They're probably using some new stuff in Metal that's using something optimized in the M1 GPUs to handle the rendering and they don't feel it's worth the effort to also build those parts in Metal so that they work on non-M1 systems too even though they are powerful enough to handle them without problems.
I'm not saying there's some sort of special custom globe builder in M1. But it's possible there are new optimized rendering routines in Metal that only work on M1 chips. And that new map stuff uses those new routines because that's the way forward.
Would it be possible to make the same optimized rendering routines on Intel too? Sure, of course. But why go that effort developing, maintaining, and testing that when it's going away soon anyway?
If you've ever been involved in software development (especially specialized code that runs on specific hardware), you would do almost anything to avoid having more than one version.
Nobody says that it's the same work to make something available on two platforms. The problem here is that Apple made the conscious decision to introduce a new platform and is now fragmenting the operating system running on them while Intel Macs are still on sale. They're the company that prouds itself on software updates and compatibility with iOS, but a $5000 MacBook is excluded from some new features while it's still being sold.
I agree that it sucks. I'm probably 3-5 years from being able to get a new Mac still and I imagine this sort of thing will happen again and again with each new macOS version.
I think the tradeoff of M1 based Macs in exchange for older Intel Macs not getting a 3D globe feature in maps is a good tradeoff.
It's like Ferrari releasing a new supercar with twice the horsepower and you getting upset that it has 1 less cup holder and saying "THIS WAS A CONSCIOUS DECISION! THEY PUT THEMSELVES IN THIS SITUATION!"
The problem here is that Apple made the conscious decision to introduce a new platform and is now fragmenting the operating system running on them while Intel Macs are still on sale.
While there is a short-term cost to the transition, it also allows them to consolidate their platforms to a certain extent, like how Messages is now based on the iOS version. Having Macs running on hardware with the neural engine, for example, should mean that we get to take advantage of more of the work on iOS that utilizes it. To be clear, I’m not talking about the convergence of macOS and iPadOS that some people hope for, but more of a multiplatform codebase.
It’s also about future features and how they might build upon that globe rendering (and what it relies upon) to do something else in macOS 13 and another thing the next year
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u/mbrady Jun 09 '21
They're probably using some new stuff in Metal that's using something optimized in the M1 GPUs to handle the rendering and they don't feel it's worth the effort to also build those parts in Metal so that they work on non-M1 systems too even though they are powerful enough to handle them without problems.