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ric22

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2022
2,006
1,910
I special ordered a 1 GB hard drive in 1995 and had to have it delivered to work as I was always there and never at home to accept it. We are both retired now, but one of my coworkers at the time still mentions it occasionally, as he was blown away by it because it was twice the size of the biggest drive he had seen and he commented at the time that he didn't know how I could have a use for that much storage.
That does seem like a big drive for 1995! I can't remember what size mine were, but I always seemed to be at 95% full back then... always busy deleting stuff and defragmenting those disks!
 

bgillander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2007
789
756
That does seem like a big drive for 1995! I can't remember what size mine were, but I always seemed to be at 95% full back then... always busy deleting stuff and defragmenting those disks!
I just realized I left that job in late 1994, so it actually had to be 1994. I couldn't find it locally, so it was ordered from Computer Shopper magazine, which looked like a tabloid sized phonebook. I don't think I could survive without the internet anymore, but I do almost miss those days of checking the new issue each month and being blown away by everything new. Y2K didn't do the damage they predicted, but this century still sometimes feels like the magical future and then other times feels like the upside down!
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
19,667
22,204
Singapore
Should I wait for the m4 air?
I think at this point, we are both waiting for our current laptops to finally kick the bucket. My current M1 MBA (base model) is still going strong and I am torn between getting the 15" MBA for the larger screen, and simply running my current laptop into the ground because frankly speaking, it's more than good enough for whatever I am currently doing on it.
 

AndrewC89

macrumors regular
Mar 8, 2022
119
175
Interesting that the advertised battery life is the same as the M2! I would’ve thought the 3nm process would have resulted in a small bump… maybe tests/reviews will show that?
There was a bump in core performance which results in more battery life being used. So it’s performing more powerfully at the same battery life as the M2, meaning it’s more efficient.
 

ric22

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2022
2,006
1,910
There was a bump in core performance which results in more battery life being used. So it’s performing more powerfully at the same battery life as the M2, meaning it’s more efficient.
It uses fractionally more power at full throttle than the M2 did, at least in the MacBook Pro, but it gets the work done quicker. Real world testing should be interesting.
 

profcutter

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2019
1,460
1,170
The funny thing is that I was looking at another post about how 8 GB is too small to do anything, and just thinking about posting my crusty old man response about kids nowadays. For context, I'm with you that it would be nice if they just moved to 16 GB, and I had quit buying new Macs after 2012 when they started limiting user upgrades and just kept upgrading my 2011 mini and MacBook Pro, which both still work fine. I finally bought a base 2018 Air refurb, which was functional, but probably no faster (likely slower) than my 2011 MBP with the 16 GB I installed. When the M1 Air came out, I was actually intrigued enough to buy new, but still just bought a base 8 GB / 256 GB SSD, as I figured that since it was non-upgradable, I would just buy bottom end and replace more often (because I'm a packrat collector and keep old computers, I don't want to call it disposable). I was surprised how useable it was. I am typing this on that machine now, and just checked and I have 20 Chrome windows open with about 24 tabs each. I've got Remote Desktop in the background controlling my mini, Mail, Messages, Activity Monitor, and Preview are open. I forgot and left Safari open with multiple windows. Basically, this thing is so much better than I expected that I have gotten sloppy and just leave crap open that I would have always just closed in the past before moving to other tasks, though I do usually close things if I am opening Final Cut or Logic, but don't when I use Handbrake. I was so impressed I ended up getting an M1 Pro MacBook, but I still just use this Air for day to day because it works so well, even with 8 GB. I admit I am probably biased because my first computer had 1KB and rendering one raytraced frame at 320x240 used to take me 24 hours on my Amiga 2000, but the base Air is freakishly capable in my personal experience.
Oh my god, you did that too? I had to do it in my room on my amiga 500, oh my god, all night I'd run that thing just trying to get one frame done. I can't even remember which software package it was. I also did all kinds of deluxe paint IV renders, which took quite a while too! And how about fractals in HAM mode? When I was first in college, I had a base model 7100 powermac, and my current wife still remembers how it would be buzzing all night rendering like 2 layers in photoshop. It had 8 megs of RAM, so I had to use RAM doubler to get PS to even launch.
 

DrewHawk

macrumors newbie
Mar 4, 2024
20
33
Should I wait for the m4 air?
It's all on what you want and how you look at things. I like to get new tech on day 1. That way I have the longest period of time to enjoy it while it's the best. But I'm an enthusiast. I got the RTX 4090 for my PC on day 1 too.

But others have completely different strategies. Like waiting until the M3 Air came out to buy the M2 Air. That way they get it at a discount. That's a fantastic strategy too. It's all in what is important to you.
 

profcutter

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2019
1,460
1,170
I special ordered a 1 GB hard drive in 1995 and had to have it delivered to work as I was always there and never at home to accept it. We are both retired now, but one of my coworkers at the time still mentions it occasionally, as he was blown away by it because it was twice the size of the biggest drive he had seen and he commented at the time that he didn't know how I could have a use for that much storage.
yeah, when I went into the college's audio lab, and we had Sound Designer II and the massive 800 meg and 1 gig drives. Holy crap, you could fit an entire CD on one of those! In stereo!
 

bgillander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2007
789
756
Oh my god, you did that too? I had to do it in my room on my amiga 500, oh my god, all night I'd run that thing just trying to get one frame done. I can't even remember which software package it was. I also did all kinds of deluxe paint IV renders, which took quite a while too! And how about fractals in HAM mode? When I was first in college, I had a base model 7100 powermac, and my current wife still remembers how it would be buzzing all night rendering like 2 layers in photoshop. It had 8 megs of RAM, so I had to use RAM doubler to get PS to even launch.
Mine was Sculpt 3D (or Sculpt 4D, if you had more cash than me.) I remember my first render being at 23 hours when my roommate switched something on and tripped the breaker and the Amiga just went blank. I was wondering if it would have worked, but the next try did work, only 24 hours later.

