Apple M1 Chip

Some Thoughts About The M4 Chip

Apple’s launch week was lost to the brouhaha over the “Crush” ad. As I explained last week, the real cause of this ad with poor taste is an outcome of the tyranny of large numbers, which is also not just an Apple problem. During Apple’s Lost Week, there was an announcement that was of primary interest to me — the new M4 chip. Apple announced a new iPad Pro with an M4 chip.

I have been following the M-chips since the day they were announced. While they seem routine now, they were revolutionary and brought a new approach to computing chips when they were launched. Even their rivals have joined the party since then — just look at the press releases from Intel, Qualcomm, and Microsoft. Here are quick highlights about the M4 chip:

  • M4 is built using second-gen 3nm technology, advancing power efficiency.
  • New display engine for precision, color accuracy, and brightness of Ultra Retina XDR display.
  • Up to 10-core CPU with 1.5 times faster vs. M2
  • 10-core GPU with dynamic caching, ray tracing, and mesh shading.
  • 16-core

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Magic Keyboard w/TouchID: is it worth it?

After five years of daily usage, the keyboard that came with my 2017 iMac Pro started to show its age. I mean, there is nothing wrong with it — just that the keys have become too soft. It has developed a certain patina — which is great on leather accessories but not as appealing on a keyboard. Or at least that’s the excuse I am using to justify spending a whopping $149 on the new Magic Keyboard with TouchID.

The new keyboard(s) is designed to work with devices powered by the M1 chips, and you need the latest version of Apple’s operating system. You can use the new Magic Keyboard with the Intel-based Macs, but the Touch ID doesn’t work with those machines. Also, instead of getting one with a numeric keypad, I ordered a smaller non-numeric version. Why? I wanted something that would work well with my home machine

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Thinking about the new iPad

The last time I bought a new iPad Pro was at the end of 2018, and I have been patiently waiting to order the new model with the M1 chip. Despite waking up very early on the April 30th morning to buy one from Apple’s website, I will still have to wait a few months to actually hold my new device. It looks like delivery is going to be sometime in late June 2021 or early July 2021. Whether it be for work or entertainment, I almost always prefer to use an iPad, so the wait is going to feel agonizingly long.

By the way, while shopping around, I noticed something a bit surprising about my new purchase. It turns out that the fully loaded 12.9-inch iPad Pro is currently the most expensive M1 portable computer you can buy. You pay more for the fully specked out 12.9-inch screen iPad

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