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Normally, people talk about the appearance of Apple devices. But this time, what matters most is under the hood.
Sarah Tew / CNET
This story is part of Apple event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.
Apple is expected announce the first chip-powered computers they look more like an iPhone than a normal PC. That alone is exciting for tech-savvy, but it’s also a sign of what’s possible to come, whether you’re buying a Mac or not. The iPhone maker said will change the brain of your computers for the next two years. Starting with the computers it is expected to announce Tuesday, Apple will support its own self-made chips.
For the past 14 years, Apple relied on chips made by intel to power your laptops and desktops. Before the end of the year, Apple said it will begin shipping computers with chips similar to those in its iPhones and iPads.
“Our vision for Mac has always been to embrace game-changing innovations and have the courage to make bold changes,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook when announcing the new initiative earlier this summer. He added that Apple’s own chips will usher in new technologies and “industry-leading performance” of computers. “Every time we’ve done this, the Mac has been stronger and more capable,” he said.
Apple declined to comment on its upcoming event.
For Apple, this moment is one that has been in the making for more than a decade. The question that has preoccupied Apple since the death of its co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011 is what’s next. Jobs ushered in the Mac computer, the iMac all-in-one desktop, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple’s biggest product launch since then is the Apple Watch, which has grown into a huge business. outsell the entire Swiss watch industry last year by a large margin. Still, it’s not an iPhone-like dent in the universe.
By combining all of its devices under the same common code and chips, Apple will be able to deliver an experience that truly encompasses your desktops, laptops, phones, and watches. Apple already said that app developers will be able to create an app and deliver it to all devices, with settings for the keyboard and mouse versus touch and finger gestures.
The result can be a further blurring of the lines between what a computer is and what it should do.
Changes are already beginning with Apple’s newest computer software, MacOS 11 Big Sur, offering even more similar looks, icons and sounds iOS software that powers an iPhone to the computer.
“With today’s Mac, it’s the Mac versus the PC,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. “Now if it behaves like an iPhone, I can manage it as an extension of my iOS devices “.
Apple’s iPad Air and iPhone 12 use the company’s A14 Bionic chip. The new Macs could do it too.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland / CNET
What can come
The difference between computers and phones is turning only to the size of the screen.
Angela Lang / CNET
Apple says its transition to new chips can be a bit bumpy as app developers change the way their apps are encoded to work with this new machinery. Meanwhile, Apple promises that most of the software we all use, including web browsers, photo and movie editors of all kinds of companies, and even Microsoft’s popular Office suite, will work on new machines from the very first day.
What will likely change the most is the exterior of the laptop and desktop. Apple iPhones and iPads don’t have fans to keep their chips cool. Analysts are betting that if Apple can pull off the same trick with its computers, the fans that take up space and force the laptop to be thicker could disappear.
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Apple macs powered by silicon: what to expect
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But aside from those changes, and speculation about removable laptop-iPad hybrids, Apple watchers seem hard-pressed to come up with design change ideas. (Writer’s note: Apple, please bring MagSafe magnetic charging cables to laptops. Quite please.)
Another longer-term game may be the integration of cellular service on these types of mobile chips. Computers with built-in cellular radios have been niche products at best, but these types of processors are designed to work with cellular radios. People buy connected iPads all the time; a connected MacBook Air isn’t a huge leap.
While it’s not likely to come out any time soon, carriers are likely eager to incorporate 5G into Apple’s future generation of silicon-based MacBooks.
New way to pay
Apple’s credit card can be your secret weapon in helping more people consider their Mac computers.
CNET
One benefit Apple gets from switching to its own chips and moving away from Intel-made ones is that it’s often cheaper to make your own stuff when you’re Apple-sized.
“When you control your own destiny and control your own parts, you can save money,” he said. Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at Technalysis Research.
Typically, he said, chip prices account for at least 20% of laptop costs. And if Apple turns those savings into lower prices, it could attract new people who simply won’t or can’t afford the company’s laptops, which start at $ 999.
It can also spark consumer interest and stimulate competition from other PC manufacturers, who have played with the use of mobile phone chips on computers so far.
But Apple’s credit card could be the company’s real ace up its sleeve, analysts say. Putting Macs on a two-year, interest-free installment plan could hook people into buying a computer for about $ 42 a month.
“Bringing the Mac to a larger population could be huge,” O’Donnell said.
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