The Apple Lisa is probably a great example of tech that was too soon, it was ahead of it’s day and failed to be successful. It did pave the way for the release of the Apple Macintosh however. The Computer History Museum have obtained the source for the Lisa from Apple and you can download it from CHM’s site here.
Are all my typical apps available for Apple M1 Silicon?
My 2015 MacBook Pro has recently developed a slightly bulging battery, so while I’m slightly annoyed that this means it’s the premature end of the road for my 2015 MBP 5 years after I got it new, but 5 years is still I good run for a laptop.
Before I jump all in on an order for one of the new M1 MBPs, I’m curious whether the apps I typically use are available for the M1 cpu. It’s also worth keeping in mind that just as Apple used Rosetta to bridge the gap when they transitioned from PowerPC architecture to Intel, Rosetta 2 provides that same emulation bridge to run most x86 MacOS apps on M1 if there isn’t a native version.
OpenJDK
First up a Java JDK. I also just found this site which tells you if an app is available for M1, so I think this is going to be the quick answer for all my questions. Yes, Azul have an OpenJDK build for M1: https://doesitarm.com/app/openjdk/
Eclipse IDE
Yes – if installed via installer: https://doesitarm.com/app/eclipse-ide/
VS Code
Yes – native M1 builds since February: https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_54#_apple-silicon
Docker
Yes – native build available since April: https://www.docker.com/blog/released-docker-desktop-for-mac-apple-silicon/
VirtualBox
Possibly one of the only apps that may not get ported to ARM since it only support x86 based VMs and doesn’t emulate other CPUs: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=98742 . Interestingly Parallels 17 does have an M1 ARM version, and implies it will run Windows 7+ and Linux VMs, so presumably they’re doing some x86 emulation. This might be worth a look: https://www.parallels.com/
Evernote
No native version, but x86 version runs under Rosetta 2: https://isapplesiliconready.com/app/Evernote
Mac Pro 2008: dead ATI 200 XT GPU replaced with not so dead Nvidia 120 GT
The ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT that came standard in the 2008 Mac Pro was a good looking card. I mean, chrome flames?! But unfortunately in this case, mine died:
I primarily used this card only to access the Mac boot screen to switch between MacOS and Windows 10, as my other card, an Nvidia 750ti doesn’t support the boot screen. Once the ATI card died, I was stuck in Windows 10 and couldn’t boot back into MacOS.
Not really needing an upgrade, just a replacement that supports the boot screen, I picked up a cheap Nvidia 120 GT on ebay for $30. Nowhere near as flashy looking as the ATI:
Got the card installed, and it works great:
Turns out the fan on that ATI card was also the noisiest fan in my Mac Pro. Now with the new Nvidia card, my Mac Pro is barely audible. I have 2 SSDs and one 2.5″ HDD, so other than the system fans, I guess with low usage it really shouldn’t be spinning up the fans that loud anyway. Turns out this new card is significantly quieter. Bonus!
The World’s Fastest Supercomputer (for the first time) is powered by ARM CPUs
As Apple has announced that it is transitioning from Intel CPUs to ARM in new upcoming MacBooks, it’s also worth noting that for the first time ever, the world’s fastest supercomputer is powered by ARM CPUs. Lot’s of them. Apparently over 7 million cores.