With many people saying that they don't see a need to upgrade their existing M1 Mac, a big bump in single core performance would make a viable entry level option.
This is exciting in terms of competing with the cheap-laptop market including Chromebooks, they should be able to do something incredible in that space if they price it well.
MY only worry is they might restrict it to the Mac App Store like Windows RT tried, to stop it eating into MacBook Air sales.
The Solution here is as it always has been --to build furniture that's used to support students with built-in monitors that connect wirelessly (AirPlay or something like Apple's SmartConnector) when an iPhone is placed top of them (or a nearby cradle). As for the keyboard and iPhone, that's up to the Students, though there are widely available programs available to help pay for and insure them along with student discounts and public grants. This solution implies that Apple would allow a Dex-like solution on iOS, which I think is imminent based on recent iPadOS announcements and obvious increases in RAM/storage.
I legit first conceived of this type of setup in 1977-1978 where the iPhone+keyboard part was a "book safe" that contained an 1802 SBC covered by a PET-1 type keyboard and external jacks for NTSC (1861 video output) out, power in and a 5-pin DIN for TTL+audio (Q-line) cassette recorder. Students would be able to plug-in in the class, lab, library or at home. Let's just say Hollywood had thoroughly ruined the minds of the faculty and students and they lost out, despite being one of the top institutions in a region filled with Defense families. But by 1992, I was going wheels up from SJC with my PowerBook 170 still FAXing my contracting invoices via an RJ11 (POTS) phone line to a 3.5W Tandy BagPhone stuffed under my seat on my way home (will it finish before the signal fades LOL), typically telling this same story about the "textbook computer" to the unsettled random person in the isle seat.
> The A18 Pro is 46% faster than the M1 in single-core tasks, and almost identical to the M1 on multi-core and graphics tasks.
https://sixcolors.com/post/2025/07/about-that-a16-macbook-ru...
With many people saying that they don't see a need to upgrade their existing M1 Mac, a big bump in single core performance would make a viable entry level option.
This is exciting in terms of competing with the cheap-laptop market including Chromebooks, they should be able to do something incredible in that space if they price it well.
MY only worry is they might restrict it to the Mac App Store like Windows RT tried, to stop it eating into MacBook Air sales.
The Solution here is as it always has been --to build furniture that's used to support students with built-in monitors that connect wirelessly (AirPlay or something like Apple's SmartConnector) when an iPhone is placed top of them (or a nearby cradle). As for the keyboard and iPhone, that's up to the Students, though there are widely available programs available to help pay for and insure them along with student discounts and public grants. This solution implies that Apple would allow a Dex-like solution on iOS, which I think is imminent based on recent iPadOS announcements and obvious increases in RAM/storage.
I legit first conceived of this type of setup in 1977-1978 where the iPhone+keyboard part was a "book safe" that contained an 1802 SBC covered by a PET-1 type keyboard and external jacks for NTSC (1861 video output) out, power in and a 5-pin DIN for TTL+audio (Q-line) cassette recorder. Students would be able to plug-in in the class, lab, library or at home. Let's just say Hollywood had thoroughly ruined the minds of the faculty and students and they lost out, despite being one of the top institutions in a region filled with Defense families. But by 1992, I was going wheels up from SJC with my PowerBook 170 still FAXing my contracting invoices via an RJ11 (POTS) phone line to a 3.5W Tandy BagPhone stuffed under my seat on my way home (will it finish before the signal fades LOL), typically telling this same story about the "textbook computer" to the unsettled random person in the isle seat.