https://liliputing.com/2020/06/bloomberg-apple-could-announce-arm-based-mac-c...

Bloomberg: Apple could announce ARM-based Mac chips later this month.

After years of rumors and speculation that Apple would eventually ditch Intel and start making its own processors for Mac computers, Bloomberg reports that Apple is almost ready to make the move — and could make an official announcement later this month.

An earlier Bloomberg report suggested that the first Mac processor will be a 12-core ARM-based processor featuring 8 high-performance “Firestorm” CPU cores and 4 energy-efficient “Icestorm” cores, and the most recent report indicates that we can also expect some special-purpose cores for graphics and neural processing/artificial intelligence.

We now know a lot more about ARM's PC capable cores and it appears that Apple is using slightly tweeked ARM standard cores in various combinations to achieve their long time goal of getting away from Intel.

Both Apple and Qualcomm are making their first moves now  with the larger oriental phone boys holding back a tad until the primo pricing from ARM drops a bit.      

JC, In buying one of these store bought Linux computers please be aware of two things.

YOU NEED TO BUY THE UBUNTU VERSION IF YOU PLAN TO FLIP IT TO MINT.

Next, unless you just want a new unit, it still is most cost effective to keep what you have and only upgrade individual components as that becomes needed.

Next. now since you are getting past the "I need to be able to dual boot Win 10 to feel safe" stage, suddenly all sorts of used older machines become available to you for peanuts.    Once you know that sticking in your current Mint DVD will generally fix any issues with any old piece of crap you have lying around you realize you can pick up an older unit and revitalize it for the same effort as just letting Mint fully install itself and take over the entire hard drive.

You are beginning to realize that MS intentionally "breaks" your old hardware on purpose in hopes that  you will buy a brand new MS rig to fix all your MS installed reliability issues.  

Simply installing Linux is sooooo much better and soooooo much cheaper than buying a new Windows PC ........

I mentioned my wife's last machine was a bought on purpose old Dell 780 big desktop tower unit that was running a very early version of Windows 10 Pro (one that does not get anything other than critical bug upgrades) .....  I bought it a year or so ago with 10 years of use on it for a princely sum of $69 ---- and that box is still running great at this time and meets all my wife's needs as it is.  

She will never need another computer ever again .....

I am also amazed at all the technical progress you can buy embodied in a used machine for those "less than $100 prices".   I splurged and upgraded her memory to 8 gigs for $10 additional total investment, so her Intel quad core processor is now memory stuffed full as a tick for any use that she will ever have for it.

My wife is fully retired now and only heats up her big Dell to retrieve and to resend some school files to one of her old teacher buddies, apart from that she can live very handily on her Android phone and on her Fire 8 tablet both of which are sitting in pocket holders at her TV seat in the den.

During her last 6 months of COVID teaching, she was teaching from home through her old big box Dell and she was using my even older Dell Linux Mint box as her disaster backup.  

What her and her buddies really really liked was that my Mint box could read their "broken" unreadable files off their USB memory sticks and could bulk recover the files off of them.   Ditto for all those "bad files" from earlier revisions that MS Office simply wouldn't open any longer.  

Linux Libre Office isn't using MS to read those files, and Linux Libre Office can read and write any of the old file type versions of MS Office, a trick MS wants to sell you a $400 Office Adder Pack to be able to do the older translations in Windows now-a-days.

Now a retrospect on Linux Mint


Mint was born because Ubuntu screwed the pooch really big time in running off after an Apple/MS look & feel and also by chasing some very modern Gnome versions of systems stuff that quite simply were not yet quite ready for prime time.

Originally, Mint just used last year's Ubuntu Gnome and then simply stayed back one-two year levels in Gnome space in general, yes just one-two years back in time going back to when everything worked seamlessly and well.   Then Clem and the boys added back in all the current proprietary drivers and good stuff that their users wanted, and they carefully blended the new stuff right into the distro itself, not just tacked on at the end the way Ubuntu did it.

Then Mint got the idea of STAYING on the most recent best most stable Ubuntu Gnome LTS Release and using it as their core for the next 3 years running before picking the next best of the best of the "current Ubuntu LTS crop" all over again.   This acted to buffer out all the wild direction swings coming out of Shuttleworth's egomanical gyrations over at Ubuntu Central.

This has continued for on 10 years now with Mint staying focused on what their users wanted and adding entire levels of polish to the very best stuff that Ubuntu had put out.  

Thus Mint became "the most popular distro" for over 5 years running by doing this very simple customer based "polish the best of the best" focus .....

Ubuntu folks as a group weren't stupid, and Mark Shuttleworth got point blank told by his own people to stop with all his "dictator for life"  egotistical crap and to crank up a ruling council of all the sub-distros that ran off of Ubuntu and to only do those things that the whole council wanted done.  

