The new mini is almost $1,400 US. How many MAC users here contemplating buying one?
Regarding Windows 10 on ARM-based CPUs, like what is inside Microsoft's Surface Pro X notebook, the same problems exist for it like what does for the new M1-based Mac notebooks. Intel-based OSX applications have to run via emulation in a new M1-based Mac. Windows applications have to be compiled to run natively in Windows 10 for ARM CPU architecture. A Windows-based application meant for Intel x86 CPUs will be run via emulation, which dramatically harms performance.
Not all ARM CPUs are universally compatible with each other. The ARM CPUs Apple has been developing are heavily customized for OSX and iOS. The ARM-based version of Windows 10 may not run properly on an M1 Mac.
If Corel (and its higher-ups at KKR) intend to maintain a Mac version of CorelDRAW they will be forced at some point to re-engineer the application to run natively on Apple's ARM chips. And they'll have to maintain an Intel for OSX version for some time as well. Not every existing Mac user will immediately replace their Intel-based machines. My guess is that will be a fairly heavy burden for developers.
On the Windows side, an ARM-based version of CorelDRAW seems like a longer shot. Intel is in pretty serious trouble, all thanks to years of monopoly-style complacency, milking old tech for all it was worth. So they've been caught flat-footed by AMD with its Ryzen CPUs as well as Apple's shift to its own ARM-based CPUs, with the shift now in progress. The x86 platform will still dominate the PC Platform for years to come. But for the next year or two the Ryzen CPU will be thumping pop-knots on Intel's head. Apple has big things planned for "M2" and "M3" chips for Mac Pro towers, iMacs and notebooks. If those new chips dramatically outperform CPUs from both Intel and AMD then it might start making the prospects for the x86 platform look iffy. One thing is certain: Intel has to s#!t-can that glacier-slow, old development roadmap and start getting competitive ASAP. Given the way CPU development works, it will be 2022 before Intel can have a product ready to answer the CPUs from Apple or AMD.
Macs are still badly over-priced for what you get. Some high end notebook PCs have been waltzing into that area as well. The thing I hate even more about Macs, the notebooks in particular, is so many parts are not upgradeable. Things like RAM modules are soldered into the motherboard. By contrast, many Windows-based notebooks can be upgraded with after-market parts, such as SSDs and RAM. It's easy to save hundreds of dollars doing those upgrades after purchase.In regards to doing work on notebooks, I used to be strictly a desktop-only user. You get a lot more bang for the buck in a desktop tower than a notebook. The price value difference still holds true today. But here is the GIANT problem: I work all day in my day job at a desk, using a desktop computer. When I go home I absolutely do not feel like sitting at another computer desk. There is value in portability. Lots of newer notebooks are more than powerful enough to run mainstream graphics applications such as CorelDRAW efficiently.
Intel certainly needs to up its development game. My question is how will the economic situation and development cost affect development on all platforms? The extreme cost of the MAC VS lower cost of the PC added to the reality that 97% of MAC users already use low end MAC systems not only because of cost but due to very low return on investment. In plain language very few graphics jobs are lucrative and today 98% of graphic work does not require top of the line systems or software. Video processing and gaming is driving the technology.
I'm of the opinion that this economic pressure is what's been inhibiting development. The question for MAC is, can their business model with extreme system cost sell enough systems. They do sell alot of other products so poor sales may not kill them as they can subsidize poor computer sales for some time, and making the chips for those other products allows those plants to run.
I cannot remember the last time I was in an output shop and saw a MAC tower or server.
When I buy laptops I never figure on upgrading. I buy for an estimated 5 year need and trash them when they get funky. Yes they're a bit more expensive up front but I usually get 5 + years before they annoy me and they are given to a family member or they annoy me to the point where they have an accident.
I never have seen a laptop at any cost and I've had $4,000 systems, that could perform to my daily requirements or be color calibrated to my color needs. Running 1.5GB + files on a laptop of any power is SLOW! All the low end work that possibly could be done on laptops is done by employees on desktops. Laptops are used only for client meetings or administrative functions.
Web surfing is tablet/phone based.
Your use case does not apply to everyone else. If I have to work from home or work after hours I'm doing so on a notebook. I'm not chaining my leg to another computer desk.
Most of my sign projects can be done just fine on a decently equipped notebook. Even vehicle wraps or billboard designs. I recently upgraded a 9 year old Dell notebook with a new SSD and doubled the amount of RAM while I was at it, all for less than $200. The upgrade was prompted when the original hard disc finally quit. You can't do those kinds of upgrades with a Mac notebook with all the parts soldered into it.
The upgrades I mention when buying a notebook new is buying one with a more modest original configuration and then paying a lot less to upgrade RAM, SSDs or whatever with after market parts. I can do that easily with something like a Dell XPS 17 for instance. Crack it open, put 64GB of RAM in it for far less than what Dell will charge. Same for the SSDs. For good measure, you take out the factory SSD that came with all sorts of bloat-ware on it and put a higher capacity SSD with an unadulterated version of Windows 10 on it. The machine ends up running better.
Newer notebooks in the mid-tier and higher end are far more powerful than high end notebooks from just a couple or so years ago. They can run external monitors, keyboards and other peripherals pretty easily if they need to be placed on a regular desk.