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bsaul 2 hours ago [-]
can someone explains
this project ? i understand nothing about what it's doing... Do iPads have amd gpus ??
p0w3n3d 2 hours ago [-]
You get an AMD GPU, put it in an external case ("enclosure") connect it with usb-c or thunderbolt and that's what's being used in the app. For inference of course
bsaul 35 minutes ago [-]
But then how do you even make the driver install on the ipad ? Aren't drivers supposed to run under system-level privileges (which iPadOS will never let you run under)
haunter 1 hours ago [-]
iPad <- Thunderbolt cable -> GPU in external enclousre
solyin 1 hours ago [-]
Got any pictures of the setup? Which enclosure did you use? Neat!
tgma 2 hours ago [-]
Would be interesting to render a real desktop environment directly on top of that from the iPad. You'd get an OpenDarwin-like thing with the power of M4.
skavi 2 hours ago [-]
what's with this driver being coupled to an IDE? is one the psychosis enabled bikeshed of the other?
Karliss 58 minutes ago [-]
It's not like Apple provides you with kernel APIs for implementing custom GPU drivers on ipad properly.
Which leaves user space drivers embedded in the app as more or less only option. I am a bit surprised Apple allows enough low level thunderbolt access to implement this at all. On a desktop you could implement a user space driver in a shared library so that it can be used by multiple apps, but that's not really an option on iOS either.
Such approach is hardly rare. Many niche hardware products do something similar. Either implement driver/interface for generic data transfer device (like a serial port), or use the slots for vendor specific data within HID, bluetooth interfaces and implement a custom protocol on top of that. Almost any bluetooth device which requires vendor app for configuration, many smartwatches, gamer keyboards/mice which require custom app for configuring RGB lights (often HID based), even MCU programmers and other serious electronics development tools often show up as USB serial ports.
mkesper 3 hours ago [-]
Unexpected interpretation of on-device inference:
It drives an AMD GPU in a Thunderbolt enclosure.
But interesting it's possible to run Linux drivers on an iPad.
sneak 2 hours ago [-]
It's super cool, but then, the question becomes: why?
The eGPU enclosure isn't portable, so at that point, you could just plug it into a linux mini-pc. What's the benefit of using an iPad here?
edg5000 2 hours ago [-]
For people who prefer a touchscreen input over a laptop, and if they'd want to do agentic work, or perhaps text to speech, image generation, music production, fancy spellcheck while traveling?
Which leaves user space drivers embedded in the app as more or less only option. I am a bit surprised Apple allows enough low level thunderbolt access to implement this at all. On a desktop you could implement a user space driver in a shared library so that it can be used by multiple apps, but that's not really an option on iOS either.
Such approach is hardly rare. Many niche hardware products do something similar. Either implement driver/interface for generic data transfer device (like a serial port), or use the slots for vendor specific data within HID, bluetooth interfaces and implement a custom protocol on top of that. Almost any bluetooth device which requires vendor app for configuration, many smartwatches, gamer keyboards/mice which require custom app for configuring RGB lights (often HID based), even MCU programmers and other serious electronics development tools often show up as USB serial ports.
The eGPU enclosure isn't portable, so at that point, you could just plug it into a linux mini-pc. What's the benefit of using an iPad here?