[ad_1]
Apple Inc began its transition from Intel Corp chips on November 10, revealing the first Mac computers with a main processor designed in-house by the iPhone maker.
The Cupertino, California-based tech giant announced a new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini with new Apple M1 processors at its “One More Thing” virtual event.
The company said the new component will allow for much better energy efficiency for better battery life in laptops, faster graphics and application speeds, faster processing for machine learning tasks, and better security. Apple said the battery in the new MacBook Air will last up to 18 hours, while the MacBook Pro will last up to 20 hours.
The Mac mini has a starting price of $ 699 (RM 2999), a price drop of $ 100. Starting prices for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro remain the same, at $ 999 (RM4,399) and $ 1,299 (RM5,599) respectively.
The M1 system-on-a-chip has an eight-core central processing unit, combining four high-power and four high-efficiency cores, Apple said during the event. The chip will also have an eight-core graphics processing unit, which powers video games and other graphics-intensive applications. The company said it is the highest-performing chip it has made to date.
The release shows Apple’s confidence in its custom processors, as well as doubts about the roadmap for Intel’s computer chips. Apple has been shipping its own processors since 2010, starting with the iPad and then the iPhone. Tuesday’s event means the company now uses custom silicon in all the major products it sells.
The new M1 system on a chip “leads to impressive specs,” wrote Hans Mosesmann, a semiconductor analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, in a note to investors. That includes a big performance boost compared to Intel’s Tiger Lake processors in the power levels used by a MacBook Air, the analyst added.
Apple continues to sell Intel versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini, but not the Intel-based MacBook Air, according to the company’s website.
“PCs with Intel technology, such as those based on 11th generation Intel Core mobile processors, provide global customers with the best experience in the areas they value most, as well as the most open platform for developers,” Intel said in a statement. the chipmaker fell less than 1%, while Apple shares rose in New York trading.
Apple said in June that Intel’s final turnaround will take two years. In announcing the transition, Apple said the move would provide a common architecture across all of its devices. That means future iPhones, Macs, iPads, and Apple Watches will run a variation of the same chip. That will allow the devices to work better together and allow iPhone apps to run on Mac for the first time.
Apple has less than 10% of the market for personal computers, so the direct impact on Intel’s sales may be limited. But the change highlights a crisis affecting the world’s largest chipmaker. It has delayed a new manufacturing process, giving rivals a chance to catch up.
The partnership between Apple and Intel began in 2005, when the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs described a move away from PowerPC processors. Intel helped Apple catch up with Windows computers, some of which were more powerful at the time. Apple develops its chips based on designs from Arm Ltd. – Bloomberg
[ad_2]
