Rumor: Apple makes ARM CPU in MacBook responsible for more light tasks

Apple makes the T-series of ARM processors in upcoming MacBooks responsible for more light tasks. The T1 in the MacBook Pro currently powers the Touch Bar and fingerprint scanner, but Apple would also like to run the Power Nap function via an ARM CPU.

The internal code name for the new ARM chip is T310, Apple insider Mark Gurman reports on Bloomberg citing anonymous sources. The article does not mention any technical details, except that the chip, like the T1 from the current MacBook Pro, will be built on ARM architecture. The chip may come to a new version of the MacBook Pro later this year.

By having the Power Nap function performed by the ARM CPU, Apple would like to save power. Power Nap is the function where the user does not use the laptop, but still receives e-mails or can download software updates. This is currently done by a minimal load on the Intel processor in the laptop.

The T1 chip from the current MacBook Pro controls the Touch Bar, the OLED screen that runs on iOS above the keyboard of the laptop. In addition, the T1 provides the ‘Secure Enclave’, the security of the fingerprint scanner Touch ID. However, the chip is otherwise separate from the system and cannot, for example, address the memory or the WiFi card of the laptop. The new T310 processor could.

Bloomberg puts the information about the T310 in the context of Apple’s efforts to depend less on Intel for its laptops, but that doesn’t sound very convincing. The T310 doesn’t seem designed to handle heavier tasks when using the laptop. Moreover, with the release of the iPhone 7, the manufacturer has made itself more dependent on Intel. The processor maker supplies the modem for a large part of the available iPhones.

Apple chose this because it wanted to be less dependent on ARM processor maker Qualcomm. After Apple supplied many iPhones with Intel modems, Apple sued Qualcomm over a royalty dispute.