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Affinity Photo Review – Affordable Photoshop alternative

tigaman webdesign — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 09:44:18 +0000

Macworld

At a glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

Wide range of functions
Familiar operation
Cheaper than Photoshop

Cons

Not quite as comprehensive as Photoshop
No AI-supported functions

Our Verdict

For beginners, hobby graphic artists and photographers Affinity Photo is an incredibly attractive alternative to Adobe Photoshop, which hardly differs from the class leader in terms of essential functions.

Affinity Photo is now so similar to Adobe‘s software that a move to the former should be smooth, although beginners will need to spend some time getting to know the interface before they can fully exploit all the possibilities of Affinity Photo.

With all that Affinity Photo offers, the software is a real bargain at $69.99/£67.99.

Adobe Photoshop is for image editing like Microsoft Office for the office: absolutely dominant and in a professional environment you can’t get around it. However, if you aren’t using Photoshop and the Creative Suite, or Creative Cloud as it is now called, for professional reasons (and even if you are) the package has become very unattractive since the introduction of the subscription model more than a decade ago.

If you only want to edit a few photos every now and then you probably won’t think that a monthly subscription for around $9.99/£9.98 is worth it – because most of the time it is not.

A cheap and affordable alternative to Photoshop is Affinity Photo, which was released in its second major version in late 2022. Here you get an unlimited license for an extensive image editing toolbox for $69.99/£67.99 (the iPad version costs only $18.49/£17.99 up front).

If you also need software for vector graphics and print media, you can also get the complete Affinity V2 Universal License as a one-off payment of $164.99/£159.99. This consists of Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Designer 2 (an alternative to Adobe Illustrator) and Affinity Publisher 2 (an alternative to Adobe InDesign). This way you can even save a little – the complete package costs only 200 euros, including the versions for the iPad.

We’ve been testing Affinity Photo 2 for a while now and are generally very satisfied, especially considering what the software does for a relatively low price.

The interface of Affinity Photo 2 looks very familiar if you are already familiar with Photoshop.

Foundry

Familiar interface

If you are already familiar with Photoshop, you will quickly find your way around Affinity’s interface: The (default) layout overall is virtually identical, and the icons in the toolbar on the left differ but are similar or easy to follow with a few exceptions. Most of the basic keyboard shortcuts are also the same, which makes getting used to them much easier.

Affinity Photo does some things better than Photoshop, although this is of course a matter of taste. Personally, for example, I like the fact that the options for supported alignment (pixel alignment, magnetic alignment) are located in the top toolbar and not hidden in menus.

However, if you are familiar with image editing, Affinity Photo can be as confusing as stepping into an airplane cockpit and seeing tons of buttons and not knowing what they do. Luckily, to make it easier to get started and get around, Serif, the company behind Affinity Photo, has uploaded several dozen video tutorials to Affinity Photo’s YouTube channel.

The symbols for the various Personas are somewhat cryptic but clearly visible.

Foundry

In addition to the standard interface, there are several other pre-configured interfaces for special purposes – Serif calls them “Personas”: The standard interface is called “Photo Persona”, but there is also the “Liquify Persona”, which is specially designed for deforming, distorting and retouching images, the “Develop Persona” for developing raw images, and a handful of others. You can easily switch between the individual personas in the upper bar.

Just as in Photoshop, you can drag individual elements, windows and tools from the main window to another monitor. This allows you to effectively enlarge the workspace by swapping out tools and other settings.

It’s different on the iPad, where the interface is significantly simplified and optimised for the smaller screen and pen input with the Apple Pencil and fingers. Here, too, it is clearly reminiscent of the touch-optimised version of Photoshop.

The toolbar is strongly reminiscent of Photoshop, even though some of the icons are different.

Foundry

Remarkable range of functions

The number of tools that Affinity Photo offers is also quite impressive. If you are interested in image editing and composing, the software offers almost the same functions as Photoshop: various layer types, (live) filters, adjustments (tonal value correction, contrast, etc.), effects (shadows, glows, etc.), masks, color gradients, brushes and much more – Affinity Photo will not fail to provide the basic functions. Affinity Photo even has a counterpart to the content-based filling of Photoshop, but here it is called “Inpainting”.

Differences to Photoshop only become apparent with AI-related functions. For example, some time ago Adobe added an AI-supported function that can completely replace the sky in landscape photos, which Affinity Photo does not have. Similarly, Photoshop can now recognise objects in images and select them quite accurately – also with the help of AI.

Affinity Photo can’t do that either, here you still have to select everything manually, even though the magic wand and the selection brush do a solid job even without AI.

One function that surprised me due to how intuitively it works in Affinity Photo is crop masks. To create a blurred background in the cover image for my article “The best games for the iPhone“, I drew three shapes, dragged the respective images into Affinity Photo and dropped them onto the respective shape in the layer list – done.

In Photoshop, this is only slightly more complicated, but still less intuitive: there, you drag the respective image in the list over the respective shape and then, while holding down the Option key, click on the line between the two layers to create a cut mask from the one above for the one below.

Surely this is a matter of habit, but for me personally, the drag-and-drop principle using only the mouse wins here against the combination of mouse and keyboard input.

Seven sample files are available for download, where you can pick up a few tricks.

Foundry

The sample files that Serif makes available for download are very helpful. You can find them in a tab in the “Open” dialogue and can then look over the shoulder of professionals and see what they have used which tools for and in what way. In addition, there are also many YouTube tutorials for Affinity Photo, partly from Serif itself, and partly from a large community.

Creative Cloud – the biggest difference

Like many large software companies, Adobe has switched to a software-as-a-service model, which means that the focus is no longer on the software alone, but on a large package of software and various additional services. A big advantage of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, of which Photoshop is now a part, is precisely these additional services: You get access to Adobe Stock, a database of stock photos by professional photographers, over 20,000 different fonts and many other services that you would otherwise have to take obtain yourself.

Most of this is missing from Affinity Photo, where there is only the software with which you can edit images. You have to take care of fonts, cloud storage and collaboration tools yourself, but this can save you a lot of money, especially as a hobbyist, and use free platforms like Unsplash.