Thus, all the sub-distros were used as a functional handbrake on Shuttleworth's egomaniac direction swings.

In the last 3 years, this council has lead Ubuntu as a mass group in some very correct directions and Ubuntu has improved to the point that arguably Mint is no longer as direly needed a thing like it used to be.

Then Mark Shuttleworth's egomania got loose again just recently and he went and got into bed with Microsoft in a big big way, so now Linux Mint is feeling needed all over again.  

Microsoft and Intel have a Clear Linux of their very own now and it is becoming evident that MS has realized Windows 10 using MS code is going to be "too broken to survive" for too much longer.   Clear Linux offers Wintel a path forward that allows them to ditch all the Windows Legacy crap that has been such a burden on MS these past 10 years or so.  

Shuttleworth and Ubuntu are key elements in the Wintel boys plans for future world dominance, so you can watch that situation unfold over the next 5 years or so ......  

Wintel intends to sell you a free FOSS software that they have tweeked so it gives somewhat better test results --- and then they want to charge you a yearly fee to "keep it running well".

Meanwhile, any MS tweek worth the effort to take has already been incorporated into the Linux Kernel by Linus and his boys --- yep, all the goody has already gone off into everybody's Linux stuff already.   Plus, by incorporating Linux code into Clear Linux,  Linus and his boys now have legal access to all the various parts of Clear Linux that have been locked up by secrecy until now.   (put FOSS code into your stuff and your old stuff legally becomes FOSS code from then on).

As old style Intel and MS (Wintel) slowly winds down you will see things begin to shift in new ways, with ARM processors becoming more predominant with mainstream users .......  with RISC-V chipsets then rising up to be the new "upstart threats" to the new old school boys.

Linux is simply better stuff that works better at this point in time ...... as such Linux will become more and more predominant over time, with Intel and Microsoft using Mark Shuttleworth as their "pet mouthpiece" simply because Mark Shuttleworth needs his ego stroked continually by somebody ...... and Wintel desperately needs the Linux community and all their various better running software simply to continue to survive for the next 10 years.

https://ir.amd.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amd-expands-3rd-gen-amd...


SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)

Intel loses the single thread performance crown again  .... yep, again ....   Last time Intel lost the single thread performance crown Intel had IMMEDIATELY cheated on the Passmark benchmark test and had conspired with Passmark's CEO and CTO to tweek all the systems optimizations for the Passmark speed tests  to totally favor Intel so that Passmark would once again report Intel as "being #1 on single thread performance" despite the processors themselves remaining completely unchanged.

So AMD has replied to this muddled benchmarking mess by simply upping their AMD processor chiplet speed some more to take the single thread performance crown back again, legitimately, no matter which tests are used.    

AMD also issued fixes for any issues with their  PCIe® 4.0 motherboards with a BIOS upgrade that fine tuned all the large numbers of extra width data pathways on their PCIe® 4.0 motherboards.

This week AMD also announced the redesigned StoreMI PCIe® 4.0 storage acceleration software with a new UI and enhanced acceleration algorithm.

And then AMD came out with a complete optimization driver package of their own that was a for serious, for real functional speed ups on all AMD motherboard functions ---- not just a simple smoke and mirrors tweek as Intel had done the previous quarter for their existing unchanged PCIe® 3.0 processors resting on Intel motherboards that totally lack any high speed extra wide PCIe® 4.0 data path sets or any of the other state of the art features.    

And then today AMD has announced a whole new line of simply faster more data efficient XT processors to use all of the above.

-- Today, AMD announced three new additions to the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen desktop processor family – the AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT, AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT and AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT processors. Introducing XT branding for the first time to the Ryzen family of processors, the new AMD Ryzen 3000XT desktop processors are purpose-built to maximize performance under any workload. Expanding on the award-winning 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processor family, 3000XT series desktop processors are optimized with higher boost frequencies to deliver elite-level performance that dominates gaming and content creation.

Today also marks worldwide availability of the AMD B550 chipset, the first mainstream chipset with support for PCIe® 4.0. Available in a variety of motherboard form factors, the AMD B550 chipset is perfect for high-speed performance in both gaming and multitasking. Additionally, AMD announced the A520 chipset for socket AM4 and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen desktop processors with more than 40 designs in development. Alongside these new chipset and processors, AMD also announced the redesigned StoreMI storage acceleration software with a new UI and enhanced acceleration algorithm.

“At AMD, we are committed to listening closely to our customers and the enthusiast community to deliver leadership products,” said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, client business unit. “With AMD Ryzen 3000XT processors, we’re making additional optimizations to the 7nm manufacturing process to deliver industry leading single-thread performance and more choice and flexibility for enthusiasts.1”

AMD Ryzen 3000XT Series Processors

Building upon the legacy established by the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processor family, the 3000XT Series processors elevate the world-class “Zen 2” architecture with an optimized 7nm manufacturing process technology to offer higher boost frequency and increased performance at the same TDPs of their Ryzen 3000 counterparts.

The AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT offers:

Up to 4% increase in single-threaded performance over AMD Ryzen 3000 desktop processors
Up to 40% more power efficiency than the competition

NAME                  CORES/TREADS      SPEED        min/max    SOCKET     $$$       SHIP DATE
AMD Ryzen™ 9 3900XT     12/24     Up to 4.7/3.8      70      105      AM4      $499      July 7, 2020
AMD Ryzen™ 7 3800XT      8/16      Up to 4.7/3.9      36      105      AM4      $399      July 7, 2020
AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600XT      6/12      Up to 4.5/3.8      35        95      AM4      $249      July 7, 2020


As TSMC gets better and better at making the AMD chiplets at 7nm,  AMD has slowly ramped up on their assembled processor speeds and output power to reliably use some of the increases in AMD chiplet efficiency.

This "performance ooze up" now has the 12 core Ryzen 9 running at speeds up at 4.7 ghz at the exact same price as before.

The new performance levels (should you choose to run at them up that high as NOTHING that you currently do really requires that much 12 core grunt power anywhere in the consumer compute space) it will simply mean you have to use an improved aftermarket cooler.  

Once again, AMD ships with a Wraith cooler that can handle anything right up to next to the very very highest output settings, but if you max it all out to the max a better aftermarket cooler has to be part of that maxed to the max solution to keep your improved processor from throttling and snatching away that last 4% of gilt edge from your outrageous rig's performance.

Why the need for the better cooler?   AMD watts draw increases from 95 to 105 at the close to 5 ghz speeds up at the gilt edge zone.   Intel watts draw starts out at 125-135 watts for a 10 core Comet Lake something or another that does not even get close to this 12 core AMD chipset's performance/efficiency/cost envelope.

Can we say "splitting some fine hairs" three times fast ????

Interestingly, the next major TSMC production lithography bump to 5nm that is planned for early next year will put AMD's processor chiplet speeds at over 5 ghz with the 12 core's power draw all the way back down around 90-95 watts.

You will likely not be paying a lot of attention to this wattage stuff at that point in time, as going from 2 threads per core to 4 threads per core and the large extra amount of on-chip memory space (memory is doubling/tripling) and the data path counts and data path width doubling on the data pathways, etc. etc. etc. will make a lot more of a splash next year when the 5nm chiplets and the new consumer and the new rack space processor architectures  roll out.   Big big changes are coming next year and AMD will outstrip Intel even further, at least as far next year as they did this past year.

Right now AMD has a nice fat 40% multi-core throughput lead, a considerable 40% efficiency lead and a slight 4% win on single core throughput (that's right now, this week when comparing best to the best processors when both are using aftermarket coolers).


Intel has nothing to compete with this, nothing at all --- neither real for right now nor theoretically planned for next year.    And no, it does not look good for Intel as Intel cannot readily sell their latest processors right now because they really are strongly inferior to AMD's current offerings.

And Intel is at least 20+% MORE EXPENSIVE than AMD at any comparative level.

Things will get noticeably worse for Intel next year when the AMD 5nm chiplets roll out.    It is certainly bad enough for Intel right now as they have already lost approximately half the "new design" desktop PC market at this point and are busy losing a third of the laptop market through the end of this year.

Note most all graphics below tend to lag six months to a year due to large lags in the data sources ---- Mindshare data however does not lag more than a quarter or so, so you can use Mindshare sales data as a "trend predictor" for all the rest of the slower responding industry wide graphical metrics.


https://www.techradar.com/news/amd-dominates-intel-in-cpu-sales-at-least-acco...

https://www.techradar.com/news/amds-ryzen-cpu-sales-are-totally-destroying-in...

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/market_share.html

https://hexus.net/business/news/components/143269-mindfactory-data-shows-amd-...

Various irate BS discussions on various boards indicates a changing viewpoint on Intel's integrity.


Intel responds with Tiger Lake and Comet Lake, chipsets that are claimed by Intel to be comparable to AMD's best and Apple's best.   Ditto for the laptop Lakefield that just came out.

Neither are really competitive at all ..... even using Intel's Foveros technique of stacking whole chipsets on top of each other.

Judging solely from the AMD match up to 10nm Comet Lake and the fact that Tiger Lake is still an older 14nm technology Intel simply does not have what they claim to have in "comparable processors".

