig Federighi, hardware engineering leader John Ternus – spoke with The Independent to explain exactly why.

And:

Usually, a major advance in computing performance might add 20 or 30 per cent faster processing speed – but the new computers multiply that number by 10, with numbers showing that the computers as much as three times more powerful generally and up to 11 times faster at some tasks.

Apple is getting a lot of pushback on their claims, but see for yourself. Here’s my rollup of the single and multi-core Geekbench scores. The single core benchmark hovers at around 1700 (higher number is more powerful). For comparison, the latest Intel MacBook Pro lands a single core benchmark at about 1100.

Multicore score for the 2020 Intel-i5-based MacBook Air lands at around 2500. The M1 multicore around 7000. Jump over to the Geekbench browser and see for yourself. Look at the VirtualApple scores to see emulation scores, check out the GPU scores, too. Don’t take Apple’s word for it.

Even when he got his hands on the new computers, Joz says he “couldn’t believe it”.

“We overshot,” says Federighi. “You have these projects where, sometimes you have a goal and you’re like, ‘well, we got close, that was fine’.

“This one, part of what has us all just bouncing off the walls here – just smiling – is that as we brought the pieces together, we’re like, ‘this is working better than we even thought it would’.

“We started getting back our battery life numbers, and we’re like, ‘You’re kidding. I thought we had people that knew how to estimate these things’.”

This is a fun read. Nice to really love your job.

First things first, here’s a link to the Geekbench browser, with search set to “MacBookAir10,1”.

This will let you do the search yourself, see the MacBook Air results as they come in. As of this writing:

• Single-core scores range from 1656 to 1732
• Multi-core scores range from 6519 to 7545

Bigger numbers mean faster performance.

Next, I did a search for the “MacBook Pro (16-inch Late 2019)”. The fastest single-core score I could find was 1243, with most scores much lower than that. Fastest multi-core was 7191, again with most scores well below that.

Draw your own conclusions here, but I am excited about the possibilities here. I’m going to spend some time looking for GPU scores. Guessing the M1 will not perform as well as machines with discrete GPUs, but I may well be surprised.

Parallels blog:

It is important to note that currently available versions of Parallels® Desktop for Mac cannot run virtual machines on Mac with Apple M1 chip. Good news: A new version of Parallels Desktop for Mac that can run on Mac with Apple M1 chip is already in active development.

If you care about running Windows emulation on your Mac, this is worth reading. Worth noting, also, that Parallels is actively seeking M1 Mac owners to try out their Parallels M1 technical preview.

Sean Hollister, The Verge:

Apple’s new $999 and $1,299 laptops seem nearly identical if you look beyond the differently curved frames. They’ve got the same M1 processor, the same memory and storage options, the same ports, and very similar screens.

I’m not joking when I say: the biggest difference is a fan.

I actually prefer no fan, but there’s certainly value in a fan that lets a Mac run faster, longer:

A CPU’s thermal design power (TDP) in watts is a better predictor of performance than its gigahertz clock speed because some of the weakest laptop and phone chips can “boost” up to multiple gigahertz these days… until they heat up. In a small, fanless chassis, they have to throttle down quickly, but they can go for longer in a larger or better-cooled one.

Here’s a bullet list of the main differences between the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro:

• At $999, the MacBook Air comes with seven GPU cores instead of eight, because Apple is salvaging some weaker chips (a common process known as binning) by disabling one core.

• But at $1,249, the MacBook Air has the same eight CPU cores and eight GPU cores as the $1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro. The 13-inch MacBook Pro has a slightly larger battery (58.2Wh vs. 49.9Wh) and quotes two additional hours of battery life compared to the MacBook Air.

• The 13-inch MacBook Pro’s screen is slightly brighter at maximum (500 nits vs 400 nits).

• The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with the Touch Bar instead of physical function keys, though both have a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Good info. I went fanless.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

During today’s event where Apple unveiled the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, there was a mention of a new image signal processor for the camera, which brings some improvements to camera quality.

And:

Apple did not, however, add new camera hardware to the two machines, and the technical specifications pages continue to list the same 720p camera used in prior-generation models.

And:

Apple says the M1 chip improves MacBook camera quality with better noise reduction, greater dynamic range, improved auto white balance, and ML-enhanced face detection

Apple leaning into machine learning to overcome hardware limitations. All you need to do is look at the newer generation iPhones to see this in practice. I’ve got a new MacBook Air on the way, looking forward to seeing this in a controlled environment, Intel MacBook Pro side-by-side with M1 MacBook Air.

Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac:

Since Apple Silicon Macs will have the same processors as iPhone and iPad, Apple will let users download and install iOS apps on these Macs even if the developer doesn’t offer a specific version of the app for macOS.

Key point is the idea that you might have a choice between an Intel-built app running in some form of emulation on an Apple Silicon Mac or an iOS app running natively.

Although by default all iOS apps are available on the Mac App Store for Apple Silicon, the company is allowing developers to opt their iOS apps out of the new unified store.

And there’s the rub. According to this post, not all iOS apps will be available on the new Macs.

If you were expecting to watch YouTube on your new Mac with a native app, you’re out of luck. Google has chosen not to offer most of its apps on the Apple Silicon platform, and this also includes Google Maps, Google Drive, and Gmail apps. On the other hand, the Netflix app for iOS is still on track to be available on new Macs, as well as the HBO Max app.

This is life on a new platform. But over time, older Mac apps will either fade away, or rebuild for the new hardware. Over time, you’ll have all native apps, one way or the other.

Same as it ever was.

Nikkei Asia:

Apple is asking suppliers to produce 2.5 million MacBook laptops powered by its in-house designed CPU by early 2021 as the California tech giant looks to rapidly cut its reliance on Intel chips, sources have told Nikkei Asia.

These initial production orders for the first MacBooks to use the Apple Silicon central processing unit are equivalent to nearly 20% of total MacBook shipments for 2019, which came in at 12.6 million units, sources briefed on the matter said.

And:

Apple has said it intends to completely cut the use of Intel’s standard CPUs, which rivals HP, Dell, Lenovo and Asustek also use for their computers, in its MacBook lineup within two years.

First bit shows that Apple expects a big wave of orders for the coming Apple Silicon Macs. Makes sense. This is a big change, and the first time in many years that we expect a truly significant performance upgrade in a new generation of Macs.

My favorite Apple product rollouts are brand new product categories (like the original iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch), significant feature introductions (like Night mode or Face ID), or significant construction changes (a modular, snap together Mac, the move to aluminum cases, or the first flat sided iPhone).

One last category that excites me is the move to an entirely new processor family. This wave has occurred twice, with the move from the Motorola 68K to PowerPC back in 1994, then the move to Intel in 2006.

To me, the coming Mac adoption of Apple Silicon will bring the biggest impact of these waves, with the unification of the product lines to Apple’s own chip designs, along with the incredible performance increase with on-chip machine learning, making highly performant AI available throughout the product line.

Like 5G, this stuff is in its infancy. Looking forward to what Apple’s got in the pipeline.

Follow the headline link if you want the details. Move on if you don’t want even the slightest hint of what’s said to be coming. Suffice it to say that Apple has promised new Apple-silicon Macs this year, and next week’s event is the last chance to fulfill that promise.

One particular bit that struck me (move along if you don’t want a potential spoiler):

Apple engineers are currently developing a new Mac Pro that looks like the current design at about half the size. It’s unclear if that Mac will replace the current Mac Pro or if it’s an additional model.

I have my eyes (and budget) on the highest end laptop that Apple announces next week. But if Apple goes Pro? It’d be delightful to hear about a desktop (non-iMac) in my price range. The machine I am replacing is a machine I do a lot of development on. A desktop screamer would be absolutely perfect, give me the chance to buy more power without taking out a mortgage on the house.

Excited for next week.

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:

Intercom will enable family members to communicate with each other wherever they are in the home, with the ability to send and receive spoken messages via HomePod speakers. If a family member is in the garden or away from home, they can still use Intercom on their iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and even CarPlay.

No mention of Mac there. From Apple’s official HomePod mini release, in the section called “Smart Home Controls and New Intercom System”, there’s no mention of the Mac.

An oversight? Intentional omission?

You know all these tricks, I’m sure, but worth a scan, just in case. And pass this along to the newer Mac folks you support.

And don’t tell James Thomson. He might pull my PCalc license.

UPDATE: Dammit!!!

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors, on macOS Safari 14:

One of the most dramatic changes is the overhauled Start Page, which now includes a browsing privacy report, iCloud tabs, Siri suggestions, and more. It also features several customizable options, such as the ability to choose your own Start Page wallpaper.

If you fire up a new, blank page in Safari 14 (your “Start Page”), you’ll see an icon in the bottom-right corner of the page. Here’s an image so you know what to look for.

