Computational Modelling with Apple Silicon
Ever since Apple Silicon was announced I was enthralled and curious. Even as reviews and benchmarks came pouring in after the original M1 Macbook Pro, Mini and Air released I was skeptical. Working in research we often find that tools we depend on are ancient by computer standards, even worse is that some of them are either difficult to build/update or are closed source (or worse still, written in PERL!). Which highlights my major fear of Apple’s new direction, I was initially terrified that almost all of my pipelines and tools would die in x86 and I would be forced to migrate to, ugh, Windows. This fear quickly subsided when a colleague in my office picked up a M1 Macbook and told me how easy it was for them to setup for data analysis/research. I then had the opportunity to test my curiosity about these new machines, I asked this friend of mine if he would run one of my example computational models. I was completely floored by the results of this request.
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