I don't see why Intel couldn't make high end PCI cards that do super fast matrix multiplications and activation functions. Glue that together with a C-API and Python bindings.
For all the interesting concepts in CUDA, it seems like gamers want pixels and polygons, and neural networks want gemm/relu. It doesn't seem like Nvidia really has a moat that others (Tenstorrent?) can't cross.
Absolutely agree. Here we are in 2025 and intel really doesn’t have an answer for the M1 which came out in 2020. A 600$ M1 MacBook Air has better performance / battery than most 1500$ plus intel laptops that are brand new. It’s honestly kind of sad.
Then you’re buying very low end laptops. For anyone who wants performance — be it for gaming or compiling or video production or 3D rendering or LLMs - $500 is a very low budget.
(Also, I must be old because I can remember a time when even the cheapest laptop cost about $2k.)
I dunno about that, at least for gaming. I routinely see older model, but still perfectly capable, gaming laptops for $550 or less, on deals websites like Slickdeals. And I know that's more than $500, but not by much.
You can find deals on PC laptops much, much easier than Macs.
I don't see why Intel couldn't make high end PCI cards that do super fast matrix multiplications and activation functions. Glue that together with a C-API and Python bindings.
For all the interesting concepts in CUDA, it seems like gamers want pixels and polygons, and neural networks want gemm/relu. It doesn't seem like Nvidia really has a moat that others (Tenstorrent?) can't cross.
M1 was the canary in the coal mine. Apple went from making cell phone CPUs to an Intel destroying generation of CPUs in 6 years.
Personally I use a MBP for dev, at work I am required to use a Intel PC. I loathe my work laptop for being slower and having sleep issues.
My 265H Intel laptop sounds like a jet engine at all times, runs slower than my M4 Max, and only cost $500 less than the MBP.
Absolutely agree. Here we are in 2025 and intel really doesn’t have an answer for the M1 which came out in 2020. A 600$ M1 MacBook Air has better performance / battery than most 1500$ plus intel laptops that are brand new. It’s honestly kind of sad.
> only cost $500 less than the MBP.
That feels like a big difference? I think $500 is more than I've ever paid for a laptop.
Then you’re buying very low end laptops. For anyone who wants performance — be it for gaming or compiling or video production or 3D rendering or LLMs - $500 is a very low budget.
(Also, I must be old because I can remember a time when even the cheapest laptop cost about $2k.)
I dunno about that, at least for gaming. I routinely see older model, but still perfectly capable, gaming laptops for $550 or less, on deals websites like Slickdeals. And I know that's more than $500, but not by much.
You can find deals on PC laptops much, much easier than Macs.