Switch to Geekbench 4 for x86 vs. ARM for emulation on the same device.
One of the definitions of revolution is:
> a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people's ideas about it.
Apple didn't change from a x86 CPU to a ARM CPU, they went from a third party Intel CPU to a complete Apple-designed/customized/built system on a chip (SoC) that includes the following: an Apple CPU (4 high-pref/4 high-effiency cores), Apple GPU that's using Apple's TBDR implementation, Neural engine (ML accelerators), ISP, media en/decoder, disk controller, Secure Enclave, Unified Memory Architecture with memory dies on the same package that allows all of the cores to talk to the same memory space without copying back and forth, and so much more. They did all of this in a familiar package that runs faster, quieter and last much longer without major impact on the customer's experience.
A complete package that was executed well on the first try and for some, this is considered to be a game-changer. Especially as it is changing many people's understanding of how a laptop should behave, specifically not having to worry about heat, battery life and having too low of memory as Apple's UMA actually makes swapping to disk a non-issue, there's no difference in the overall experience.
SPX isn't a complete package either, it uses Microsoft customizations on top of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx CPU but solely Qualcomm's GPU, Adreno. I don't think there's anything else that MS has customized for SPX.
> From what you're saying the most important improvements have been the emulation and that it is better supported.
That's just one part. The overall experience matters. You can invent a technology that changes the world but if no one can use it well, it wouldn't matter much until someone take that technology and make it useful. Sadly, it's the latter that matters the most.
It's the same thing with iPhone being called one of the most important technological revolutions. iPhone was definitely not the first nor the second touch screen mobile device but it was a complete package that sold it, just like these Macs.
Just to clarify, I don't see it as a revolution at the moment but I do think my M1 MBA is a game-changer for me. The biggest change is that I haven't had to worry about battery and heat at all. My old rMBP wouldn't last me half a day (it heats up quickly within the hour) but this one can and have gone for two days before I had to charge it and even then, I only did it during work hours with the dock. I never had to use my charging cable outside of my desk with the dock. Plus, no fan either, god my old rMBP would kick up the fan all the time. (yes, I cleared out the fans every 6 months and had it cleaned by Apple as well).
Thanks for the well-written replies. From the benchmark mentioned SPX has score ratio x86/ARM (emulated/native) ~60%, thus ~80% claimed by Apple is indeed a big step.
Switch to Geekbench 4 for x86 vs. ARM for emulation on the same device.
One of the definitions of revolution is:
> a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people's ideas about it.
Apple didn't change from a x86 CPU to a ARM CPU, they went from a third party Intel CPU to a complete Apple-designed/customized/built system on a chip (SoC) that includes the following: an Apple CPU (4 high-pref/4 high-effiency cores), Apple GPU that's using Apple's TBDR implementation, Neural engine (ML accelerators), ISP, media en/decoder, disk controller, Secure Enclave, Unified Memory Architecture with memory dies on the same package that allows all of the cores to talk to the same memory space without copying back and forth, and so much more. They did all of this in a familiar package that runs faster, quieter and last much longer without major impact on the customer's experience.
A complete package that was executed well on the first try and for some, this is considered to be a game-changer. Especially as it is changing many people's understanding of how a laptop should behave, specifically not having to worry about heat, battery life and having too low of memory as Apple's UMA actually makes swapping to disk a non-issue, there's no difference in the overall experience.
SPX isn't a complete package either, it uses Microsoft customizations on top of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx CPU but solely Qualcomm's GPU, Adreno. I don't think there's anything else that MS has customized for SPX.
> From what you're saying the most important improvements have been the emulation and that it is better supported.
That's just one part. The overall experience matters. You can invent a technology that changes the world but if no one can use it well, it wouldn't matter much until someone take that technology and make it useful. Sadly, it's the latter that matters the most.
It's the same thing with iPhone being called one of the most important technological revolutions. iPhone was definitely not the first nor the second touch screen mobile device but it was a complete package that sold it, just like these Macs.