Stock photos are at least connected via Pixabay, an external platform for free or license-free photos and vector graphics. Affinity Photo does not explicitly refer to this–I only found the tab after a reader had pointed it out to me. It is commendable that Pixabay is completely integrated into the interface and does not refer to external browsers. The selection of graphics is perfectly fine, but cannot quite keep up with commercial platforms.

On average prices are around $20/£20 in the Affinity Store.

Foundry

Online store for additional content

If you need additional or pre-configured tools, some add-ons can be downloaded for a fee from the Affinity Photo online store – textures, overlays, brush presets and a few more. In terms of price, the offer seems quite fair: for $25/£25, you get 53 textures, brushes and templates with the “Vibrant Paint Strokes Bundle“, for example.

The “Handwritten Font Bundle” with six different handwritings and several styles each is currently the most expensive add-on at $44/£44, and the “Nature Brush Pack” with 68 “bio brushes” for $9.99/£9.99 is the cheapest. All in all, the selection is manageable, but the shop will probably be more of a nice add-on for Serif than a source of income to be taken seriously.

Verdict

If you are a beginner, hobby graphic artist, or photographer, Affinity Photo is an incredibly attractive alternative to Adobe Photoshop, which hardly differs from the class leader in its essential functions. You lose out on the really smart features here and there, but there is nothing wrong with learning how to retouch and select objects properly by hand.

In terms of appearance and handling, Affinity Photo is now so similar to Adobe’s software that if you know Photoshop it will take no time to get familiar with Affinity Photo. The main selling point, of course, is that Affinity Photo, for all that it offers, is available for $69.99/£67.99 with an unlimited license, unlike Adobe Photoshop, and does not require a monthly subscription. Buy once, use always – that’s how we like software. For the indecisive, there’s a free 30-day trial for each platform – Mac, Windows, iPad.

Translated from Macwelt by Karen Haslam.

MacOS, Personal Software

Know the price-matching policies for Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and others

tigaman webdesign — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 19:46:52 +0000

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Nothing is more frustrating than buying a new pair of headphones, an OLED TV, or a backpack just to find out that you could have gotten it for a lot cheaper somewhere else. In order to keep customers happy — and prevent them from going elsewhere — many retailers offer price-matching policies where they promise to match a lower price you’ve found elsewhere. That’s information that could come in handy now that we’re just a few weeks out from Amazon Prime Day, which will be taking place on July 11th and July 12th.

What follows are the price-matching policies for a variety of major retailers. There are a few things to make note of here. First, all price-matching policies have a number of rules attached to them. We’ve summarized some of the rules here, but you’d be advised to go to the links that we’ve provided and read the policy carefully. Second, and logically enough, retailers that serve as marketplaces for other sellers, such as Costco, don’t have price-matching policies.

Lastly, there are always exceptions to the rules. If you’re looking for a deal on a product and you know it’s available for a lower price elsewhere (or it was previously offered at the same retailer), it never hurts to call or chat with a customer service rep and ask if they’ll match the price. After all, what do you have to lose?

If Best Buy offers a better discount than Target on the latest Kindle Paperwhite, Target will refund you the difference.

Amazon

Amazon doesn’t offer price matching. Full stop. You can contact customer support, but even if you’re an Amazon Prime customer, they’re not likely going to help you out.

That said, Amazon does offer a pretty liberal return policy, meaning you can often return an item you purchased from Amazon if it’s available for less elsewhere (or at Amazon). Then, you can just repurchase the product wherever it’s cheapest.

Target

Target will match the price of an item that you find for less either at Target or at a select list of competitors if you ask for it at the time of or within 14 days of your purchase. You must bring the original ad or listing, whether digital or in print, along with your receipt into the store. Alternatively, you can call for online purchases at 1-800-591-3869 or chat online via contactus.target.com.

Be mindful, however, this price-matching policy does not apply to doorbusters and competitors’ lightning sales, like those that Amazon offers. It also doesn’t apply to products that require that you log in to see the price.

Best Buy

Best Buy’s Price Match Guarantee states that a product could be eligible for a price reduction if it’s new, identical to the competitor’s product, immediately available at a qualifying competitor’s store or on its site, and not shown on Best Buy’s exclusion list (which includes “items for sale the Friday before Thanksgiving Day through the Monday after Thanksgiving”).

To get the difference, you have to contact Best Buy via its on-site chat and be able to show the ad or website with a lower price point. Alternatively, you can call 1-888-237-8289 or visit any Best Buy or Pacific Sales store.

Best Buy will also, upon request, match an in-store or online price that was lowered during the return and exchange period, which typically lasts up to 15 days.

Walmart

Walmart’s online store offers price matching on items purchased from Walmart stores if the item is in stock at Walmart.com. However, the policy doesn’t apply to those who live in Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico. Additionally, it doesn’t apply to special event prices, like those seen during Black Friday. Walmart also does not retroactively price match items bought from Walmart.com that have dropped in price after the time of purchase.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple doesn’t offer a price-matching policy, though can you can price match on devices like the new 15-inch MacBook Air — assuming it’s on sale — elsewhere.

Apple

While we’ve seen some claims that Apple will price match up to 10 percent for products bought at certain major retailers, there is no official policy on the company’s website.

Apple does say that if it reduces its price on an Apple-branded product within 14 days from when you received your item, you can visit an Apple Store or contact the Apple Contact Center at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or get credit for the price difference. However, that doesn’t apply to special sales like Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

B&H Photo

B&H says that it might be able to honor a current lower price or match the price of a competitor, but it does so on a case-by-case basis. You have to contact its Customer Service team using the on-site chat, email, or by calling 800-606-6969 / 212-444-6615.

Costco

Costco does not price match with competitors. However, according to the website, it will issue a credit for the difference between the price a member has paid and a promotional price if you bought the item online at Costco and requested the credit up to 30 days before the change in price. If you bought the product from a Costco warehouse location, visit the membership counter at the store where you made the purchase.

Dell

Dell will price match identical products from Dell, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, HP, Apple, Lenovo, and a number of other retailers. You can call 1-888-969-4503 or chat online to run a price check, but you’ll need to provide a link to the competitor’s product.

