f there’s a single, critical metric
by which Apple in the M1 age
has an advantage, it’s efficiency. The
10-core CPU in its most powerful
M1 chip maxes out at around 40
watts of power consumption. Intel’s
highest performing comparable
laptop processor, the Core i9-
12900HK guzzles up to 115 watts.
The desktop Intel Core i9-12900K
can hit a scary 250 watts or more.
Even the rumored quad-die
monster Apple is planning for itsEFFICIENCY & BATTERY LIFE
WINNER
There’s no
doubting
the stunning
efficiency of
Apple silicon.I
next Mac Pro desktop machine
won’t get anywhere near that.
Back in laptop machines, the
efficiency of Apple silicon has been
a revelation. Adding the M1 to the
MacBook Air while retaining the
same chassis and similar all-round
specifications saw battery life leap to
as much as 14 hours. That’s roughly
a 50 percent boost compared to the
outgoing Intel-powered Air. The M1
13-inch MacBook Pro is even better,
notching up 16 hours or more.As if the software war
between MacOS and Windows
wasn’t tough enough already,
things just got a whole lot
more complicated. It’s all
down to the increasing
convergence of Macs and
PCs on the one hand and
smartphones on the other.
Apple’s recent move to
using its own silicon has
allowed iPhone apps to
run natively on the latest
M1-powered Macs. To
counter that, Microsoft has
collaborated with Amazon
to add the ability to run
Android apps on Windows 11.
Technically, it’s been made
possible thanks to Intel’s
Bridge tech, which recompiles
in real-time apps made for the
ARM chips in Android devices
so that they can run on x86 PC
processors.
Amazon comes into
the equation because it’s
Amazon’s App store being
integrated into the Windows
Store as the conduit for
Android apps, rather than
Google’s Play Store. Anyway,
this feature is so fresh and
new, it’s too early to comment
on how effective and useful it
will be. More or less the same
can be said for iPhone apps on
MacOS. It’s early days.
What we will say, however,
is that Apple has several
obvious advantages in this
area. Not only are Macs and
iPhones now based on theWINDOWS AND ANDROID GET IT ON
same underlying ARM architecture,
but Apple has total control over the
software on its platforms.
In theory, most, if not all,
modern PCs should be powerful
enough to run smartphone apps,
even if they require transcoding onthe fly. However, the sort of
attention to detail and polish
that will make smartphone
apps reliable and enjoyable to
use on a larger computer will
be more easily achieved for
Apple than Microsoft.The new 14-inch and 16-inch
MacBook Pro models deliver similar
battery life while also packing true
desktop-class performance, a trick
that high-performance PC laptops
struggle with. Much of that is thanks
to the fact that Apple silicon is based
on the ARM instruction set, which is
expressly architected for efficiency,
while PC processors drag with them
an awful lot of x86 baggage from the
days before ultramobile PCs were
even imagined.It remains to be seen whether anyone actually wants to use TikTok on a laptop...APR 2022 MAXIMU MPC 53
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