Just two weeks after the M1 Mac mini’s launch, the diminutive desktop computer has propelled Apple to the No.1 spot in the Japan desktop PC market.
Mac mini is Apple’s most versatile computer, and now with M1, it packs a staggering amount of performance and incredible new features in such a compact design. M1 brings an 8-core CPU with up to 3x faster performance than the previous generation, dramatically accelerating demanding workloads, from compiling a million lines of code to building enormous multitrack music projects. An 8-core GPU delivers up to a massive 6x increase in graphics performance, allowing Mac mini to tackle performance-intensive tasks like complex 3D rendering with ease. ML workloads also take a quantum leap forward with up to 15x faster performance over the previous generation. And when compared to the best-selling Windows desktop in its price range, the Mac mini is just one-tenth the size, yet delivers up to 5x faster performance.
When compared to the previous generation, the M1-powered Mac mini can:
• Compile code in Xcode up to 3x faster.
• Play a graphics-intensive game like “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” with up to 4x higher frame rates.
• Render a complex timeline in Final Cut Pro up to 6x faster.
• Take music production to new levels by using up to 3x as many real-time plug-ins in Logic Pro.
• Magically increase the resolution of a photo in Pixelmator Pro up to 15x faster.
• Utilize ML frameworks like TensorFlow or Create ML, now accelerated by the M1 chip.
Mac mini also features an advanced thermal design to sustain its breakthrough performance while staying cool and quiet, support for up to two displays including Apple’s Pro Display XDR in full 6K resolution, and Wi-Fi 6 for faster wireless performance and the Secure Enclave in M1 for best-in-class security.
With M1 and Big Sur, Mac mini represents a massive shift in what an ultrasmall desktop can do. Far more versatile and far more capable than ever, Mac mini is now available for just $699, $100 less than the previous-generation quad-core model.
Mike Peterson for AppleInsider:
That’s according to new data from Japanese analysis firm BCN Retail, which aggregated the sales data of mass retailers and online stores in the country. In the period between August 1 and November 3, Apple held a 15% share of the desktop PC market in Japan and was fighting for third place with Lenovo.
With the launch of the first Apple Silicon Mac mini on November 17, BCN Retail tracked a surge in Apple computer sales that resulted in the Cupertino tech giant taking the number one spot by sales volume. BCN Retail reports that Apple now has 27.1% of the market, increasing 14.4% percentage points in a single week.
MacDailyNews Take: Only Apple can make a product like the M1 Mac mini, M1 MacBook Air, and M1 MacBook Pro. Apple now has a crystal clear lead that the generic PC assemblers cannot hope to overcome given their business models. We expect changes like this seen in Japan to happen in many other countries around the world as people are educated about the vast performance improvements these new M1 Macs offer!
“But but but but but but but but but ECKS-ATEY-SICKS!!!!111”
I’m sorry folks, it’ll never happen. Apple won’t ever release a system based on their own CPU technology.
-Tech Journalist, circa last year 🙂
And fast adoption means more incentives to optimize applications for Apple Silicon, which will in turn make Apple Silcon computers even more popular. Apple is basking in the sunlight of true innovation.
Yeah, you watch. Some tech geniuses will continue to say how Apple can’t innovate without Steve Jobs and now the company is doomed because they don’t make folding smartphones, which is the only measure of true innovation. Too many idiots love to criticize Apple because Apple doesn’t necessarily follow other companies’ ways of doing things.
Apple will certainly revolutionize laptop and home computers, and the high-wattage x86 will eventually become a niche processor used for only extreme needs.
Apple can innovate without Steve Jobs, but saying no to Flash was Steve Jobs, buying PA Semi, Intrinsity, and Anobit (the best 750 million spent in tech) and thus jump starting the A-series CPU was classic Steve Jobs.
“Yeah, but the M1’s measly GPU doesn’t come close to a RTX3090 GPU, so it’s practically useless,” is what the X86 fanbois have to say about it. And adult men absolutely must have ray tracing and at least 100FPS when they play their games. M1?! Ewwww. That’s not a REAL man’s processor. It’s built for little girls. /s
I always have to laugh when I think of the power draw of some of those gaming setups. I know 1200W power supplies are available but I suppose most home gaming rigs do use around 900W power supplies. I doubt Apple is going to go to war against X86 gaming machines and it’s not something most people are using, anyway. It’s just absurd how much cooling some of those gaming rigs need thanks to overclocking, boosted voltages and whatnot. Six case fans? Water-cooling? That’s nuts. I can definitely do without that nonsense.
I’ll buy an Apple Silicon computer with the most unified memory I can get and that will last me for years to come. I’m done tinkering with computers. If Apple wants to turn their computer lineup into non-upgradable home appliances, that’s fine with me as long as they’re relatively powerful to begin with.
The iMac and the Mac pro need easy upgradeable ram and a GPU unit that be upgraded.
If you move the memory and GPU off-chip, you lose most of the advantages of an optimized SOC design with unified memory.
https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/19/apple_m1_high_bandwidth_memory_performance/
Hmmm, I haven’t heard certain people whine about Pipeline Timmy lately.
Looks like it is indeed possible to run an ethically and environmentally responsible company while innovating the hell out of everyone.
Give it time….
In case people here are thinking that the M1 is not Steve’s idea…..wrong.
Steve thought of this as backup to intel almost on the day he started to use intel.
He had the insight just he had the insight of putting teams on developing OS X for the intel chips. When he started making A chips…..the natural end was to replace intel.
Steve’s thinking…..not Timmy’s.
Part of that came from Motorola and IBM saying no.
AND Intel saying “no” when Apple asked for an iPod processor.