Apple’s homemade chips for Macs are getting closer
Apple wants to get rid of Intel. iPhones and iPads already use Apple’s own A-series chips, but Mac computers still use Intel’s x86 chipset, the standard for almost all computers. In April, the plan leaked to Macs to run Apple’s own chips already but according to new rumors the switchover is on schedule. The plan was apparently to release new Macs with their own chips by 2020, and according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (usually reliable).
Architecture changeover
You may wonder what kind of chips Apple puts in their Macs and the answer is: very much. That has everything with that already mentioned chipset. If Apple will make their own chips, they will have a different architecture than the current chips. That means that all software for Macs has to be transferred to the ARM structure, simply put. If this story is familiar to you, you may have been using Macs for a long time, because in 2006 Apple also did this when they switched from PowerPC to Intel chips.
This situation is somewhat different, because where they then went from a less popular architecture to the current standard, they are just getting rid of it. It must be said that ARM chips are also used in almost all mobile phones and tablets. That makes it very easy to convert iOS apps to the Macs with the new processor. That gives temporary hassle, but in the long term that makes it possible for Apple to offer their computers cheaper while they have more processing power. Anyway, it is Apple: they do not make anything cheaper at all. They probably earn more per computer, and they are no longer dependent on Intel.
New Macbook
What fascinates us as consumers? ARM has less power than x68, but is much, much friendlier for the battery. That means that if we see those chips in 2020 or 2021, that will initially be in the Macbook line. There you can expect that they really go very seriously long on a full battery without losing too much in power. There are definitely more benefits, such as better integration with Apple mobile devices, but we should see that. As long as the primary function of the new chips is more than increasing Apple’s profit margin, it will probably be fine.