Comment by walterbell | Hacker News Reader

Comment by walterbell | Hacker News Reader

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Now that M4 has outshone tomorrow's Qualcomm SDXE (Nuvia/Oryon) Computex launch on performance, we must wait for WWDC/iOS18 to find out if Apple wants to compete with Microsoft/Lenovo/HP/Dell Arm devices on software flexibility, since SDXE devices will run both Windows and Linux (EL2).

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-laptops/leaked-dell-...

> [SDXE] processors are cheaper and less energy-hungry than all of Intel's recent chips, including Meteor Lake. So much so, that in some cases, battery life in equivalent laptops is extended by as much as 98%. And all that's done with chips that are half the price ... While I'm ambivalent about 2024 being the year of the AI PC, I'm becoming increasingly sold on it being the year of the Arm PC. With MediaTek and Nvidia rumoured to be joining the party, it's clear that I'm not the only one.

If Apple lacks the imagination or creative leadership to square the circle of iPad pro-fessional use cases, starting with a Terminal (which could be an iOS CLI in an isolated VM), perhaps they can open up the iPad to boot Asahi Linux, to compete with SDXE devices that will run both Windows and Linux.

You don't have to wait for WWDS/iOS18 to find out if Apple wants to compete on software flexibility - the answer is NO, not now, not ever. If anything software flexibility for all other systems is being decreased to match Apple so why would Apple do anything about it except maybe make their software even more inflexible.

Qualcomm, which is not exactly known for being OSS friendly, has contracted Linaro to upstream Linux support for the upcoming Oryon-based "AI PC" devices from Dell, Microsoft, etc. If Apple rushed M4 into the May 2024 iPad Pro to take the wind out of Oryon sails at Computex on May 20th, then despite all talk to the contrary, they do care about ex-Apple competition from Arm-based hardware devices.

Dell XPS was one of the first mainstream x86 laptop vendors to support Linux developers and they will ship Oryon-based devices in a few months, https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/15/24157120/dell-windows-on-.... Was the 300-page roadmap leak a response to M4?

The current head of Apple hardware engineering is on the shortlist for next Apple CEO. Notably absent from the list of CEO candidates is anyone related to "Services". Despite their vertically integrated software and app stores, Apple went out of their way to allow Linux to work on Apple Silicon. Why? Sometimes escape valves can enable more control. If Apple software continues to decrease in flexibility, they can open up their hardware to Linux, for those who want best of breed hardware and nothing else.

iPad Pro is one of the most flexible hardware devices on the market, offering a range of options across touch, stylus, wired/wireless keyboards, cellular (from Qualcomm), lidar, docking, display, storage and hardware-based virtualization. If iPad Pro is not unshackled from arbitrary software restrictions left over from VR vision quests, it will inspire an arm-y of alternatives.

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