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Linux support is coming to Snapdragon X2 series

625 points · 273 comments · aaronday

  1. wslh · · focus · HN ↗
    Funny how Qualcomm is juggling three OSes to sell these chips while Apple just stuck a phone chip in the Neo and called it a day. Controlling the chip, the OS, and the actual computer is a huge advantage. Apple is more than one study case on competitive analysis.
    1. bigyabai · · focus · HN ↗
      What advantage? I'm always a bit shocked to see people say this without qualifying it at all.

      On the contrary, Apple has to do a lot of greenfield work by refusing standards like UEFI, Vulkan and normal filesystems. They end up reinventing the wheel just to support the same featureset that Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD and Intel all generally planned for.

      1. lunar_rover · · focus · HN ↗
        Advantage of commitment and integration. Apple doesn't need to worry about critical vendors not cooperating because sticking with x86 is less risky.
        1. bigyabai · · focus · HN ↗
          Apple didn't have to worry about that when they supported cross-industry standardization efforts. The only reason dGPUs are broken on macOS is because of Apple's software choices.
          1. Danox · · focus · HN ↗
            You sound very ridiculous. Why is Apple obligated? to follow Nvidia? or AMD? or Microsoft for that matter?

            Intel said no to designing iPhone chips, IBM and Motorola couldn’t see a future of faster/better chips to meet the demands of future tech devices, Apple with that crazy CEO, Steve Jobs? Had to go it alone and the rest is history.

            The Apple Silicon design group appears to be on a roll. What next? Bringing memory in house? I think they will. Because that will be the only way they can build the devices they want to build at a reasonable price going forward.

            Before you yell no what is it about the last 28 years have you missed? They seem to be able to execute long-range projects when it comes to hardware and software in comparison to their tech peers, looking forward to the M7 ultra, in-house memory and the C3 modem.

            1. bigyabai · · focus · HN ↗
              I didn't say they were obligated. I just said that they didn't have these problems when Apple was a cooperative member of industry-spanning consortium efforts.

              > What next? Bringing memory in house? I think they will.

              It's okay to say that you don't know anything about chip fabrication, instead of making silly assumptions like this.

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