You can also contact the company about a price difference within 30 days of purchase. However, there is a long list of restrictions, and none of this is available between Thanksgiving Day and the Monday following Thanksgiving (or on Green Monday).

eBay

If you find a lower price from a qualifying competitor on an eBay Deal item that you bought within 48 hours — or on another product with the “Best Price Guarantee” symbol attached to it — you’ll get “110 percent” of the difference. That means eBay will give you an eBay coupon for the difference in price between what you bought the item for and what the competitor is selling it for, plus an additional 10 percent of that price difference. Note, however, these coupons will expire within 30 days of being issued.

The products must be new and unopened and identical to the competitor’s item. You have to contact eBay Customer Service, and if they verify your claims are legitimate, you will receive the coupon and be able to use it toward your next eBay purchase.

GameStop

GameStop does not mention an official price-matching policy on its website. In August, however, GameStop tweeted that the store will price match items sold and shipped by Amazon as long as they’re available online or in-store. Although GameStop only mentioned Amazon in the tweet, others have reported that the store will price match items purchased from Target and elsewhere.

Google

Google will match online pricing from select retailers — specifically Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, B&H Photo, and Target — if a request is made within the standard return period. It doesn’t, however, match preorder pricing from other retailers or carrier deals. The product also must be identical, right down to the color and configuration, and must be in stock. Plus, you need to provide a public link to the promo page or product listing to verify the rival’s price.

You may also get the difference if a product purchased from the Google Store lowers in price within the standard return period. To get the price match or correction, contact Google.

The Home Depot

The Home Depot will match the price of identical, in-stock products from other retailers, except for membership-based wholesalers. The price-match policy does not apply to special events like Black Friday, though, and you must bring the ad or listing with you in-store to the register. Additionally, The Home Depot will only honor requests submitted by the original buyer — no friends or family allowed.

Image: Monica Chin / The Verge

You could potentially buy HP’s Spectre x360 14 at a lower price thanks to HP’s price-matching policy.

HP

According to HP’s website, the company will match the current pretax price for new comparable PCs and identical HP printer, display, and accessory model numbers from nationally recognized online retailers, such as Dell, Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy. The specs have to be the same, but the product model number does not need to be identical for computers. You have to ask for the match at the time of purchase by calling 1-800-888-0229. You can’t request a price match via email or chat, though, and the policy does not extend to items bought during promotional periods.

If you find a comparable product at a lower price during the return period, you can email HP at myhpsales@hp.com. This only applies to branded HP products and doesn’t apply to products purchased during certain promotional events, like HP’s Fourth of July sale.

Lenovo

Lenovo matches pricing on comparable PCs from Lenovo, HP, or Dell with the same key specs as long as they’re sold through a list of recognized retailers. That said, you can’t take advantage of coupons or special discounts while receiving a price match, and the policy doesn’t apply to membership stores like Costco. The comparable PC also must be in stock and readily available from both Lenovo and the competing retailer, and you have to contact a Lenovo sales rep in order to facilitate the match.

Lenovo also offers a price guarantee refund for laptops and personal desktop computers bought from Lenovo.com within 30 days of purchase. To receive a refund, you must contact Customer Care and show the lower price of the identical product offered on Lenovo.com. This policy doesn’t apply to doorbuster or clearance products, however.

Lowe’s

Lowe’s will match the price of identical, in-stock products when you present an ad, product listing, or photo from a qualifying online or local retailer, including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. To request a price match, head to the store, call 1-877-465-6937, or chat online. The policy doesn’t apply to special sales like Black Friday, nor will Lowe’s honor requests from anyone other than the original purchaser. It also doesn’t match prices from one Lowe’s store to another.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If Microsoft lowers the price of the Xbox Series X, Microsoft could refund you the difference.

Microsoft

Microsoft will refund you the difference if it lowers the price of a physical product purchased online from the Microsoft Store within 60 days of purchase. You can contact Microsoft’s Sales and Support team at 1-877-696-7786 to get a refund. If you purchase an item from a Microsoft Experience Center, you’ll have to go back to that location with your receipt.

Newegg

Newegg offers price matching on select items; these products are identified by the label “Price Match Guarantee” that appears in the price box on the right side of the product page. This applies whether you find that lower price on Newegg or at what Newegg judges to be a major retailer. Regardless, you need to notify Newegg of the lower price within 14 days of purchase. You’ll then be issued a credit you can use on the Newegg website, though you’ll only have 90 days to do so.

Newegg’s price-match guarantee is not valid during major holiday sales events, including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Green Monday.

Sam’s Club

You can request a price match against other Sam’s Club stores but not competitors. Note that this doesn’t apply to items on markdown or clearance.

Sonos

We didn’t find anything on Sonos’ website regarding the company’s price-matching policy.

Apple Launches Beats Studio Buds+ in More Countries

tigaman webdesign — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 13:50:40 +0000

Apple this week began selling its new Beats Studio Buds+ in the UK and most other countries, with the exceptions of Brazil, Mexico, and Taiwan, where the earbuds will be available starting mid-August. The earbuds first launched in the U.S. in May.

Key new features of the Studio Buds+ include a transparent design option similar to the Nothing Ear (2) earbuds, up to 36 hours of battery life with the included USB-C charging case, and up to 1.6× as much active noise cancellation as the original Studio Buds that launched in 2021. In the U.S., the earbuds are priced at $169.99.

Studio Buds+ are essentially a sportier alternative to the AirPods Pro, and have a more compact design without “stems” that drop below the ears. Other color options include Black/Gold and Ivory, and ear tip size options include XS, S, M, and L.

Studio Buds+ support features such as one-touch pairing with Apple devices, hands-free “Hey Siri” voice commands, and the Find My app. They also support similar Android features, such as Google Fast Pair, Audio Switch, and Find My Device. For more details about the earbuds, check out our hands-on coverage from last month.

