Apple M3 vs the masses

[LDB]

My computer is ~4 years old. It has become slower (seeming at least) and the fan is randomly (always) very to (sometimes) VERY noisy. It's an ASUS brand with the following.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.21 GHz,
12GB of unknown RAM,
unknown (256GB I think) storage.

I'm considering the new iMac with the M3 chip, 24GB RAM and 512GB SSD.

I'm wondering how much added horsepower I can expect with double the RAM, SSD instead of spinning HD, and that M3 chip. No, I don't need it but am thinking that might be the ultimate computer for me, ultimate as in final. Any constructive input welcomed and appreciated.

 

[ZeeOSix]

SSD is the way to go for fast boot-ups and running programs. HDs are good for a secondary drive to store files on (like photos etc), but for the software operating and for boot-up and program running, the SSD is the way to go.

 

[JeffKeryk]

What in the world are you doing to need that much horsepower?

 

[wavinwayne]

For comparison, I have an M1 Macbook Air with "only" 8GB of RAM. One day out of curiosity I opened every app on it at once to see if I could get it to choke, as I went about my normal, light tasks of browsing, posting to BITOG, streaming video, etc. Everything worked perfectly and it didn't even get hot. I think you will find 24GB of RAM to be waaaaaay more than enough.

 

[LDB]

What in the world are you doing to need that much horsepower?

Nothing. But I want it powerful enough it completes the task 0.002 seconds before I click, not after. And at almost 67 I'm thinking that's powerful enough to last for my forever no matter what I might eventually want to do with it.

 

[LDB]

For comparison, I have an M1 Macbook Air with "only" 8GB of RAM. One day out of curiosity I opened every app on it at once to see if I could get it to choke, as I went about my normal, light tasks of browsing, posting to BITOG, streaming video, etc. Everything worked perfectly and it didn't even get hot. I think you will find 24GB of RAM to be waaaaaay more than enough.

My SOP is 3 different browsers running 7 tabs each always open. Then depending on the day throw in Word or Excel and an app or three for weather/whatever. I'm sure 16GB would be plenty but figured it's only $200 more one time to go with the 24GB.

 

[LDB]

One of my big things is deciding if I should convert from PC to Mac. I think the M3 is going to exceed anything PC but don't know enough to be certain.

 

[bunnspecial]

One of my big things is deciding if I should convert from PC to Mac. I think the M3 is going to exceed anything PC but don't know enough to be certain.

I don't think there's going to be any comparison between the M3 iMac and your current PC.

That's enough RAM that swapping should be kept to a minimum, but swap is also really fast on M-series Mac given both the storage speed and its physical proximity to the RAM. In general, macOS is better at memory management too than Windows, although if one of your three browsers is Firefox you'll still need to be aware of memory leaks(which they still can't seem to fix).

An SSD in general makes everything feel snappier, especially when it comes to things like launching programs(a fast spinner can handle sequential read/write decently, but SSDs are hard to beat for random I/O). The M CPUs, which integrate storage as part of the CPU package, are among the fastest around. They beat even a discreet NVMe PCIe SSD like you'll find in a lot of systems now(which are pretty darn fast in and of themselves). I'm happy to give you benchmarks from my M1 MacBook Pro as well as my 2019 iMac, which has both an NVMe SSD and a 7200rpm spinner to give you some idea.

For the uses you've described, I think your initial reaction is probably going to nearly be that the computer is reading your thoughts.

 

[hemioiler]

What in the world are you doing to need that much horsepower?

It's probably running windows, enough said.

 

[ZeeOSix]

My SOP is 3 different browsers running 7 tabs each always open.

... does eat up some RAM.

 

[DuckRyder]

IME you'll get double the life out of a MAC as a Windows box, and it'll still perform reasonably for everyday stuff.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

My computer is ~4 years old. It has become slower (seeming at least) and the fan is randomly (always) very to (sometimes) VERY noisy. It's an ASUS brand with the following.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.21 GHz,
12GB of unknown RAM,
unknown (256GB I think) storage.

I'm considering the new iMac with the M3 chip, 24GB RAM and 512GB SSD.

