Thread: 2019 iMac
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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2019-03-13, 10:19

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
I think we are putting too much emphasis on emulation. Apple's switch to ARM on the Mac is already well underway, and most of the "emulation" has been replaced with a direct development environment that is both happy and profitable.

That environment is called "iOS".

Keep in mind that I am not talking about UI, here. Rather, I am talking about the development of native ARM code that is happening amongst most major applications. Microsoft, Adobe, etc. are already on board with ARM code for their major applications, (you can bank on them knowing where Apple is headed, and it isn't toward Intel's roadmap). Office (not the full suite, mind you, but a good chunk of it) is already running on ARM, and so is a good chunk of Adobe's stuff, including the full-blown desktop version of Photoshop (due later this year), new 3D modeling tools, etc. In fact, all of the world's most popular apps are already running on ARM.
iOS has run on x86 from day one. Even on PowerPC, in fact.

Most apps in general don't get developed in an architecture-specific way. And for iOS in particular, the iOS Simulator has always been that: a simulator, not an emulator.

You can do architecture-specific stuff, particularly for high-performance code, but this is nowhere near the same kind of concern as it was in the 1990s.

So, yes, we have outside evidence that third parties have already started making apps work on ARM, but that isn't really a surprise nor was it likely to be a daunting task.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
Also, the iPad Pro is the experimental Ax platform that Apple is using to provide developers with top of the line ARM chips that offer performance at least at or near the low/middle end of x86. This does several things. First, it gives developers a look at high-end ARM systems; second, it provides a profitable medium for software development and experimentation; third, with Marzipan (upcoming) it offers developers a way to reach every customer Apple has, regardless of the platform.
I believe you're overthinking this. Marzipan will have almost zero architecture-specific code. You can run built-in iOS apps in x86, today. You could all the way back in 10.5 Leopard. Just launch the Simulator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
Basically, when Apple pushes the Mac OS-on-ARM button, the software will already be there with no need for emulation. iPad Pro's powerful architecture will see to that. Apple has very carefully lured their entire developer network into the next major transition, most of them unknowingly. Office is [mostly] ready; Adobe CS is [mostly] ready; games and social media apps are [mostly] ready.
None of that helps me. We'll likely be thrust back to the PowerPC days where running Windows meant an emulator, and an emulator meant sluggishness. That means for my job it's almost certainly a non-starter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
The next transition will be [mostly] seamless, and entirely free of any emulation environment,
If Apple does ship no affordances for emulation whatsoever, it'll be nice, I suppose, to see that their priorities are no longer aligned with mine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
As far as high-end systems are concerned, I am guessing Apple will solve the issue simply by chucking lots of cheap Ax cores at the problem.
That's not how any of this works.
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