Tag: Beats

This article, "Apple Launches Beats Studio Buds+ in More Countries" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple’s new Proton-like tool can run Windows games on a Mac

tigaman webdesign — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 12:04:00 +0000

Image: Apple

If you’re hoping to see more Windows games on Mac then those dreams might finally come true soon. Apple has dropped some big news for game developers at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week, making it far easier and quicker to port Windows games to Mac thanks to a Proton-like environment that can translate and run the latest DirectX 12 Windows games on macOS.

Apple has created a new Game Porting Toolkit that’s similar to the work Valve has done with Proton and the Steam Deck. Apple’s tool will instantly translate Windows games to run on macOS, allowing developers to launch an unmodified version of a Windows game on a Mac and see how well it runs before fully porting a game.

Mac gaming has been a long running meme among the PC gaming community, despite Resident Evil Village and No Man’s Sky ports being some rare recent exceptions to macOS gaming being largely ignored.

“The new Game Porting Toolkit provides an emulation environment to run your existing unmodified Windows game and you can use it to quickly understand the graphics feature usage and performance potential of your game when running on a Mac,” explains Aiswariya Sreenivassan, an engineering project manager for GPUs and graphics at Apple, in a WWDC session earlier this week.

Image: Apple

The Game Porting Toolkit can just run Windows games on macOS.

This Game Porting Toolkit even supports DirectX 12 games like The Medium, with Sreenivassan demonstrating running the game through Apple’s translation layer. Much like how Wine and Proton combine to create a software layer to translate Windows API calls to Linux, Apple is doing something similar here to convert these Windows API calls to its Metal API.

Apple’s new Game Porting Toolkit translates Intel-based x86 instructions and Windows APIs to Apple Silicon instead. APIs related to keyboard, mouse, controller input, audio playback, networking, the file system, and Direct3D are all translated to the corresponding APIs in macOS.

The result is Windows games running on macOS without any porting or modification. Apple says this is more for evaluating games right now before they’re ported across to macOS, but there’s nothing stopping macOS users from installing this Game Porting Toolkit and trying games out.

Image: Apple

Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit lets developers instantly run DirectX 12 Windows games on macOS.

The big issue will be exactly how games run in this environment. Most won’t be optimized through this tool and there are bound to be performance issues and bugs until developers create their own ports. Reddit users have already got Cyberpunk 2077 up and running on an M1 MacBook Pro, alongside Diablo IV on an M1 Max MacBook Pro and Hogwarts Legacy on an M2 Max. The early results look promising despite some obvious performance limitations, but there could be potential bugs from running games on Mac this way.

CodeWeavers announced its own highly-anticipated DirectX 12 support for CrossOver Mac (a similar Windows compatibility layer) earlier this month. But it also warned that despite its advancement “there was no single magic key” that unlocked DirectX 12 support on macOS.

“To get just Diablo II Resurrected running, we had to fix a multitude of bugs involving MoltenVK and SPIRV-Cross,” explained CrossOver Product Manager Meredith Johnson in a blog post. “We anticipate that this will be the case for other DirectX 12 games: we will need to add support on a per-title basis, and each game will likely involve multiple bugs.”

I got Cyberpunk 2077 running on an M1 MacBook!
by
u/isaa6 in
macgaming

Apple’s own translation layer is still significant, though. Apple has often talked up how high performance its GPU cores are on its M1 and M2 chips, even announcing an M2 Ultra chip this week with a 76-core GPU that’s 30 percent faster than the M1 Ultra. We just haven’t seen that GPU performance in games on Mac because so few get ported across.

Porting Windows games to Mac hasn’t been easy for developers, and typically involves a complex process of recompiling source code, converting custom shaders, reimplementing the graphics subsystem, and converting audio, input, and HDR rendering. Developers can use a cross-platform game engine to cut down on all that complexity if they’re targeting multiple platforms, but they still have to debug a game and optimize the performance on macOS.

Apple now has a tool to let developers understand how much porting work will be required to fix bugs and optimize their games on macOS, and it also has a new Metal Shader Converter to automatically convert existing GPU shaders to Metal. Both of these tools significantly cut down the time and work to port games from Windows to Mac.

Apple’s Mac gaming push also includes a new game mode in macOS Sonoma and game developer Hideo Kojima appearing during Apple’s WWDC keynote to announce that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be coming to macOS.

If Apple continues with this work on its translation layer, maybe one day it’ll be good enough for end users to run Windows games on macOS just like they do on a Steam Deck. That dream is still a ways off, but Apple has showed this week that it might eventually become reality.

Update, June 9th 9:25AM ET: Article updated with Reddit users running a variety of games on Apple Silicon Macs.

Mac processor comparison: M1 & M2 vs Intel

tigaman webdesign — Wed, 17 May 2023 10:18:27 +0000

Macworld

If you’re choosing between two different types of Mac, or two generations of the same Mac, you may be wondering just how much of a difference the processor will make.

Since November 2020 all new Mac have featured one of Apple’s own system-on-chip based on the ARM architecture and sometimes referred to as Apple Silicon. A number of Apple chips have joined the line up including the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M2, M2 Pro and M2 Max so far. The only Mac yet to move from Intel to Apple Silicon is the Mac Pro.

Mac Pro aside, it has been a while since Apple sold any new Macs powered by an Intel chip, but since some stockists are still selling Intel-powered Macs and it is possible to buy refurbished Macs with Intel chips, the comparison of Intel vs M1 or M2 is still valid. Those wishing to upgrade from an Intel powered Mac to an M1 or M2-series Mac may also be curious about how much of a difference to expect.

With such variety on offer, there is also a question of which Apple processor is best – or at least sufficient for your needs. The M2 represents the second generation of Apple Silicon, but the M2 is still less powerful than the M1 Pro, for example (see: M2 vs M1 Pro, Max, and Ultra).

Here we will compare all the Mac and MacBook CPUs, GPUs, and other specs, such as RAM, to demonstrate how the M1 and M2-series chips compare to each other and to their Intel predecessors.

For more help choosing which Mac to buy read our buying guides where we assess the Best Mac and Best MacBook.

At a glance: M1 vs M2 vs Intel

M1 to M2 Max timeline

November 2020: Apple introduced its first Mac system-on-chip – the M1. It featured in the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

April 2021: Apple launched an iMac with a M1 chip.