I had the PowerMac 7500, so I guess we tended to upgrade around the same time!
 
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profcutter

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2019
1,460
1,170
Mine was Sculpt 3D (or Sculpt 4D, if you had more cash than me.) I remember my first render being at 23 hours when my roommate switched something on and tripped the breaker and the Amiga just went blank. I was wondering if it would have worked, but the next try did work, only 24 hours later.

I had the PowerMac 7500, so I guess we tended to upgrade around the same time!
That sounds right maybe? I would just set up some primitives to see if I could render a scene. I think it was a primitive form of ray tracing, that’s when I learned the term, but yeah it was like watching glaciers cross continents. I eventually got an Amiga 3000 for volunteering at a convention for commodore, they didn’t want to pack it up when they left. 16 MHz of power!!! I had a c64 as my first rig, I had an unfortunate power incident that really ended my hopes of becoming a coder… 😆

And the 7500 was just a year or two after the 7100, but such a better machine. I had my 7100 until my job was getting rid of their G3 towers.
 
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Cape Dave

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2012
2,302
1,571
Northeast
I special ordered a 1 GB hard drive in 1995 and had to have it delivered to work as I was always there and never at home to accept it. We are both retired now, but one of my coworkers at the time still mentions it occasionally, as he was blown away by it because it was twice the size of the biggest drive he had seen and he commented at the time that he didn't know how I could have a use for that much storage.
I remember going from a 20MB to a 40MB. Oh the power! Such space! Also took most of the night to download a .5 megabyte app :) A full meg? Good luck with that!
 

PlayUltimate

macrumors 6502a
Jul 29, 2016
930
1,709
Boulder, CO
I remember going from a 20MB to a 40MB. Oh the power! Such space! Also took most of the night to download a .5 megabyte app :) A full meg? Good luck with that!
sigh. . . old man here, remember using a TRS80 with a cassette tape deck for storage. If you stored anything, you had to remember the number on the tape recorder to find it again. And then keep a running log to make sure that you didn't overwrite something.
image.png
 

Velli

macrumors 6502a
Feb 1, 2013
871
1,132
its nothing to do with the speed of the chip. More that my intel MBP battery is not as good as it once was. Also the price of the 15 inch with 16gb is now roundabouts what I’d be prepared to pay. Having said that I’m almost certainly going to try and get another 12-18 months out of my MBP.
I get that, I just feel the direct comparison becomes increasingly meaningless. Like stating at one point that some iPhone version was 500x more powerful than iPhone 1.
 

profcutter

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2019
1,460
1,170
sigh. . . old man here, remember using a TRS80 with a cassette tape deck for storage. If you stored anything, you had to remember the number on the tape recorder to find it again. And then keep a running log to make sure that you didn't overwrite something. View attachment 2356356
Hah, that’s so primitive. I had a programming class with Trash80s with the floppy drives built in! Next to the enormous 9 inch green screen or whatever it was.
 
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bgillander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2007
789
756
sigh. . . old man here, remember using a TRS80 with a cassette tape deck for storage. If you stored anything, you had to remember the number on the tape recorder to find it again. And then keep a running log to make sure that you didn't overwrite something. View attachment 2356356
Isn't that a CoCo? Sweet! I used to hang out at my local Radio Shack (had to get my free battery from the Battery of the Month Club, because what else are you going to do as a young teen in the mid 70's?) and remember lusting after the original TRS-80... which I believe was retroactively renamed the Model 1, like it was somehow "A New Hope" and not just "Star Wars", though I guess I should be happy they renamed it the Model 1 and not the Model 4 (sorry, just trying some old man 1970's pop references :)).

My first computer was a VideoBrain, ordered from the back of Popular Science from a clearance company after the manufacturer went out of business. It was a dead end computer, but at least I knew that when I bought it, unlike a couple of later purchases that went out of business after I bought them. At least Apple is still kicking, but I recall even that being in question in 1997. Good times! (but I doubt I would feel that way if I tried to use it now!)
 
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bgillander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2007
789
756
Right, but that’s what people are complaining about. I think for good reason.
I believe he was saying that Apple make the OS and will be able to keep it upgradable within 8 GB if they want, and I doubt anyone would complain about Apple not orphaning their 8 GB computers. Far more would complain about Apple making Mac OS upgrades so large that they would only run on 16 GB Macs. Yeah, we would all like 16 GB Macs as base, but I don't think any of us want Mac OS so bloated that it takes up more than 8 GB itself.
 

bgillander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2007
789
756
I get that, I just feel the direct comparison becomes increasingly meaningless. Like stating at one point that some iPhone version was 500x more powerful than iPhone 1.
The iPhone comparison would be a 17 year difference even if you just did it with the current model.

The Intel MacBook Air was the current model 3 and a half years ago. That is actually a fairly short upgrade cycle for a Mac.

I saw someone complain that Apple has slowed down, but people seem to have a strange sense of time lately... Apple are on their third generation of AS quickly enough that people seem to think Intel was some distant memory for Apple, but the Mac Pro was still Intel based until 9 months ago. I have trouble wrapping my head around that being only nine months ago, but I just double checked the date. They are not comparing to the PowerMac, which would be less than one year before that iPhone 1, if I recall correctly. This makes me realize that I've been on 4 different processor families with the Mac now, and I'm feeling old tonight.
 
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