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Macs based on Apple’s Arm will be able to run software for iPads and iPhones, including the Monument Valley game.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland / CNET
Apple is taking the risk of transplanting the brain to Mac computers, swapping out Intel chips for processors of its own design. Apple processors are part of the Arm family, the kind used in iPhones and iPads, which have delivered mediocre speed on Windows PCs.
But Apple has a chance to give that reputation a boost. With A-series chips, iPhones have outperformed Android phones, according to Geekbench’s speed test, and the iPhone 12 already outperforms Intel-based MacBook laptops in some tests. The new Mac Arm chips give Apple the opportunity to include more circuitry backed by a larger battery.
We won’t know how fast the chips are until the expected Mac announcement of “Apple’s silicon” on Tuesday. Performance will be crucial to the Mac chip transition, influencing whether Mac buyers eagerly embrace the new models, sit around for a while, or even buy a Windows machine with Intel’s new Tiger Lake chips. With the coronavirus pandemic Triggering a surge in PC sales, it is the best time for Apple to try to attract as many customers as possible.
Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart expects two or perhaps three varieties of silicon from Apple for different types of Macs: thin laptops, more powerful laptops, and connected desktops. “Over time, Apple will put its own silicon in all of its Macs, but the Mac Pro will probably be the last to stop using Intel,” he said.
Apple declined to comment for this story. In its June WWDC announcement, the company said it will continue to sell Intel-based Macs for about two years and will maintain software support “for years to come.”
Apple has real reasons to take on the chip change challenge. The company can link its hardware and software more closely, as it does with iPhones. You can customize your chips with features like more AI processing circuitry to differentiate itself from Intel-based PCs. You can reduce component costs.
There is also Apple’s desire to “own and control” the major technologies in its products, a principle known as the “Cook doctrine,” for CEO Tim Cook.
In recent years, Macs have been tied to Intel’s fate, as the chipmaker struggled for years to modernize its manufacturing. Apple’s silicon unleashes the company to take the Mac family wherever it wants to go.
Starting small
Given the performance and power efficiency of current Apple silicon chips like the iPhone 12’s A14 Bionic, a likely Arm-based Mac category is a mainstream laptop that combines mid-range performance with stellar battery life. That could replace today’s MacBook Airs with Intel technology.
A more powerful MacBook Pro equivalent, with the power needed by photographers, video editors, programmers, illustrators, and musicians, would be a significant step away from the iPhone and iPad processors. But it would allow Apple to serve customers willing to pay a premium for performance.
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Apple is expected to offer a 13-inch MacBook Air, a 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the new chips, Bloomberg reported this week.
Although Arm chips should be cheaper than Intel chips, Apple will continue to charge a premium for its new Macs, Greengart said. “Apple already has a lower-cost computing platform. It’s called the iPad,” he said.
High-end iMacs and Mac Pro desktops are another matter. Connected to a wall socket, they can consume as much power as a PC gaming rig. Apple would need robust chips with many processor cores, high-speed cache memory, and communication links.
Apple noted that the new Macs will be ready for at least some heavy lifting in June, demonstrating Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Affinity Photo, Cinema 4D and its own Final Cut Pro on an Apple silicone Mac prototype.
Just don’t expect Apple to go -in with its own silicon just yet.
The monster Mac?
Technically, there is nothing to stop Apple from making monstrous Macs out of its own chips. The fastest supercomputer in the world right now uses Arm processors. Although today’s Arm-powered PCs aren’t fast, that’s because the processors from chipmaker Qualcomm prioritize low power consumption and super-long battery life over high performance.
However, it’s a business question of how far and how fast Apple will go. Large processors cost a lot of money and high-end machines are sold in much smaller quantities. Apple pays Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) to make its chip designs.
It is relatively easy for Intel to adjust its high-end Xeon server processors for use in high-end PCs. For Apple, a large and robust processor is much further from its sweet spot.
“I’m not wondering if Apple can compete” in high-end PCs and workstations, said Nathan Brookwood, analyst at Insight 64. “I’m just wondering if Apple is willing to put a lot of money into high-end Apple Arm chips that can compete. with Xeons “.
Tricks of the transition
The move to Apple’s own processors is the third such change in Mac history. The first Macs used Motorola’s 68000 family of chips. Apple switched to PowerPC chips developed by an Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance in 1994, then to Intel chips in 2006.
Such transitions are difficult, requiring Apple to redesign the electronics of its Macs, rebuild its MacOS operating system and software like Safari, update the development tools that other software vendors need to support the new machines, and develop emulation software to enable it. that the old applications run on the new machines.
Apple’s first transition was disastrous, Brookwood said, as Apple lost market share as developers struggled to bring their software to PowerPC machines. For the transition to Intel, Apple had its own development tools and the transition was quick. Brookwood expects an equally smooth change in silicon from Apple.
Apple has been offering developer systems for months to give developers a head start before Arm-based Macs go live. This time there is an added incentive to support the new Macs: iPhone developers will be able to bring their iOS applications to MacOS.
If Apple offers powerful Arm-based Macs, that will be another incentive for developers to move fast, as well as for Apple customers.