Apple will roll out 5nm chipsets faster than anybody else (Apple actually paid to develop the 5nm TSMC pc chip sized processes and they will get first call on the larger PC production capacity lines at TSMC for at least one more year).   This means that after 6 years Intel is still throwing up 14nm chipsets and "still has yield issues" on their 10nm chipsets against much more technically capable competitors from AMD and Apple, competitors that get better and better on a two year cycle.

Intel is lying constantly and pretty badly to their distributor and customer base (playing games with speed test optimizations and weaponizing every industry standard they can get control of) and Intel is now getting recognized now by the PC press for this sort of repeated evil BS.    

Apple is still calling for an impartial standards body to be created to develop new speed tests and new ranking methodologies, and if Apple and AMD wrest control of that standards body away from Intel then Intel will no longer be able to hide their "magic minute" 20-30% initial temperature throttling issues nor the 20% performance hit that Intel still takes from all of Intel's various security mitigations that are required due to all of Intel's past bad choices.

The Intel customer base needs to have Intel's black bag taken away from them so they can finally clearly see the relatively poorer stuff they have been buying AT A PREMIUM PRICE for the last few years.

Tom's Hardware now reports two numbers for Intel processor tests, one before warm up and one after the test chipset is fully warmed up.    Intel has sic'd their crowds of lawyers after Tom's Hardware for reporting these numbers as Intel isn't even on the playing field to their latest speed and throughput claims once the chipsets warm up for a single minute.



This graphic is pretty old now, but information from last generation AMD vs the then current bogus Intel claims still shows the scope of the effect of the "magic minute" on Intel processor performance and the very strong need for benchmarking reforms.



Various irate BS discussions on various boards indicates a changing viewpoint on Intel's integrity.

https://liliputing.com/2020/06/macs-with-arm-chips-wont-support-boot-camp.html



But things between Intel and Apple certainly look very strained and very very different with this move to ARM.

As Apple prepares to launch the first Macs with Apple Silicon, the company already has a big lead over their competition. Benchmarks show that the chips used in recent iPhones and iPads outperform anything produced by Qualcomm, Samsung, Huawei, Mediatek, or other companies producing ARM chips for mobile devices. And since Apple makes both the hardware and software for its devices, it can make sure the operating system takes full advantage of the chips (and vice versa).

Apple apparently feels that old Wintel software isn't worth the effort supporting it going forward ---- and that all the mass of software that was written for Wintel x86 simply isn't worth keeping --- at all.

Considering the ongoing mass of security and functional issues that keep coming up from the use of legacy Wintel software, this is likely a good decision on Apple's part just to dump it all in the dust bin.

My wife's Wintel computer has issues that crop up constantly at a relatively slow rate ...... and with the imminent death of Flash related items starting in a few months you are looking at another large wave of Wintel software indigestion heading right at you.  

Many old Wintel softwares had Adobe Flash in there as a background structural member ....... and these softwares will just stop working sporadically so planning to move over to another operating system starting right about now simply makes sense.

Me. I'd go over to Linux as Linux supports your existing hardware and it will roll forward into the future just dandy with ongoing full support levels and it will COST A WHOLE LOT LESS than buying a whole new set of Apple stuff.

My bet is you will see Clear Linux being pushed forward by the Wintel boys as their "future tech pathway" out of simple necessity.    



Remember, Wintel's pay me support for Clear Linux will cost you exactly what Windows 10 support did in years past ....   and you will be paying MS $$$ to send you what is actually completely free FOSS software upgrades.

https://liliputing.com/2020/06/microsoft-is-closing-all-of-its-retail-stores....

Microsoft is closing all of its retail stores



Almost 11 years after opening its first bricks and mortar retail store, Microsoft had 83 stores around the world at the start of this year.

Microsoft says it will take a $450 million loss due to the closing of its stores.

Now the company says it’s closing them all and instead shift its focus to online sales through the existing Microsoft.com as well as the Microsoft Store apps for Windows and Xbox.


Sounds like MS is going to abandon all physical brick and mortar type sales of product and not have any real retail presence beyond the Best Buy and the Office Depot sorts of stores.

If you won't buy an ongoing service agreement (Office 365, etc.) on-line then MS has no use for you,  really.  

MS only wants to do "single item sales" now when you are buying a new computer .....   and then the start up routine of the brand new machine leads you into signing up with a MS ongoing service agreement (complete with nag screens that pop up to remind you to complete your sign up).

I predict MS will start supplying a temporary 90 day license with the newly built machines, giving you just enough use time to go on-line and get all signed up with a Windows or Office 365 service package.

A day will come when your machine will actually come with PoP OS (or some other Ubuntu derived software like Clear Linux) that is pre-loaded on the box itself simply to get you going long enough to get on line.  

And if you want to pay for Windows, well you can personally go to Mickey on line and sign your life away on your very own.   Your machine builder will no longer want to spend the $$$ Mickey wants for the temporary license to boot Windows for the first short period.