Here he is talking about the large and powerful magnetic connector on the iPhone 12.
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Monday, January 11, 2021
New powerful phone microprocessors
The most notable thing about this particular phone is that it uses a new processor that will also be used on an upcoming flagship Samsung phone, and the only thing notable about that is the Geekbench score, which is around 3600 to 3700, which is almost exactly the same as my 2009 Core-I7 iMac desktop computer. My 2017 iMac is not a huge improvement but it scores over 6000. The latest iPhone is around 3900.
With 5-nanometer processors, compared to the 42-nanometer of my 2009 iMac and the 14-nanometer of my 2017 iMac, we are seeing desktop performance in handheld devices, with no active cooling. Apple made an upgraded version of their phone processor for their laptops, called the M1 chip, and it has a Geekbench score on the Macbook Pro of 7331.
Apple is trying to abandon Intel processors. Reportedly they are working on more powerful chips for their future desktop computers. I have heard incredible predictions of around 60 processor cores for their upcoming pro computers, using two processors.
We are seeing exciting changes after a decade of only marginal improvement.
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Review of Fire HD 10
Here is my quick review of the Fire HD 10.
If 20 or 30 years ago you were to say that in the future you could have a handheld computer with a 10-inch high-resolution display, built-in telecommunications, 2 gigs of RAM, 32 gigs of expandable storage, along with an 8 core processor running at 2 gigahertz, and it would only cost $80 (on Black Friday), then people would have thought that this was science-fiction and you were talking about the year 2100.
As a tablet, it is every bit as capable as my iPad 4, even more so since my iPad 4 is out of date. When it comes to browsing the web, reading email, listening to audio, or watching videos, it works flawlessly. This is like having a computer. It is as capable and as fast as a mid-range laptop.
This tablet is designed for viewing Amazon Prime member content. Amazon tries to limit your to their own app store, but there are ways to download the Google Play Store giving you the full Android experience, and I have already done this on mine.
The 2-megapixel camera is not great, but I don't think it is terrible either. I have owned worse and I was still able to take passable pictures.
The dimensions of the Fire HD 10 are a little taller and thinner than the iPad, which makes it better for watching videos, but a little worse for holding. I prefer the feel of the iPad in my hand, especially since the metal exterior gives it a cooler feel than the plastic exterior of the Fire HD 10.
My only problem with this tablet is that all the things it is capable of I already do on my phone or on my computer. I didn't really need another tablet, except that I like gadgets, and I wanted an Android device to test apps that I want to write. The only way I might get practical use out of it is if I were to take it on a trip or on an airplane. It would be fun to have on a plane because I could play games or possibly watch videos on it. Fortunately, it comes with an earphone jack.
I haven't tested this myself, but reportedly it has really good battery life.
Saturday, November 28, 2020
8GB vs 16GB for M1 Mac — The TRUTH About RAM!
People are all excited at how powerful the new M1 chip Macs are, but non-upgradability is the Achilles heel of these products. There are a bunch of videos showing that you can do just fine with just 8 gigs of RAM, but that is just for running one task. These machines are designed to multitask, so 8 GB is really not enough.
An adequate amount of RAM today probably won't be an adequate amount of RAM five years from now. I upgraded my iMac from 8 GB to 40 GB, which is twice as much as I really need, but the difference in cost wasn't that much.
Because you can't upgrade the RAM on M1 computers, this chip really should just be used on tablets and phones. Instead, it is being used on the Mac Mini, which is a desktop, and laptops that are desktop replacements.
When Apple comes out with the next generation of iMacs, I hope that the RAM will be user upgradeable.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Amazon.com: Fire HD 10 Tablet (10.1" 1080p full HD display, 32 GB)
Last year I was watching the rave reviews for this $150 Amazon tablet. When they had it on sale for $100 during Black Friday week, I figured that was a great deal, but I also figured that I didn't really need another tablet. This year it is only $80 for the Black Friday sale, so I decided that for that price I could use it to test Android apps that I want to write.
Monday, November 23, 2020
How Apple Just Changed the Entire Industry
The first 20 minutes of this video is pretty interesting.
As a side note, I was surprised that my old iPhones 6+/6s+ could run Stockfish at similar speeds to my Core-I7 iMac.
Friday, November 20, 2020
M1 MacBook Air is Faster Than You Think! (Real Tests) - Krazy Ken's Tech Misadventures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVtQfsXLnSA
Apple has performed a minor miracle with its new M1 chip. It has 8 CPU cores, 8 graphics cores, and RAM all on one chip. It has a 5-nanometer process, which is better than the current Intel and AMD processors. It might not be possible to make smaller circuits without developing new materials. So far, there isn't much progress in this area.
What is surprising is that this same chip can run on the Macbook Air, which has no active cooling. This is essentially a mobile processor.