October 2021: The M1 formed the bases for powerful variants, the M1 Pro and M1 Max that arrived in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro in October 2021.

March 2022: The final M1-series chip, the M1 Ultra, arrived with the Mac Studio in March 2022.

June 2022: The next generation of Apple Silicon arrived in June 2022 with the introduction of the M2 chip.

January 2023: The M2 Pro and M2 Max arrived in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The Mac mini gained an M2 and M2 Pro chip.

We are currently awaiting the arrival of the M2 Ultra, which is tipped to have a place in the Mac Pro, which could launch in June 2023.

The M3 series isn’t likely to make an appearance until early 2024, although a late 2023 arrival is possible.

Which processor should you choose for your Mac and does it really matter? Read on to find out.

Mac and MacBook processors compared

The M1 arrived with the MacBook Air, 13in MacBook Pro and Mac mini at the end of 2020.

The processor inside a Mac makes a big difference to how powerful the Mac is. However, it can actually be quite confusing if you aren’t familiar with the terminology. The processor is sometimes referred to as the CPU (central processing unit), which is different to the GPU (graphics processing unit). Sometimes people will refer to the processor when they actually mean the SOC (system on chip) that contains both the CPU and GPU. You may even hear it referred to as a SiP (system in package).

We often refer to Apple Silicon as chips because they are system on chips that combine the CPU and GPU (and for that matter RAM, which Apple refers to as Unified Memory). The various M-series chips offer a variety of CPU and GPU cores.

Similarly there are a number of different Intel chips which combine a number of CPU cores with integrated or discrete graphics options, all of which we will discuss below.

Mac processors from Apple

M1

In June 2020 Apple announced that it would transition Mac from Intel to its “world-class custom silicon.” This process began with Apple’s M1 processor, which was introduced in November 2020.

The M1 features inside these Macs:

MacBook Air (2020) (buy from Apple here)
13-inch MacBook Pro (2020)
Mac mini (2020)
24-inch iMac (2021) (buy from Apple here)

The M1 specs are as follows:

8-core CPU
- 4 performance cores
- 4 efficiency cores
7- or 8-core graphics processor (GPU)
16-core Neural Engine
8GB or 16GB of RAM
68.25GBps memory bandwidth

The M1 was Apple’s first chip designed by Apple specifically for the Mac and it made shockwaves in the industry with giant leaps in performance. However, some people criticised the RAM limitations, with the new Macs only able to support up to 16GB Unified Memory.

M1 Pro

Apple introduced the M1 Pro in October 2021.

The M1 Pro features in these Macs:

14-inch MacBook Pro (2021)
16-inch MacBook Pro (2021)

The M1 Pro specs are as follows:

8- or 10-core CPU
- 6 or 8 performance cores
- 2 efficiency cores
14- or 16-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
16GB or 32GB of RAM
200GBps memory bandwidth

The M1 Pro offers a 14-core GPU or a 16-core GPU. At launch Apple claimed the GPU in the M1 Pro to be 2x faster than the M1. Apple also claimed that the GPU was up to 7x faster than the integrated graphics on the latest 8-core PC laptop chip.

The M1 Pro also added a ProRes accelerator in the media engine to speed up video processing. Apple claimed that the M1 Pro could deliver up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is nearly 3x the bandwidth of M1.

The M1 Pro supports up to 32GB RAM (compared to a maximum of 16GB for the M1).

M1 Max

The M1 Max was also introduced in October 2021 as a standard option for the 16in MacBook Pro, and a build-to-order option for the 14in MacBook Pro. Then in March 2022 the M1 Max became one of the options for the Mac Studio.

The M1 Max features in these Macs:

14-inch MacBook Pro (2021)
16-inch MacBook Pro (2021)
Mac Studio (2022) (buy from Apple here)

The M1 Max specs are as follows:

10-core CPU
- 8 performance cores
- 2 efficiency cores
24- or 32-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
32GB or 64GB of RAM
400GBps memory bandwidth

The M1 Max has the same 10-core CPU as the M1 Pro, but everything else is significantly enhanced. The GPU is probably the most important difference between the M1 Pro and M1 Max. The M1 Max GPU goes all the way up to 32-cores (there is also a build-to-order 24-core option.)

At launch Apple claimed the graphics performance of the 32GB GPU to be up to 4x faster than the M1.

M1 Max also has two ProRes accelerators that help it deliver up to 2x faster video encoding than M1 Pro. Apple claimed the M1 Max powered MacBook Pros can edit up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes video or up to seven streams of 8K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro. That’s more streams than on a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner.

At launch Apple stated that the performance of the M1 Max is “similar to that of the highest-end GPU in the largest PC laptops while using up to 100 watts less power.”

M1 Max also offers up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth. That is 2x that of M1 Pro and nearly 6x that of M1. As a result a maximum of 64GB RAM is possible with the Max.

M1 Ultra

The M1 Ultra was also introduced in March 2022 as an option for the Mac Studio.

The M1 Ultra features in these Macs:

Mac Studio (2022) (buy from Apple here)

The M1 Ultra specs are as follows:

20-core CPU
- 16 performance cores
- 4 efficiency cores
48- or 64-core GPU
32-core Neural Engine
64GB or 128GB of RAM
800GBps memory bandwidth

The M1 Ultra is essentially two M1 Mac chips, so it can offer a 20-core CPU and up to 64-core GPU. Apple achieves this using UltraFusion architecture to connect the two M1 Max chips to avoid trade-offs such as increased latency, reduced bandwidth, and increased power consumption. Apple also explained that the M1 Ultra behaves like, and is recognised by software, as one chip.

At launch Apple claimed to offer “4x the bandwidth of the leading multi-chip interconnect technology” and that the m1 Ultra “delivers 90 percent higher multi-threaded performance than the fastest available 16-core PC desktop chip in the same power envelope.”

Apple also claimed that the 64-core GPU delivers faster performance than the highest-end PC GPU available – all while using 200 fewer watts of power.

