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M5 Ultra Mac Studio Review

269 points · 262 comments · piotrgrabowski

  1. sghiassy · · focus · HN ↗
    Imagine spending a trillion dollars on data centers and then reading this article. Nightmare fuel for OpenAI
    1. whalesalad · · focus · HN ↗
      For 99.99% of people, spending 15 grand on a Mac Studio just to run Qwen 3.8 locally is a non starter.
      1. jmull · · focus · HN ↗
        It's not the M5 Ultra itself, but the M7s or M9s that will do the damage.

        99% of people will use whatever AI is free. The sophisticated, heavy users that are willing and able to pay a lot of money the ones that will be interested in controlling their inference bills.

        Today, the sweet spot where an M5 Ultra makes sense is tiny. But we might expect that to grow a lot.

        1. BatFastard · · focus · HN ↗
          Anthropic is reporting 100 Billion ARR.

          Even if you could get a frontier model, you would not be able to run it on any Mac. So speculating on what M7 or M9 will achieve in 5 years (if we even still exist) seems pointless.

          1. sghiassy · · focus · HN ↗
            Do you need a frontier model to write emails, check your calendar, search the web?

            I don’t think Apple is going to lie down and cede AI to the cloud.

            1. geodel · · focus · HN ↗
              > Do you need a frontier model to write emails, check your calendar, search the web?

              How about writing mail to President and senators on AI doomsday scenario if frontier labs do not pace themselves?

              That mini model on mac mini would scared to hell to do such thing. It need that rugged frontier model to speak truth to power.

            2. BatFastard · · focus · HN ↗
              True, but do you need a 10,000 dollar machine to do so?

              I would love to find an excuse to buy a 10,000 dollar machine! But I cant find one yet. My current cloud bill is in excess of 400 USD per month. Just can't achieve frontier model capabilities locally.

              1. sghiassy · · focus · HN ↗
                I think in 5 years (aka before OpenAI can pay off all its debt) a lot of AI will be running on your iPhone
                1. bigyabai · · focus · HN ↗
                  People thought that 5 years ago, too. OpenAI has competitors to worry about, but Apple isn't one of them.
      2. beastman82 · · focus · HN ↗
        at 15 tok/s
      3. sghiassy · · focus · HN ↗
        Yes, but in 7 years?
        1. whalesalad · · focus · HN ↗
          In 7 years we will probably all be living under ground fighting skynet with plasma rifles made out of old microwave parts
          1. fragmede · · focus · HN ↗
            You will. Some of us are going to be already ground into dust that the microwave parts are made out of. Others will be locked into our communism cubes with our daily allotment of entertainment and sustinece. let out into the sunlight for only 30 minutes per day.
          2. sghiassy · · focus · HN ↗
            I’ve watched Terminator 2 extensively. I am prepared
      4. Danox · · focus · HN ↗
        Not for some of those well-connected high school, college kids, whose parents are rolling in it, the next generation of talented Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg’s and others are coming up… Guess what they’re gonna get for Christmas?
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