Click the icon, a pop-up will appear, filled with checkboxes to enable/disable various Start Page elements. You can also choose a Background Image from those presented, or click the + and select any image you like.

Except “Catalina Nights.heic”. Don’t choose that one. You’ve been warned.

As you can see from the article (there, at the bottom) this came up for me this morning. But it does happen often enough to make me follow Ben’s advice and change my Safari settings.

Interestingly, my settings are slightly different than those in the article. I am running Catalina, but have the new Safari 14 update installed. No matter, the change is purely wording, subbing Blocked for Deny.

Side note, this was an artifact of a rogue Google ad. In the past, when this has happened, I’ve seen some bizarre behavior/popups. This one was caught by Apple’s latest blockers. Excellent work.

Back in March, Dan Moren wrote an excellent post on macOS Safari, and switching tab behavior, so new tabs open at the end, instead of immediately after the current tab.

This involves enabling the Debug menu (not to be confused with the Develop menu, which is exposed in Safari Settings > Advanced).

In a nutshell, to enable the Debug menu, hop into Terminal and type:

defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu YES

Relaunch Safari, and take a look at the last two submenus in the newly appearing Debug menu: Tab Ordering and Tab Features. Good to know.

Interested in some under the hood details of the Defaults mechanism, and moving Prefs files? Check out this writeup from Jeff Johnson.

A nice little collection. If you know every one of these, you’re likely the support person for everyone else in your fam, so pass these along.

Side note: Know of a definitive collection of macOS and/or iOS tips? I mean, a really nicely organized, searchable collection. If so, please ping me. This post just made me hungry for something exhaustive.

Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac:

It was suggested earlier this week that we might see an Apple Silicon 12-inch MacBook before the end of the year, as one of Apple’s first ARM-powered Macs.

If the report is true, I’ve already talked myself into buying one.

I’m in the same boat as Ben. Read his whole post but, for me, the focus is:

If the 15-20 hour battery-life claim is true, this is a machine I would absolutely use as a supplement to my MBP. Especially as, with an A-series processor, that claimed battery life might be accurate. In general, I find MacBooks deliver around 50-60% of their claimed life in real usage, while my iPad meets or even exceeds the claimed life.

There are two Apple devices I own with all-day battery life: My iPhone 11 Pro (barely) and my Apple Watch. At the end of the day (say, 15 hours of use), my iPhone is typically in the red (< 20%) but my Apple Watch is typically good for a second day (about 75% left).

My Mac? I’m lucky if I get 4 hours out of it. It lives plugged in. So a MacBook with all day battery life? That’d be enough to change my habits. I’d carry it around with me. Especially if it was less than a kilogram.

Sign me up.

I have done this so many times in Photoshop. Amazing to read that I can do this in Preview. Will definitely be giving this a try.

Inc:

Google Chrome has been the most popular web browser on both Macs and PCs for a long time. There’s really no question that compared to what came before, it was a huge step forward and made web browsing a noticeably better experience.

But, and let’s be honest here, Chrome has its problems. It sucks battery life and processing power out of your laptop and it’s definitely not the fastest web browser anymore. It also does far less than other browsers to protect your privacy and keep your data secure.

I know a lot of people who stuck with Chrome, partly for the extensions, partly for the 4K, and in spite of the battery suck.

Which brings us back to macOS 11, and the latest version of Safari, which comes with a bunch of updates that not only make browsing the web faster and safer, but more productive as well.

Make no mistake, all of these changes are a direct assault on Google’s dominance the web. There are very few things you can do online that don’t touch at least one of Google’s services, and Apple would very much like to change that.

Interesting take. Wonder if these new Safari features and efficiencies will be enough do sway users from Chrome back to Safari.

This particular rabbit hole dive started with this Reddit post:

I have owned macs for around 15 years and I have never had an issue more than this machine. Last night I finally got time to look into why my machine would not update to 10.15.6.

I tried everything: combo installer, safe mode, external USB, clean install. All failed, even the clean install, and I was only able to get back in because I had a time machine back up.

Called Apple this morning and they looked at my logs and said it was the T2 security ship (I hate this thing).

In a nutshell, the Reddit poster was instructed to bring their Mac in to the Apple Store to have the T2 chip re-flashed. Rather than do that, they turned to Google, found this Apple support article, which allowed them to reset the T2 chip.

Follow the headline link, take a look at the images to get a sense of the change. I definitely prefer the darker Dark Mode.