I'm wondering how much added horsepower I can expect with double the RAM, SSD instead of spinning HD, and that M3 chip. No, I don't need it but am thinking that might be the ultimate computer for me, ultimate as in final. Any constructive input welcomed and appreciated.

Save your money for now and just reinstall Windows first. What you have won't win any benchmarks but unless you have a need for horsepower then fresh Windows on an SSD (which you probably have if it's only 256GB) will be plenty fast for most things.

Unless you just want a new toy which I can certainly understand.

 

[Hall]

No, I don't need it but am thinking that might be the ultimate computer for me, ultimate as in final.

Hardware-wise it could certainly do that, meaning last a very long time for you. That's only half the picture though. In 8-10 years, Apple will stop updating the OS and if you use it connected to the 'net, that can be a serious concern.

 

[SC Maintenance]

SSD is night and day difference. So is more RAM - its exponential because there ends up being more RAM free.

If you want fast, dump both Windows and Apple and go Linux.

 

[LDB]

SSD is night and day difference. So is more RAM - its exponential because there ends up being more RAM free.

If you want fast, dump both Windows and Apple and go Linux.

I'm not sure I know enough to go Linux.

 

[LDB]

Hardware-wise it could certainly do that, meaning last a very long time for you. That's only half the picture though. In 8-10 years, Apple will stop updating the OS and if you use it connected to the 'net, that can be a serious concern.

Well, I guess that could become an issue and maybe force me to buy one more "ultimate" my forever computer. By the end of that decade of use I probably won't need or want another computer at 87.

 

[DuckRyder]

Hardware-wise it could certainly do that, meaning last a very long time for you. That's only half the picture though. In 8-10 years, Apple will stop updating the OS and if you use it connected to the 'net, that can be a serious concern.

There are ways around that (open core patcher).

 

[Pew]

I wanted to throw my asus laptop out the window after a year. Fan speed and temperature being the biggest issue also.

If you want/already know how to use Macs over PCs then I'd say go for it.

 

[bunnspecial]

There are ways around that (open core patcher).

Right now, AFAIK, every OS since the Apple Silicon Macs first dropped has continued to support AS going all the way back to the first M1 CPUs.

OCLP is used on Intel systems to allow installation of a newer OS than Apple supports. Depending on the specific system and OS version, it can work perfectly or it can have a mile long list of annoyances/quirks/things that just don't work.

The day is coming when new OSs no longer support Intel Macs. When is that happening? It's hard to read Apple's mind, but the PowerPC transition might be a guide.

The last PowerPC Macs shipped with OS X Tiger, 10.4. The first Intel Mac shipped in early 2006, and the transition was considered "complete" with the Mac Pro shipping in August 2006. The last version of OS X that supported PowerPC Macs was OS X Leopard, 10.5, which shipped in 2007.

It was a bit of a different time, though, as Apple was on roughly a two year OS release cycle then and not an annual release cycle as they are now. OS X Snow Leopard, 10.6, which was the first to NOT support PowerPC, was released in 2009, or 3 years after the last PowerPC Mac shipped.

The AS transition hasn't been quite as quick or smooth, a lot likely to do with major global events outside Apple's control. The first AS Mac shipped in early 2020, but new Intel Macs were still shipping until mid-2023 when an AS Mac Pro was finally released. The first M1 series Macs were very much "bridge" machines, so much so that Apple actually retained the 16" Intel MBP and the high end 13" Intel MBP well into 2021. Even after the first AS machines shipped, new Intel models like the 2020 iMac 5K were introduced.

I think realistically, at a minimum, the macOS version released in 2026 will PROBABLY support Intel Macs, although I'd also not be shocked if 2025 ends up being the cut-off. If anything beyond there continues supporting them, it will be a bonus.

Once Apple drops support for the architecture, I seriously doubt that OCLP or anyone else will be able to make it work. It's not impossible-as an example, Apple left a lot of PPC code through 10.6, and there's been some success patching together early betas to boot on PPC. That's very much a hobbiest project, though, and realistically it's still happening over a decade after the OS's release and without any software that benefits from the newer OS.

 

[Hall]

There are ways around that (open core patcher).

Very familiar with OCLP. I wouldn't suggest it to many others though.