666: We Have Nothing That Hot

November 20, 2025

101 min episode · 2 min read

Episode

101 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Dec 25, 2025

Key Takeaways

✓Steam Machine Architecture: The device uses separate AMD Z4 CPU (30W TDP) and RDNA 3 GPU (110W TDP, 8GB GDDR6) rather than integrated APU like PlayStation 5, making it more comparable to gaming laptops with discrete components requiring substantial cooling in its six-inch cube form factor.
✓Apple Silicon GPU Ceiling: The M3 Ultra achieves 225k Geekbench Metal score, matching the five-year-old Radeon 6900 XT from December 2020. Apple's fastest GPU remains two generations behind (M5 released, M3 Ultra current) and cannot compete with modern discrete gaming GPUs due to unified memory architecture constraints.
✓Mac Pro Market Abandonment: Mark Gurman reports Apple cancelled M4 Ultra development and the Mac Pro update, with internal sentiment favoring Mac Studio as the professional desktop future. The 2019 Mac Pro case remains unused for higher-TDP chips Apple never manufactured, leaving expansion slots without purpose beyond basic IO cards.
✓CEO Transition Timeline: Financial Times reports Apple intensified succession planning for Tim Cook's departure as soon as 2026, with John Ternus leading hardware engineering as primary candidate. Cook may transition to executive chairman role, though this could constrain the new CEO's ability to implement policy changes contradicting Cook's decade-long strategic decisions.
✓Linux Gaming Adoption: Steam hardware survey shows 95% Windows, 3% Linux, 2% macOS usage, with Linux percentage doubling recently. However, major multiplayer games require Windows kernel-level anti-cheat software incompatible with Linux, blocking Steam OS adoption for competitive titles like Call of Duty and Destiny despite Valve's compatibility layer improvements.

What It Covers

The episode covers Apple's Mac Pro discontinuation rumors, Steam Machine hardware specifications and gaming strategy, Tim Cook's potential CEO succession timeline with John Ternus as likely replacement, and Apple Silicon's GPU performance limitations compared to discrete graphics cards.

Key Questions Answered

•Steam Machine Architecture: The device uses separate AMD Z4 CPU (30W TDP) and RDNA 3 GPU (110W TDP, 8GB GDDR6) rather than integrated APU like PlayStation 5, making it more comparable to gaming laptops with discrete components requiring substantial cooling in its six-inch cube form factor.
•Apple Silicon GPU Ceiling: The M3 Ultra achieves 225k Geekbench Metal score, matching the five-year-old Radeon 6900 XT from December 2020. Apple's fastest GPU remains two generations behind (M5 released, M3 Ultra current) and cannot compete with modern discrete gaming GPUs due to unified memory architecture constraints.
•Mac Pro Market Abandonment: Mark Gurman reports Apple cancelled M4 Ultra development and the Mac Pro update, with internal sentiment favoring Mac Studio as the professional desktop future. The 2019 Mac Pro case remains unused for higher-TDP chips Apple never manufactured, leaving expansion slots without purpose beyond basic IO cards.
•CEO Transition Timeline: Financial Times reports Apple intensified succession planning for Tim Cook's departure as soon as 2026, with John Ternus leading hardware engineering as primary candidate. Cook may transition to executive chairman role, though this could constrain the new CEO's ability to implement policy changes contradicting Cook's decade-long strategic decisions.
•Linux Gaming Adoption: Steam hardware survey shows 95% Windows, 3% Linux, 2% macOS usage, with Linux percentage doubling recently. However, major multiplayer games require Windows kernel-level anti-cheat software incompatible with Linux, blocking Steam OS adoption for competitive titles like Call of Duty and Destiny despite Valve's compatibility layer improvements.

Notable Moment

The discussion revealed Apple's M2 Ultra Mac Pro represents a product kept alive solely to recoup the expensive 2019 case tooling investment rather than serving actual customer needs, with the massive cooling capacity designed for chips Apple refuses to manufacture, creating an embarrassing mismatch between hardware potential and company priorities.

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