At last. I already played. Our analyst friend Mig-Chi Kuo just announced that Apple is working on its own processor for its computers. A rumor that has been discussed for a long time but never comes.
Apple computers are the only company devices that don't use their own processors. Currently all CPUs for both iMacs, Macs mini and MacBooks are Intel. Let's see what Kuo says.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's first Mac with a custom processor is expected to make its debut in the first half of 2021. He points out that it will be a 5-nanometer chipset, like the next A14 SoC that the company's new iPad Pro and iPhone will mount.
Kuo says that 5nm processors will be the core technology for new Apple products in the next 12-18 months. They will come to a host of new products, and not all of them will be used by iOS or iPadOS. He believes that at least one series of these new chips will be for macOS.
Mac will carry an Apple CPU in 2021
Its verbatim words are:
We expect new Apple devices in the next 12-18 months to adopt self-designed 5nm processors, including the new Mac H121.
It would be the first Apple computer with a custom ARM chipset. It would also be the first new Mac to be released without an Intel CPU since the company made the switch from PowerPC processors in 2006.
Apple's chips have been excellent in their iPhones and iPads, offering blazing fast performance with exceptional graphics while optimizing battery consumption. They are also passively cooled, and this feature may also carry over to MacBooks that incorporate these new chips.
A shift from Intel processors to custom ARMs would be the most significant transformation for Macs since Apple married Intel chips. If this decision has been delayed so long, it is because it will require a new macOS special for this architecture, and an adaptation of all third-party software to this new operating system. Definitely a major problem.
They will use the same 5nm technology as the upcoming A14
But it will surely be worth it in the end. Apple's chips are sure to mean faster Macs with better graphics, MacBooks with greater autonomy, and components cheaper than the current Intel.