The M1 Ultra can be configured with up to 128GB unified memory – according to Apple the most powerful PC graphics cards max out at 48GB. The ‌M1‌ Ultra also offers twice the media engine capabilities of the ‌M1 Max‌, for accelerated video encoding and decoding.

M2

The M2 was introduced in June 2022 with the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple later added the M2 as an option for the Mac mini.

The M2 features in these Macs:

MacBook Air (2023) (buy from Apple here)
13-inch MacBook Pro (2023) (buy from Apple here)
Mac mini (2023) (buy from Apple here)

The M2 specs are as follows:

8-core CPU
- 4 performance cores
- 4 efficiency cores
8- or 10-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB, 16GB or 24GB of RAM
100GBps memory bandwidth

At launch Apple claimed: “Compared with the latest 10-core PC laptop chip, the CPU in M2 provides nearly twice the performance at the same power level.” Apple also stated that the “M2 provides nearly 90 percent of the peak performance of the 12-core chip while using just one-fourth the power.”

Apple also claimed the 10-core GPU delivers “up to 25 percent higher graphics performance than M1 at the same power level”, thanks to the larger cache and higher memory bandwidth. At maximum power this is 35 percent better, claimed Apple.

Thanks to the additional GPU cores, 10-cores rather than the 8-core limit of the M1, the M2 performs better than the M1, but it’s still below the M1 Pro with 14-cores.

M2 Pro

The M2 Pro was introduced in January 2023 with the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and the M2 Pro Mac mini.

The M2 Pro features in these Macs:

14-inch MacBook Pro (2023) (buy from Apple here)
16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) (buy from Apple here)
Mac mini (2023) (buy from Apple here)

The M2 Pro specs are as follows:

10-core or 12-core CPU
- 6 or 8 performance cores
- 2 efficiency core
14- or 16-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
16GB or 32GB of RAM
200GBps memory bandwidth

Like the M1 Pro, the M2 Pro has a built-in media engine that accelerates H.264, HEVC, and ProRes video encoding and decoding. Better power efficiency during playback of multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video can also be expected.

At launch Apple claimed that the M2 Pro is 40 percent faster in Adobe Photoshop image processing, and 25 percent faster in Xcode code compiling when compared to the M1 Pro.

Apple claimed that, when compared to the Core i9 16-inch MacBook Pro, the M2 Pro is 2.5 times faster in Photoshop and 80 percent faster in Xcode.

M2 Max

The M2 Max was also introduced in January 2023 with the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The M2 Max features in these Macs:

14-inch MacBook Pro (2023) (buy from Apple here)
16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) (buy from Apple here)

The M2 Max specs are as follows:

12-core CPU
- 8 performance cores
- 4 efficiency core
30- or 38-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
32GB, 64GB or 96GB of RAM
400GBps memory bandwidth

Like the M1 Max, the M2 Max offers two video-encode engines and ProRes engines. At launch Apple claimed the M2 Max would see a 30 percent improvement over the M1 Max when using color grading in DaVinci Resolve, while it would be 2 times faster than the Intel Core i9 MacBook Pro in the same test.

For effects rendering in Cinema 4D, Apple claimed that the M2 Max is 30 percent faster than the M1 Max, and 6 times faster than the Core i9 MacBook Pro.

M2 Ultra

Yet to launch.

Expected release: June 2023.

Expected spec:

24-core CPU
- 16 performance cores
- 8 efficiency core
60- or 76-core GPU
32-core Neural Engine
64GB, 96GB, 128GB or 192GB of RAM
800GBps memory bandwidth

M3

Yet to launch.

Expected release: 2024.

Expected spec:

12-core CPU
- 6 performance cores
- 6 efficiency cores
10- or 12-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB, 16GB or 24GB of RAM
100GBps memory bandwidth

M3 Pro

Yet to launch.

Expected release: 2024.

Expected spec:

12-core CPU
- 6 performance cores
- 6 efficiency cores
16- or 18-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
16-core Neural Engine
16GB or 36GB of RAM
200GBps memory bandwidth

Mac processors made by Intel

If you bought your Mac before the end of 2020 it will have Intel inside.

Apple has used various generations of Intel processor over the years. Here are details of some of the Intel chips you may find inside any Macs that predate Apple’s move to the M1 and beyond.

The only Macs Apple currently sells with Intel processors include:

Mac Pro, 3.5GHz 8-core Xeon W, 4GHz Turbo Boost (and various build-to-order options)
Various Macs in Apple’s refurbished store

If you are considering buying a Intel-powered Mac second hand we would recommend that you don’t! Read Should I buy a second hand Mac?

Back when Macs were powered by Intel, Apple specified an Intel processor generation for each Mac in its marketing materials. So you would have seen a description such as 2.0GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor associated with a particular Mac.

However, without those marketing materials is isn’t so easy to find out which processor is inside an Intel-powered Mac because the About This Mac information shows the year that Mac went on sale and the processor specifics such as GHz and number of cores, but not the processor generation. Identifying the processor generation can be useful in comparing different Macs – and PCs.

If you want to find out the specs of your Intel Mac we suggest you read our guide to how to check the specs of your Mac.

Here’s how the Intel processor line up has looked since around 2011:

1st Generation – Nehalem (2011)
2nd Generation – Sandy Bridge (2011)
3rd Generation – Ivy Bridge (2012)
4th Generation – Haswell (2013)
5th Generation – Broadwell (2015)
6th Generation – Skylake (2015)
7th Generation – Kaby Lake (2017)
8th Generation – Coffee Lake (2018)
9th Generation – Coffee Lake Refresh (2018)
10th Generation – Ice Lake (2019)

M1 vs Intel

The M1-series Macs are beating the Intel models.

The Intel processors that Apple used in its Macs since 2006 were x86 chips. The Apple Silicon is based on ARM, but include a number of Apple technologies (so they aren’t ARM chips, strictly speaking). ARM and x86 are completely different architectures-which means that they need different code, and hence the operating systems and software needs to be tailored to them.

Therefore one of the main concerns with the move to M1 (or any variant) could be whether required software is compatible with ARM. Apple addressed this with Rosetta 2, which translates the code from x86 to ARM and, with a few exceptions, there was no issue with software written for x86 running on the M1 Macs. Many software developers were quick to update their software to run on M-series Macs, though.

