Apple Leak reveals radical new MacBook

Apple may be gearing up to upgrade 13-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro machines to Intel’s 10th-generation processors, but its long-standing project to bring ARM power to its MacOS platform is accelerating, with reports today that a launch in 2021 is on the way cards

Update April 25: One of the biggest hurdles facing a MacBook with ARM will be supporting third-party applications, making it unlikely that Apple will be able to jump from Intel to ARM in a single move. That is unlikely to be the plan.

Roland Moore-Colyer in Tom’s Guide He’s been talking to several analysts (including Geoff Blaber of CCS Insight and Avi Greengart of Techspotential) about the nature of an ARM-based MacBook.

The easiest way to enter the laptop market is to use Google Chromebooks:

As it stands, Chromebooks are popular with students, but overall they’re pretty basic, as premium models are expensive and use Intel CPUs. And Chrome OS just isn’t as flexible or flush with apps like macOS or Windows 10.

… All of this means that there is a gap in the market for Apple to make a low-cost but well-made laptop and with a very high price to offer more flexibility than Chromebooks and avoid the deficiencies of Windows 10 in ARM; something that Blaber says Apple can learn from.

Apple would ensure that its own core apps would run on ARM, including iWork, its media apps, and the top browser. That there is enough to take over Chrome OS with a lightweight MacBook running the new chipset.

A number of chips are under development. The first is based on the A14 on-chip system to be installed in the iPhone 12 family of smartphones and is expected to be the first to be released. A second-generation chip is also up and running, potentially with additional switching power for more demanding applications.

The reports come from Mark Gurman, Debby Wu, and Ian King at Bloomberg:

Apple is preparing to launch at least one Mac with its own chip next year, according to people. But the multi-chip initiative, codenamed Kalamata, suggests that the company will transition its Mac line further away from current vendor Intel Corp.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Apple’s partner for iPhone and iPad processors, will build the new Mac chips, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private product plans. The components will be based on a 5-nanometer production technique, the same size that Apple will use in the upcoming iPhones and iPad Pros, one of the people said. An Apple spokesman declined to comment, as did Intel and TSMC.

This is not a quick or easy project, but there are some advantages if the move is successful.

Probably the greatest will be the reduction of Intel’s influence on Apple’s product line. The pace of Intel updates isn’t on an annual schedule, leaving the Mac family of laptops and desktops waiting for new Intel chips, rather than adapting to Apple’s regulated annual cycle seen on iPhone platforms and iPad.

That adds to having Intel as an external point of failure. Apple has no issues with iPhone processors, as evidenced by regular annual updates to Axx silicon. But there have been multiple problems with sourcing 5G modems from outside vendors. When Intel halted its 5G efforts, that left Apple indebted to Qualcomm for years to come.

(Meanwhile, Apple purchased Intel’s 5G modem division to incorporate internally, with the goal of using Qualcomm as a gap.)

A unified approach around the Axx architecture for iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS offers a number of benefits of scale. Resources can be better focused and managed, Apple can choose its own path and try to shape the market to its own wishes, and MacOS machines could switch to a regular update cycle, potentially annually for low-end laptops, twice annually for Pro laptops, and every three years for desktop powers.

It is possible to argue that Apple already has an ARM-based laptop. Granted, the screen and keyboard are separated from each other, but the iPad Pro and Magic keyboard combination is being pushed by Apple in the “your next computer” space.

The key difference with an “iPadOS laptop” and a MacOS machine is that Apple has much more control over the iPadOS platform, what applications can run on it, and can take a commission on each and every payment through the platform. , as you see fit.

Switching to ARM will bring with it the same headaches that any changing manufacturer architecture faces; developers will face a new environment, and applications will have to be recompiled or recoded for the new chips.

The development of new applications will be in a better situation with Apple. There is already a great experience in the ecosystem thanks to the use of ARM on the iPhone and iPad. That will make the transition from Intel to ARM smoother. There’s an added bonus that coders who have stuck with iOS and haven’t made the jump to MacOS may now be tempted.

Intel’s “hard break” to ARM means that existing applications will not be able to run natively on new MacBook machines. Apple could run an emulation layer to allow an Intel virtual machine, but I wonder if Tim Cook and his team would take a more ruthless approach and say there will be no hands-free, if developers want applications to run on new machines. . they will need to encode native ARM applications.

After all, Cook took the same approach when MacOS Catalina removed 32-bit support … it was the 64-bit path or the highway.

Previous reports suggested a launch date in late 2020 or early 2021. Given the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, it is widely believed that Apple is focusing on keeping the iPhone 12 on time, which will push other products back. With the challenges of switching from Intel to ARM, it makes sense that these Mac machines will be late.

Now read more about Apple’s ridiculous price for a wheelset …