Analyst: Apple will release Macs with ARM processors next year

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will release its first Macs with its own ARM processor within 12 to 18 months. It would be a chip made at 5nm. It is not yet clear in which product the proprietary processor will come first.

Apple is expected to use the first 5nm-made A-socs in new iPhones and iPads this year. From 2021, a variant of this should appear in a Mac. According to 9to5mac, the report by Apple analyst Kuo does not mention exactly which product it is. It was previously believed that Apple would start using an ARM processor in relatively inexpensive products. A laptop like the MacBook Air therefore seems a good candidate.

The move from current Intel x86 processors to ARM means developers have to adapt their macOS software. Perhaps that’s why Apple is already giving developers information about the arrival of Macs with ARM hardware. When Apple switched from PowerPC to Intel, the company gave developers information about that six months in advance, says developer Steve Troughton-Smith.

Apple has been making its own ARM chips for its iPhones and iPads since 2010, and employs a team of leading processor designers. Rumors of the arrival of Macs with ARM hardware have been around for years. Analyst Kuo first talked about this in 2018; he then said the products would come two or three years later.