One advantage of ARM over Intel’s X86 is power consumption, this is evident in the long battery life of the M-series Macs. The 16-inch MacBook Pro has the longest even battery life for a Mac at 22 hours. The 2019 Intel-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro could only manage 11 hours.

There are other ways in which the M-series chips are more efficient than Intel processors. Macs with Apple chips have two kinds of processor cores: high-performance and efficiency. Having two types of cores ensures that background processes don’t slow down the computer because there is always enough power available for programs to run. For example, even the fastest Intel-powered Mac might have experienced slowdowns and performance drops if a system process like iCloud, or the indexing of Photos or Spotlight, was running in the background.

This is all great in theory, but in practice benchmarks prove that there is a leap in performance from Intel to M1, and beyond. Our benchmarks below include the best Intel MacBook Pro for comparison.

Mac Processor Benchmarks

When we tested we found that even Apple’s M1 chips delivered performance that was equal to, or even better, than the most powerful Intel laptop chips found in Macs at the time – and the M1 Macs weren’t even targeted at the kind of people who need the most powerful laptops. The M1 really was better than a comparable Intel chip – just as Apple claimed.

The M1 Ultra in the Mac Studio is still the most powerful Apple-made chip, but that will be overkill for the majority, and it does have a high price, but benchmarks have shown that it beats the Mac Pro with the best graphics card option, suggesting that Apple knows exactly what it is doing with its CPUs and GPUs. We await the new Mac Pro, which will probably feature the M2 Ultra with anticipation.

There is no reason to avoid buying an M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max or M1 Ultra over an Intel-powered Mac, especially now that Apple Silicon is so well established.

How to choose a Mac processor

Whether you are comparing two Macs with Apple chips, or one Apple chip and one Intel chip, or even two Intel chips, this is what to consider:

How many CPU cores?

You will notice that Apple’s M1 has eight CPU cores, the M1 Pro and M1 Max have ten CPU cores, and the M1 Ultra has 20 CPU cores.

The M2 series extends that, with the M2 CPU having 10 or 12 CPU cores and the M2 Pro and M2 Max having a 12 core CPU.

Among the Intel Macs you would generally find dual-core, quad-core, 6-core, 8-core and 10-core CPUs, while the Mac Pro offers a Xeon processor with 8, 12, 16, 24, or 28-cores.

Having more cores available means that your Mac will be able to run multiple processes at once. Apple’s M-series Macs have two kinds of cores: high performance and high efficiency cores. The difference between high performance and efficiency cores is that the efficiency cores are power saving while the performance cores can be used for more demanding tasks. So while the performance cores focus on demanding tasks there won’t be a hit on power efficient processing, both can happen in tandem.

How much CPU Cache?

The more processor cache you have the better. Cache is on-board memory and it helps the processor deal with repetitive tasks faster, because information can be held in the memory. Greater amounts of cache will also help with multitasking, because several tasks can be run simultaneously.

How many GPU cores?

This is more apparent on the M-series Macs because Apple highlights the number of GPU cores and this extends as you move up the range.

Apple’s M1 has 7 or 8 GPU cores, the M1 Pro had a 14-core or 16-core GPU, the M1 Max had a 24-core or 32-core GPU, and the M1 Ultra has a 48-core or 64-core GPU.

The M2 series extends that, with the M2 GPU having 8 or 10 GPU cores and the M2 Pro having 14 or 16 GPU cores, and M2 Max having a 30-core or 38-core GPU.

Intel Macs either had integrated graphics or a discrete graphics card. The discrete option was more for professionals who were using graphics intensive programmes on their Macs. A discrete graphics card has its own memory, while integrated graphics shared memory with the processor.

There were concerns when Apple introduced the M-series chips because the graphics are integrated on the system on chip, but there are benefits to this. Because the M-series Macs integrate the GPU, the CPU the RAM onto the same system on chip (SoC) the GPU and CPU can exchange information quickly and the RAM can be shared efficiently – Apple refers to its Unified Memory Architecture which makes this possible.

As you can see from the chart above, even the Pro, Max and Ultra variants of the M1 topped the best graphics options in the Intel-powered Macs.

How many GHz?

GHz reflects the number of clock cycles per second. So a 2.3GHz processor’s internal clock beats 2.3 billion times per second. Hence people referring to the number of GHz as the clock speed.

You’ll notice that it’s not that easy to compare the M1 with an Intel processor because while Intel lists GHz Apple doesn’t. However you can find out the maximum clock speed of the M1-series Macs. The M1 is known to be clocked at 3.2GHz, for example.

Each range of Intel-equipped Macs usually has more than one option in terms of GHz. Sometimes it will look like a more powerful Mac has a slower clock speed. This is invariably due to the Mac in question having more cores available. For example, the 3.1GHz 6-Core iMac costs considerably more than the 3.6GHz Quad-Core model. At first glance that might look like a bad deal, but that’s six 3.1GHz cores, rather than four 3.6GHz cores. And the more cores the better.

With Intel Macs it’s not only GHz you need to consider, but how many cores and the generation of processor.

What is Turbo Boost?

There is no Turbo Boost figure to consider with Apple’s M1-series, but is a significant part of Intel’s marketing so we will discuss it here.

The simplest way to think of Turbo Boost is as a way of safely over-clocking the cores on a processor. This figure can sometimes give a clue as to how one generation’s processor compares to the next.

The Turbo Boost controller samples the power consumption and temperature of the cores hundreds of times a second while monitoring the demands made of them by software. If any of the cores are being driven to their theoretical maximum, Turbo Boost can, if enough power is available and the temperature is at a safe level ‘over-clock’ the core and enable it to work faster.

So the eight cores in a MacBook Pro’s 2.3GHz 8-Core i9 processor can, if needed, be pushed to 4.8GHz subject to power consumption and heat dissipation.

Not all processors can Turbo Boost. The i3 processors, found in the 3.6GHz Quad-Core iMac do not include Turbo Boost, so the 3.6GHz speed is never going to be over-clocked.