You can buy high-end desktop processors that are more powerful, but this System On a Chip is at least 22% faster than my 2017 (14 nanometer Intel quad-core I-5) iMac desktop according to a benchmark that I saw. That is not a reason for me to replace my desktop, but compared to their previous mobile processors, this thing is pretty impressive.
Reportedly Apple is going to come out with something better for their desktop computers. It would make sense that a desktop processor would be more powerful.
The only downside is that they can't run Intel-based programs natively, but have a software solution for running those programs. I'm not sure about Windows compatibility, but I heard something about being able to run some Windows programs through emulation.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Dear Linus...You're Wrong About the Apple M1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUkDku_Qt5c
At 3:50 they have a benchmark for the new Apple M1 chip in the Macbook Air, and it is about 22% faster than my iMac desktop computer. That is with no active cooling. Apple is making mobile processors and getting desktop performance out of them.
There is a rumor that there will be an M2 chip for the future desktop iMac computers. Maybe eventually. The M1 was supposed to target mobile devices.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Saturday, October 24, 2020
A14 Bionic
The new Apple A14 bionic processor in their new iPhone and iPad Air, with its 5-nanometer circuits, benchmarks its processor power between my old iMac and my new iMac, and this is without any active cooling. This is desktop processing power on a phone. Apple is planning to use similar chips in its upcoming laptops because they are abandoning Intel processors on at least their portable devices.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
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Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Monday, October 19, 2020
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Friday, October 16, 2020
Thursday, October 15, 2020
6G - Explained!
I think that 5G is not very practical yet, given that the high frequencies are easily blocked. However, this video is already talking about 6G, to come in 10 to 15 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvcAovqG5Kk
Monday, October 5, 2020
Wi-fi problems with new AT&T Internet
I have resolved my Wi-Fi speed problems as best I can. It turns out the latest Broadcom drivers for Windows 10 are not good, at least not for high speed. Initially, I was getting only 30 Mbps. I did much research on the Internet, and I saw a few different websites and videos recommending switching to older drivers, a couple of which I had to download and install. I have switched between 4 versions of the drivers, and the oldest one seems to work the best. My speed tops out at about 200 Mbps, although reality might be a little less. I did a large download to test the speed and I calculated about 120 Mbps, which is at least double the speed of my old internet.
However, the same computer running Mac OS gets up to 660 Mbps with my new AT&T internet. My iPhone gets about 400 Mbps. One option for me is to run an ethernet cable to the router, which would work, although in my current setup that would not be convenient.
The AT&T technical support couldn't do much other than test that the internet is working. They recommended that I do a Windows Update, which took an extraordinarily long time and didn't help. It was also recommended that I reinstall the Bootcamp software, but for some reason, the install crashes and does not finish. I tried manually copying the driver from the Bootcamp software, which helped, but I got better results by downloading and installing an older driver.
However, the same computer running Mac OS gets up to 660 Mbps with my new AT&T internet. My iPhone gets about 400 Mbps. One option for me is to run an ethernet cable to the router, which would work, although in my current setup that would not be convenient.
It was slightly helpful to turn off power saving features on the ethernet and wifi cards by selecting "maximum performance" instead.
The AT&T technical support couldn't do much other than test that the internet is working. They recommended that I do a Windows Update, which took an extraordinarily long time and didn't help. It was also recommended that I reinstall the Bootcamp software, but for some reason, the install crashes and does not finish. I tried manually copying the driver from the Bootcamp software, which helped, but I got better results by downloading and installing an older driver.
It seems odd to me that the Microsoft Windows Update installs the latest Broadcom driver that is apparently defective. This could happen with my next Windows Update and I'll have to fix this again.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Is the Smartphone Market Ready for This?
Apple has the only 5 nanometer processor available to the public so far. It is no wonder that Apple is dumping Intel and going with their own chips on future computers.
Begin forwarded message:
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Begin forwarded message:
From: John Coffey
Date: October 3, 2020 at 11:29:30 PM EDT
To: Albert Nelms
Subject: Re: Is the Smartphone Market Ready for This?
Date: October 3, 2020 at 11:29:30 PM EDT
To: Albert Nelms
Subject: Re: Is the Smartphone Market Ready for This?
This performance is comparable to my old Core-i7 iMac computer. On an iPad Air.
What is astounding is how many nodes per second Stockfish gets on my five year old iPhone 6s+. Around 2 million. On my 2017 iMac I see 3 to 5 million.
On Oct 3, 2020, at 6:00 AM, Albert Nelms wrote:
Best wishes,
John Coffey
On Oct 3, 2020, at 6:00 AM, Albert Nelms wrote:
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Apple details A14 chipset ahead of iPhone 12 lineup announcement - GSMArena.com news
Right now, the only 5-nanometer computer processor in the world is on an Apple iPad Air. However, AMD is not far off. Intel, however, has been struggling to keep up. They only recently introduced 10-nanometer chips.
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