Splatting Notes 2: Requisitioning Surplus
My setup for this is all old gear + Claude. For the capture, I bought a refurbished iPhone 12 Pro. I chose it because this is the first model with a LiDAR sensor. I use the app SplatKing, which captures both still images and LiDAR.
For processing, the main machine is a 2017 MacBook Pro running macOS 13.7.8, with 16 GB of RAM and a 250 GB HD. The CPU is an Intel Core i7-7660U at 2.5 GHz with 2 cores/4 threads, and the GPU is an Intel Iris Plus 640. The main machine complained about filling up its internal HD, so I fished a 2 TB USB drive from storage to supplement it.
With this setup, we’ve had persistent kernel panics that seem to stem from a documented issue with Intel Macs’ hardware drivers when running Apple’s Metal API. While crashes were very common in the first days of the project, we’re mostly avoiding them now by tweaking settings (“autotune after a refine and non-finite splats,” Claude tells me) and being much more careful about how we schedule work so we don’t overload the system. Occasionally, crashes still happen (particularly during the “post-refine stall of the growth phase,” Claude reports), but we’ve put guards in place to limit their damage, which I’ll touch on in a future post.
When the MBP began complaining about CPU throttling (apparently some paste is dry?), I told it it could use some of its shelf-mate’s resources, a 2012 MacBook Air. The Air’s primary job is to sit on the network and provide access to a Time Machine backup drive. The Air runs macOS 10.15.8 and has an Intel Core i7-3667U at 2 GHz with 2 cores and 8 GB RAM. The Air’s GPU is not used for this project. The Air’s HD is 250 GB, but the project can’t use it except as a destination for backups of key project files, such as captures and the git repository. The project is instructed not to interfere with the Time Machine drive.
For Claude, I’m currently on a “Max (5x)” plan, which I share between this and my day-to-day work. The idea was to use up surplus tokens that would otherwise expire, but of course now, given the workload, I am eyeing a larger plan.
As an aside, the MBP became dedicated to this project because it was on a long-term loan to a colleague, but the HD failed. A friend helped me replace the drive, which was a new experience for me and involved a trip to the auto supply store to buy a suction cup! My friend says he can help me with the CPU paste issue, but I’m hesitant to open it up again. With the machine back in hand, I figured it was worth investing in the refurbished iPhone.
Posted October 2026