Why would you need Turbo Boost? Turbo Boost kicks in when you aren’t using all the cores, so the clock speed can be increased on the cores that are in use. So, Turbo Boost is a feature that will benefit you most if you aren’t using applications that use multiple cores.

Why you might not want Turbo Boost? When Turbo Boost is in use your computer will be using more power, so if you have a laptop it might not be in your interest to have Turbo Boost.

Apple would quote Turbo Boost figure for older Macs, like the iMac above.

Intel processor types

It’s not only processor generation you need to consider with Intel. There was a lot of variety in terms of processor speed, number of cores, Turbo Boost figures and whether it is an i3 or an i9. Wondering if i5 is better than i7, or if i3 is going to be inadequate? We look through the different processors right up to i9 below.

Core M – The M is a mobile versions of Intel’s chips – it appeared in the first Retina MacBook when it launched in 2014. There were three M processors with increasing performance: m3, m5 and m7.

Core i3 – i3 processors featured in some Macs. They don’t feature Turbo Boost.

Core i5 – The majority of Macs used to use Intel’s i5 processors. The i5 tended to be quad-core or 6-core. If you find a dual-core it’s an older generation.

Core i7 – The i7 is worth looking out for if you are thinking of purchasing an older Mac because, in older generations of Macs, when it came to quad-core the i5 and i7 versions were not equal. The quad-core i7, which was once used in the 15in MacBook Pro offered some features that the quad-core i5 didn’t, one of which was Hyper threading. Another difference was the size of the cache. Thanks to these features, i7 processors were better for multitasking, multimedia, high-end gaming, and scientific work.

Core i9 – Intel’s i9 processors arrived with the 9th generation Coffee Lake refresh, and have up to 8-cores.

Xeon – Intel’s Xeon processors are workstation or server processors. Xeon processors support more memory than the i5/i7/i9 processors.

Hyper threading

Hyper threading allows the processor to handle twice as many ‘streams’ as it has cores, by fooling software into thinking it has twice as many cores. So a quad-core processor with hyper threading should be able to execute four times as many sets of instructions in a given time period as a dual-core processor with the same clock speed but without hyper threading.

This means that a quad-core i7, for example, can act like it has eight cores, but a quad-core i5 will only be able to use the four cores available to it.

Which Mac Processor to choose?

Now that Apple has almost completed its transition from Intel to Apple Silicon, with only the Mac Pro yet to transition, the question of which processor is no longer a choice between Intel and Apple. We have in the past recommended waiting for a second generation product, but now that the M2 series is established there is no reason to wait. If you need a powerful Mac go ahead and buy one. The only reason to delay would be if you want to wait for the M3, which could arrive in early 2024.

And for the best deals right now check out our:

Mac, MacBook

iPhone 15 display panel supply chain is on schedule for June production

tigaman webdesign — Tue, 16 May 2023 18:00:17 +0000

Display panels intended for the iPhone 15 are on track to start production in June, it is claimed, which would put Apple’s production plans about on its historical schedule for this component.

The iPhone 15 displays are set to be produced in June.

Apple’s typical schedule for releasing its new iPhone generation focuses on a September launch and availability soon after, though with rare exceptions. For the iPhone 15, it seems that at least one important component is being made according to Apple’s planned timings.

Apple releases firmware for AirPods, Beats, and the MagSafe charger

tigaman webdesign — Tue, 02 May 2023 21:58:48 +0000

Macworld

Apple has issued firmware updates for eight different devices today, and you can’t even really take care of it yourself. Multiple AirPods and Beats models are getting firmware updates, along with, oddly enough, the official Apple MagSafe charger.

The full list of products and their new firmware numbers are as follows:

AirPods 2nd-gen: 5E135
AirPods 3rd-gen: 5E135
AirPods Pro 1st-gen: 5E135
AirPods Pro 2nd-gen: 5E135
AirPods Max: 5E135
PowerBeats Pro: 5B66
Beats Fit Pro: 5B66
MagSafe Charger: 258.0.0.0

What do these firmware updates do? Nobody really knows! Apple never says. The company maintains a support document for AirPods firmware updates but every update only says it provides “Bug fixes and other improvements,” with very few exceptions.

What’s worse, it’s not possible to actually update the firmware yourself. Firmware updates are delivered when your AirPods are charging and within range of a paired iPhone, iPad, or Mac that is connected to the Wi-Fi. Sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes it takes days, and there’s no way to force it.

To check the firmware version of your AirPods or Beats products, go to Settings > Bluetooth, then tap the Info button (i) next to the name of your AirPods. Scroll down to the About section to find the firmware version.

To check the firmware of your MagSafe charger, have it plugged into a power supply and attached to your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > About > Apple MagSafe Charger and look for the firmware version. The MagSafe charger updates its firmware when connected to a power adapter and an iPhone that is connected to Wi-Fi.

Firmware updates for AirPods are not uncommon, and it would probably behoove Apple to provide for a way to force them–even if just by long-pressing the firmware revision number in Settings.

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Mac processor comparison: M1 & M2 vs Intel

At a glance: M1 vs M2 vs Intel

M1 to M2 Max timeline

Mac and MacBook processors compared

Mac processors from Apple

M1

Apple MacBook Air (2020) M1

Apple 24-inch iMac (M1, 2021)

M1 Pro

M1 Max

M1 Ultra

Apple Mac Studio (M1 Ultra, 2022)

M2

Apple MacBook Air M2 (2022)

Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro (M2, 2022)

Apple Mac mini (M2, 2023)

M2 Pro

Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)

Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023)

M2 Max

Apple 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023, M2 Max, 12-core/38-core, 1TB)

M2 Ultra

M3

M3 Pro

Mac processors made by Intel

M1 vs Intel

Mac Processor Benchmarks

How to choose a Mac processor

How many CPU cores?

How much CPU Cache?

How many GPU cores?

How many GHz?

What is Turbo Boost?

Intel processor types

Hyper threading

Which Mac Processor to choose?

iPhone 15 display panel supply chain is on schedule for June production

Apple releases firmware for AirPods, Beats, and the MagSafe charger