How does unified memory make Apple Silicon Macs faster? Why can’t you add your own memory? How much do you need?
CPU
Summary and links for the latest information about what’s in the current M1 chip, from differences in caches between cores, to the Matrix Coprocessor and Fabric limitations.
What you can learn about the processes running on your Mac, its processor cores, even the files which an app has open.
By segregating macOS background tasks on Efficiency cores, M1 Macs can run user apps unfettered on their Performance cores. And that feels really fast.
How the M1’s asymmetric cores can run background tasks more efficiently, or deliver high performance, according to Quality of Service.
iOS and iPadOS apps run on M1 Macs in an environment managed by RunningBoard, FrontBoard, FuseBoard, and several assistants.
In an M1 Mac, all its main components are tightly integrated and interdependent. To achieve performance with versatility, they come ready-built, not kits.
Your Mac has slowed to a crawl, with spinning beachballs and a juddery interface. You open Activity Monitor and read this.
Your Mac goes all sluggish, you open Activity Monitor, and there at the top of the CPU list is kernel_task, taking 100% or more. Why?
When everything is running sweetly, macOS performance isn’t a problem. In most respects, though, 10.15 is no better prepared to cope with problems than 10.0 was almost 20 years ago.
The Eclectic Light Company 