Thread

1. _pdp_ · 1791151663 · focus · HN ↗

   I don't understand why you would want to remove well-balanced and relatively small local-inference models that ship with every mac.

   Sure, not frontier levels but fine for basic tasks and they are off-the-cloud.

   1. zanderwohl · 1791152419 · focus · HN ↗

      Because the Macbook Air still comes with only 512 GB of SSD in its default config. A feature that you rarely use probably isn't worth even 1/50th of your meager storage.

      1. Gigachad · 1791168214 · focus · HN ↗

         The neo comes with 256gb, which would be fine if they used it sparingly, I don't have any issue with this much storage on my phone, but on macos the space just gets eaten up by junk and is hard to manage.

         1. zanderwohl · 1791184718 · focus · HN ↗

            I love the Neo for what it does at its price point, but on the other hand it's absolute robbery to have a 256 gb SSD and an 8 gb or 12 gb or whatever RAM. MacOS totally uses less RAM than Windows, but man. It's still not enough in this day and age.

            1. dansquizsoft · 1791186506 · focus · HN ↗

               I can confirm from personal experience that the Neo slaps and your perspective is uninformed.

               1. fauigerzigerk · 1791189979 · focus · HN ↗

                  It's not just a question of experience though. The Neo can be perfectly sufficient for you right now but that doesn't change the fact that Apple obsoletes devices based on RAM.

                  E.g., the iPhone 15, released 3 years ago, doesn't get Apple Intelligence because it has just 6GB of RAM.

                  I wouldn't buy a device that is already at the very lowest end of supported hardware the day it's released. It could cut the years of meaningful OS upgrades by half or perhaps even by two thirds.

                  It's uneconomical.

                  1. dansquizsoft · 1791193132 · focus · HN ↗

                     I've already got my money's worth out of my Neo, so I'm not stressed.
                  2. wallst07 · 1791194028 · focus · HN ↗

                     >doesn't get Apple Intelligence because it has just 6GB of RAM.

                     This sounds like a feature to me: Apple should provide a upgrade path that disables AI for older hardware that can't run it, and thus not download the models.

            2. mschuster91 · 1791187025 · focus · HN ↗

               macOS doesn't necessarily use less RAM than Windows (if Windows is properly debloated), but since the storage is highly integrated with and in close proximity to the SoC it is much faster (both in terms of bandwidth and physical latency) than most Windows laptops.

               Basically, with storage directly attached to the SoC you can use the SSD as a decent-enough swap without the user noticing it too much, but if every access has to go through the platform chipset and then physically travel many centimeters until it arrives at the disk, being bandwidth-restricted by physics (aka, link training)? Whoops.

               And on top of that, your typical Windows SSD has its own controller doing translation from SATA/NVMe to the flash layer (including wear level management etc), but IIRC with Apple M devices, this functionality is integrated into the SoC.

      2. wallst07 · 1791193937 · focus · HN ↗

         Some first edition educational airs came with 128gb of ssd. You can barely install 26 on them, I had to spend a good amount of time removing so much to get one usable for a low income friend who couldn't afford to upgrade.

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