Updated on August 26th. Article originally posted on August 23rd.
There’s no doubt that Apple’s move from Intel to ARM for its Mac family is an ambitious and multi-year project. As the first ARM-based machines reach consumers by the end of this year, there are three major challenges facing Apple’s macOS on ARM project.
TOPSHOT – Apple CEO Tim Cook unveils new products, including new Macbook laptops, during a special … [+]
August 26 update: As with any technology, there is always ‘something better’ around the corner. In a sense, this is something that haunts everyone when they buy a new product, and in all likelihood it is an expected part of the transaction. What is also expected is that the manufacturer plays honestly. The new Macs in 2020 were little more than a hug on the processors until Intel’s tenth generation chips, and a solution for the keyboard.
Not only is Apple pushing ahead with the move to ARM processors, but new hardware and designs are expected to be introduced alongside the new architecture – Digital trends not only notes the planned use of ultra-thin edges on Apple’s new laptops, but also the fact that they have been present on Windows laptops for many years.
The balance between ‘providing consumers with the best possible computer’ and ‘let’s keep this in mind to make our new ARM laptops even more modern’ must be maintained. At the moment, it threatens to lend to Apple.
Detail of the Lightning ports on a MacBook Air 2019 laptop, taken on July 23, 2019. (Photo … [+]
August 24 update: There is also an over-arc question. What do consumers want from a laptop? In recent years, Apple’s response has always focused on thinner and lighter, taking a minimalist approach at every step. How far can Apple go that far before being seriously questioned? Devin Coldewey has a suggestion. In MacBook SE:
To be clear, here’s what I imagine would be an SE: a 13-inch notebook with a MagSafe power connection, USB-C ports and a headphone jack on one side, plus one USB-A, HDMI-out , and one SD card reader to the other. Oh, and although I think it’s obvious, let’s just be clear: the old keyboard, please.
With the move to ARM, Apple (quietly) puts an obstacle in the way of adoption, giving consumers time to stop and think about their purchase. At that point, any minor issues – such as Coldewey’s consideration of the I / O ports and the keyboard – could initiate a chain reaction that drives consumers away from the Mac platform. Has Apple nailed what the market wants? Or would be the idea of a MacBook SE
Chromebooks
The main benefits offered by ARM processors include chips running at a cooler temperature compared to Intel, improved battery life, and better performance … though I will keep that last one; no one has actually seen macOS on ARM in the wild (the development units borrowed from Apple, probably under strict NDA, do not count).
Those are also the benefits that Google puts on its Chromebook series. Chromebooks are seen as lower cost alternatives to the traditional Windows 10 / macOS duopoly. Certainly the perception of price on the macOS laptops, as the MacBook Air with an educational discount, is that they are expensive machines.
If Apple brings the ARM MacBooks at a lower price, the Chromebooks will come into view and the comparisons will start to increase. Is Apple ready to fight in this laptop space?
(I have examined the MacBook / Chromebook battle in more detail here).
Windows 10 on ARM
Apple is not the only company driving for an ARM-powered operating system for laptops and desktops. Microsoft has its variant of Windows 10 (Windows 10 on ARM) which allows manufacturers to work with ARM processes in new computers (unlike Apple, Microsoft will continue its support for Intel processes).
Today, this is not an immediate danger. The Surface Pro X is the only visible machine for sale that runs Windows 10 on ARM. But Apple’s incredible public move to an ARM-based desktop-based operating system is a move that cannot be ignored by other manufacturers. Advantage of the first move may belong to Tim Cook and his team, but can it retain that? Or will the Windows-powered competition overtake Apple, match the ARM benefits, and stabilize the laptop world itself?
MacOS on Intel
Perhaps the biggest danger is Apple itself.
Moving to a new architecture is not an easy process. To name a few, your core operating system needs to be rewritten, the drivers used to access the various I / O elements at a low level required, and the APIs used by first and third party developers need allow old apps that target Intel machines to work so smoothly on an ARM machine.
These are things that are directly under Apple’s control and have been worked in private for years. As with any large project, not every combination of code, app and machine can be tested. Apple moves fast, breaks things, and has the fix already in place.
App support is important on the new ARM machines. The ultimate success will not come down to the technical capabilities, but to a clean message coming from Cupertino to consumers that everything will be in order. Looking at the poor communication about issues like butterfly keyboard errors that have not been recognized for years or the secret changes to iOS to stifle the processors back to increase battery life, this clear communication has not always been the case.
Hopefully Apple will not rely on ‘it just works’ in the hope that anyone accepting compatibility with older apps will be one hundred percent perfect.
CUPERTINO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller speaks … [+]
Apple will have answers to all these challenges. Will these be the right answers? Surely Tim Cook and his team will think so. So will Apple’s legion of fans. But the real test will not come with exclusive developer machines or hand-picked reviewers for the first units. It will come when the ARM-based machines go on sale and the public will put the hardware to the test in the real world.
Now why should Apple look closely at the name of the new ARBook-powered MacBooks …
.
