burkphoto wrote:
There are benefits of soldered components on motherboards and no socketed components.
> Shorter distances between components means each bit and byte has less conductor length to travel. Even at near-light speed, that adds up to faster performance. For every eleven inches of conductor, it takes a nanosecond for a signal to traverse it. With trillions of bits moved, condensing space saves time.
> Connections are generally more secure. They can't come apart due to vibration, shock, or torsion. I still remember buying three Power Computing Mac clones for a department I managed in 1997. All three were dead on arrival! I opened them up and reseated the riser cards, and they worked fine for a while. Every time I moved one, I had to reseat those cards because the chassis were so flimsy.
> When things can't come apart, they tend to work better and last longer. Apple has had tons of repair issues due to improperly matched third party socketed RAM in older models, for instance. I've run into that several times when friends asked me to troubleshoot crashing and freezing issues. 20 years ago, that was a MAJOR issue where I worked. I found mis-matched RAM in 13 Macs! The IT tech didn't understand wait states and RAM speeds.
> Buying what you WILL need, "up front," forces you to consider your needs 3-5 years down the road.
There are benefits of soldered components on mothe... (
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burkphoto wrote:
The fact is that Apple's game is innovation. They intentionally "eat their own children" every so often by completely changing the hardware, or the operating system, or the connectors, or something else. They are not bound by corporate license agreements and "tradition," so they are usually the first to popularize a new technology.
What that means is, they know you are going to abandon your old technology in five to seven years, rather than significantly upgrade it. My own experience is that by the time 5-7 years roll by, my Mac or iPhone won't run all the new software I want it to run, or it is no longer safe to keep on the Internet.
I have a perfectly good old 2010 Mac mini that runs older operating systems just fine. But those systems are not safe to connect to the network! So its network card has been disabled and I run it in standalone mode only when I need, say, an older copy of Epson Scan with Digital ICE. That same computer does not have the hardware resources (an Apple Metal-compatible graphics chip) to run versions of Photoshop or Lightroom Classic released after 2017.
My 2013 iMac runs great, after I upgraded it (with painstaking hassle) in 2019 to a 2TB SSD and 16GB RAM, but it's about to lose security updates to the OS, and it is probably no longer supported at all on the hardware side. So if it dies, it dies. I'll get a new Mac and give my current one to my wife (she uses the iMac now).
I like stuff I don't have to mess with very often. I choose products that run well and last a long time with little or no maintenance. Macs and iPhones fit that bill. So do Toyota Priuses and Lumix cameras.
The fact is that Apple's game is innovation. They ... (
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** ANSWERING BETWEEN LINES **
There are benefits of soldered components on motherboards and no socketed components.
> Shorter distances between components means each bit and byte has less conductor length to travel. Even at near-light speed, that adds up to faster performance. For every eleven inches of conductor, it takes a nanosecond for a signal to traverse it. With trillions of bits moved, condensing space saves time.
** REPLY: the Mac Pro uses RAM modules running at 2933 MHz. At that speed, the pulse length is 10 cm or 4" long. So a couple of mm, do not affect speed. Speed is set by clock frequency, not travel time.
**In reality, the pulse length is even longer, but I didn't bother to simulate that in Altium.
> Connections are generally more secure. They can't come apart due to vibration, shock, or torsion. I still remember buying three Power Computing Mac clones for a department I managed in 1997. All three were dead on arrival! I opened them up and reseated the riser cards, and they worked fine for a while. Every time I moved one, I had to reseat those cards because the chassis were so flimsy.
** REPLY: not true. There are standards developed to specify connectors for every imaginable environment, from laptops to spacecraft and even weapons systems. For example, the ABS braking computer in your car is connected to the main computer via connectors... just imagine what would happen to you if that connectors would somehow fail.
** In my 30 years experience in heavy industry, I've seen more failed solder connection than socketed ones.
> When things can't come apart, they tend to work better and last longer. Apple has had tons of repair issues due to improperly matched third party socketed RAM in older models, for instance. I've run into that several times when friends asked me to troubleshoot crashing and freezing issues. 20 years ago, that was a MAJOR issue where I worked. I found mis-matched RAM in 13 Macs! The IT tech didn't understand wait states and RAM speeds.
** REPLY: The reverse is true. If you can substitute failed components by spare parts, the equipment will last longer.
** Also, RAM modules could be keyed to avoid mismatch (typical industrial solution)
** In the power utility I've worked lastly, there were electronic systems (jeah, could be called computers) that are running 24/7 since 1970. Yes, some components (cards, sensors, etc.) have failed... easy fix: pull out the dead, plug in the new. I've someboud barely suggests - even as a joke - to solder any of those components, the poor soul will be instantly fired !
> Buying what you WILL need, "up front," forces you to consider your needs 3-5 years down the road.[/quote]
** REPLY: Wha.. (3-5 years) ?
My (at home, at work it is slighty different) policy is to:
a) every 5 years buy new computer(s). Specs are at the economical "elbow"
b) the 5 years old computers get relegated to secondary work or maybe given to my wife or chidren
c) the 10 years old computers get relegated to terciary work, like system testing, makeshift DVR, intermediate 3D printer control, etc.
d) the 15 year old computers get relegated to the "cold reserve" for when I need to perform experiments, temporary solutions, parts, etc.
** yes, I still have some computers of 2002 which I resurrect from time to time. I've even hacked some of them to accomodate more memory as originaly designed.
My *work* travel laptop is a 12 years old Toshiba Tecra, which is built like a tank and runs Ubuntu 22.04 like a charm. I've changed the battery trice (about $30 a pop) and replaced the HDD (failed some time ago) with a SDD (about $70). Also increased the RAM to 8GB (about $30).
Bottom line: the idea behind glueing and soldering everything together is not to make a better product, but to *avoid* maintenance and force the consumer to buy new units.
Case in point: for the 2nd gen iPhone, Steve Jobs *insisted* in developing screws that could not be unscrewed by any known screwdriver. I don't belive that the purpose of that was to improve quality.
burkphoto wrote:
The fact is that Apple's game is innovation...
*** REPLY: No, a thousand times no. Apple's game is PROFIT as it is mine and everybody's else. They found a way to make profit by convincing customers to buy propietary products that cannot be upgraded nor serviced.