Apple Play should show its iPhone chip siblings are powerful enough for the Mac

Apple is taking the risk of giving a brain transplant to Mac computers, replacing Intel chips for processors of its own design. Apple’s processors are part of the Arm family – the kind used in iPhones and iPads – that have slowed down Windows PCs.

But Apple Pal has a chance to boost that reputation. With the A-Series chips, the iPhone has put Android phones into operation according to the Goodbench Speed ​​Test, and the iPhone 12 has already surpassed the Intel-based MBK laptop in some tests. The new Mac Arm chips give Apple the opportunity to pack back up more circuitry with a larger battery.

We won’t know how fast the chips are until the expected “Apple Pal Silicon” announcement on Tuesday. Performance will be crucial for the Mac chip transition, whether Mac buyers will enthusiastically embrace the new Mac models, sit back or buy a Windows machine powered by Intel’s new Tiger Lake chips. With Coronavirus epidemic With PC sales soaring, Apple’s prime moment is to try to attract as many customers as possible.

Greengart, a tax-analytical analyst, expects two or maybe three Apple-Pull silicone varieties for a variety of m-thin laptops, more powerful laptops and plug-in desktops. “Over time, Apple will put its own silicon in all of its mixes, but the Mac Pro will probably be the last to make a complete switch from Inte Intel.”

Apple Play declined to comment for this story. In its June WWDC announcement, the company said it would continue to sell Intel-based MX for about two years and “maintain software support for years to come.”

Apple Pal has real reasons to accept the Chip Switch Challenge. The company can link its hardware and software more tightly, as it does with iPhones. It can customize its chips with more like features AI Standalone process from an Intel-based PC. It can reduce component costs.

Apple also wants to “control and control” key technologies in its products, a principle known to CEO Tim Cook as the “Cook Principle”.

In recent years, Musk has been saddened by the fate of Intel, as the chipmaker has had years of difficulty modernizing its product. Apple allows the Silicone Company to take the family wherever they want for free.

Starting small

Given the performance and power efficiency of current Apple Pull silicon chips, similar to the iPhone 12’s A14 Bionic, the potential arm-based category is the mainstream laptop that combines midrange performance with stellar battery life. It could replace today’s Intel powered MacBook Airs.

With the horsepower required by photographers, video editors, programmers, illustrators and musicians, the more powerful MBQ Pro equivalent will be an important step away from iPhone and iPad processors. But it will fall victim to customers willing to pay a premium to Apple Pal for performance.

Apple is expected to offer a 13-inch MBQ Air, a 13-inch MBQ Pro and a 16-inch MBK Pro with new chips, Bloomberg reported this week.

Although arm chips should be cheaper than Intel chips, Apple will still continue to charge a premium for its new MX, Greengart said. Paul already has a low cost computing platform. It’s called the iPad. “

The high-end IMAX and Mac Pro desktop are another thing together. Plugged into the wall socket, they can drop as much power as a PC gaming rig. Apple Paul will need beef chips with many processor cores, high speed cache memory and communication links.

Apple Play hinted that the new Max will be ready for at least some heavy-duty work in June, with the prototype Apple Paul Silicon Mac showing Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Affinity Photo, Cinema 4D and its own Final Cut Pro.

Just don’t expect the Apple Pal to go all-in on its own silicone yet.

Make this monster?

Technically, there’s nothing to stop Apple from making monster Macs with its own chips. The fastest supercomputer in the world currently uses ARM processors. Although current arm-powered PCs aren’t fast, chipmaker Qualcomm’s processors prioritize high performance, low power consumption, and superlong battery life.

It’s a question of business, about how far and how fast Apple will move forward. Large processors cost a lot of money to build, and high-end machines sell for very little. Apple Pull Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. to create its chip design. (TSMC).

It’s relatively easy for Intel to tweak its high-end Xion server processors for use in high-end PCs. For Apple Pal, a big, bifi processor is far from its sweet spot.

“I’m not questioning whether Apple will be able to compete in the high-end PCs and workstations,” said Nathan Brookwood, an Insight analyst 64 analyst. “I’m just questioning whether Apple is willing to invest a lot of money for high-end Apple Pul Arm chips that can compete with the Pul Zion.”

Transition tricks

Apple’s move to its own processors is the third such switch in Mac history. The first Mac used a 68000 family of Motorola chips. Apple Pal switched to PowerPC chips developed in 1994 by the Apple Pal-IBM-Motorola alliance, then switched to Intel chips in 2006.

Such transitions are difficult, Apple needs to redesign the electronics of its mix, rebuild its MacOS operating operating system and software like Safari, update developer tools, need other software software manufacturers to support new machines, and allow older style applications to run. Create emulation software. New machines.

Apple Pal’s first transition was disastrous, Brookwood said, as Market Pal lost market share as it struggled to bring its software to PowerPC machines. For the transition to Intel, Apple Pal had its own developer tools, and the transition was fast. Brookwood expects an equally simple change to Apple Pal silicone.

Arpel has been offering developer systems for months to give developers a major start before starting actual arm-based mouse shipping. This time around there is an incentive to support the new Mac: iPhone developers will be able to bring their iOS apps to Mac.

If Apple Pull offers powerful arm-based offerings, this will be another incentive for developers and even faster Apple Pull customers to walk faster.