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Thought on the Apple M1 for 3D?

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Renderen

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Hi, I’m curious to know what everyone here thinks of the new M1 chip. I’m a 3D Character Artist. I use Zbrush, Maya, Algorithmic Suite, CC and others on the day to day basis. I’ve always been a Windows user. But with the new M1 Chip. I just can’t ignore considering the next 16’ MBP with M1 given all the praise the M1 is getting with performance and efficiency. Do you think this might be the future for mobile 3D workstation?
 
Alex Glawion

Alex Glawion

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If the Software you'll be using supports the M1 Chip (some have already announced support, like Cinema 4D... not too sure about zbrush or may yet though) Apple's M1 does bring a good amount of performance. Because it's still so new and not much Software supports it yet (or if they do have support, there will be a lot of bugs that will still have to be fixed) I'd be careful in jumping on the M1 unless you've made sure it will not hinder or slow down your workflow. Performance-wise, the M1 is a nice choice, especially given the fact that this is the first of Apple's mobile cpus and they are bound to become even better.
 
Jerry James

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Hi, I’m curious to know what everyone here thinks of the new M1 chip. I’m a 3D Character Artist. I use Zbrush, Maya, Algorithmic Suite, CC and others on the day to day basis. I’ve always been a Windows user. But with the new M1 Chip. I just can’t ignore considering the next 16’ MBP with M1 given all the praise the M1 is getting with performance and efficiency. Do you think this might be the future for mobile 3D workstation?
As Alex said, the M1 is quite promising and apps that run natively on the new processors do seem to perform quite well. I do think it'll be the future for excellent efficiency and high performance in a small form factor. We'll be watching the next couple of launches from Apple closely (especially what they plan to do with the Mac Pro and the iMac lines).
 
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Renderen

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Watching a lot of the reviews and general thoughts on it, I don't think there are any intel/amd laptops that can match up to the M1. I guess the only really drawback is the GPU performance. I'm hoping to see an update that would fully support external GPUs.
 
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Jerry James

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Watching a lot of the reviews and general thoughts on it, I don't think there are any intel/amd laptops that can match up to the M1. I guess the only really drawback is the GPU performance. I'm hoping to see an update that would fully support external GPUs.
Yep, that and a more powerful discrete Apple GPU? Maybe? Eh, I might be hoping for too much :D
 
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Renderen

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That’d be interesting.
 
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vitaliyfx

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Apple M1 SOC is incredibly efficient hardware for C4D-based projects. This architecture has huge potential. Think about hardware accelerated ML(Machine Learning) part of Apple Silicon SOC for denoising in rendering engines, upscale, retiming and ML-assisted compositing. I hope SideFX, OTOY, Foundry and Autodesk will optimise their software for progressive SOC family from Apple as soon as possible like Maxon, INSYDIUM, Blackmagic Design or Pixelmator teams did some time ago. Native and optimised specifically versions are mandatory.

It's very good alternative solution at the end of 2021 especially on new peak of cryptomining fever with overpriced hardware for classical PCs. Best for everything? Not yet. But fast and capable enough to complete even complex projects without audible noise, abnormal heat and huge power consumption. Take a look on my benchmarks results in C4D R23-25 for Cinema 4D Viewport Performance Benchmark & Scores (Updated Results). Phenomenal as for débute.
eGPU has sense for current situation with GPGPU-rendering software optimisation, but with every new generation Mx SOC and attention from skilled developers will blur the edge of performance between dedicated graphics cards and graphics of Apple Silicon. Why? Apple has resources and will for it.

I switched from Macs to PCs in 2011 completly. New Mx-based Macs are reasons to create with this friendly computer platform again.
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

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Apple M1 SOC is incredibly efficient hardware for C4D-based projects. This architecture has huge potential. Think about hardware accelerated ML(Machine Learning) part of Apple Silicon SOC for denoising in rendering engines, upscale, retiming and ML-assisted compositing. I hope SideFX, OTOY, Foundry and Autodesk will optimise their software for progressive SOC family from Apple as soon as possible like Maxon, INSYDIUM, Blackmagic Design or Pixelmator teams did some time ago. Native and optimised specifically versions are mandatory.

It's very good alternative solution at the end of 2021 especially on new peak of cryptomining fever with overpriced hardware for classical PCs. Best for everything? Not yet. But fast and capable enough to complete even complex projects without audible noise, abnormal heat and huge power consumption. Take a look on my benchmarks results in C4D R23-25 for Cinema 4D Viewport Performance Benchmark & Scores (Updated Results). Phenomenal as for débute.
eGPU has sense for current situation with GPGPU-rendering software optimisation, but with every new generation Mx SOC and attention from skilled developers will blur the edge of performance between dedicated graphics cards and graphics of Apple Silicon. Why? Apple has resources and will for it.

I switched from Macs to PCs in 2011 completly. New Mx-based Macs are reasons to create with this friendly computer platform again.
Oh wow. That's a terrific result. I can only see this becoming exponentially better in the coming years as Apple and Maxon further refine the pipeline.
 
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