Apple may have confirmed it's working on its own processors, but exactly which will be the first Macs to use Apple Silicon remains a source of speculation. Announced at WWDC 2020, Apple's homegrown Arm-based chips will begin to show up in Macs by the end of the year, the company promised; now, analysts are wading in with their instincts on which models will come first.
For years, Apple's mobile and desktop worlds have been distinct and separate islands of their own. Lately, however, the company has been working to bridge the two together, like running iOS apps on Macs with Catalyst. It turns out that Apple's newly revealed ARM-based Silicon processor maybe smashing those two worlds together in more ways than one. A new leak has surfaced pointing to the almost dreamy possibility of an iPhone running on an Apple Silicon running macOS, possibly when connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Apple's decision to ditch Intel in the long run for its own ARM-based silicon was naturally received with mixed reactions and opinions. While the benefits on power efficiency are almost unquestioned, there have naturally been concerns over performance, especially when trying to support Mac software not yet built for the new chips. There will naturally be a need for some sort of CPU emulation, a piece of software formally known as Rosetta. Emulation incurs some performance penalty but if "accidental" benchmarks are any indication, Mac users might have very little to worry about.
Now that Apple has introduced the upcoming versions of its various operating systems, consumers have one big question: which devices will get these updates? The short answer is, relax. Unless you own an ancient Apple device, the odds are in your favor that you'll see the updates roll your way. We've compiled a list of all the devices that will get the Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 updates.
As the rumors had claimed, Apple is officially transitioning its Mac products to its own silicon, a transitional process the company expects will take around two years to fully complete. Amid the many details about this new hardware and plan was mention of the Developer Transition Kit (DTK), a product that will help developers build and test their Universal 2 apps for use with the new systems.
Apple has confirmed that it's switching Macs to its own silicon, transitioning away from Intel processors, and now we know when we'll actually be able to buy a Mac running on Apple chips. Though the first hardware will be a custom version of the Mac mini, that will be focused on developers to begin getting them up to speed. The rest of us will need to wait - though not for long.
Today Apple announced that they'd be moving toward their own silicon - effectively removing Intel from the equation. This was a "huge leap forward for the Mac," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Today is the day we're announcing the Mac is transitioning to our own Apple silicon." This move is major for every key player involved - not just Intel and Apple, but the users of future Mac computers as well.
Apple has named its new version of Mac software, with macOS Big Sur being announced at WWDC 2020. It's being described as the biggest design change undertaken by Apple since iOS 10, with the company's unified symbols - along with depth and translucency - brought over from iOS and iPadOS to the desktop now.
WWDC 2020 kicks off today, Apple's annual developer event complete with a hotly-anticipated keynote on Monday morning. This year's WWDC is unlike any other, of course, with Apple switching to an all-online format. That's going to make some things very different.
Apple is quietly adding new options for the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac Pro, including SSD upgrades that will allow owners to squeeze more storage into their macOS desktop. Expected to be put up for sale later today, it'll add a new flagship GPU option for Apple's top-spec notebook, too.
The dawn of Apple's switch of macOS to run on Arm processors is finally almost here, at least if the leaks are correct, and I'm hoping it gives one misunderstood Mac product another chance to prove its merit. Rumored for years, it's a blow to Intel and potentially some work for developers between WWDC 2020 and the arrival of the first hardware come 2021.
Apple could announce its Arm-based Mac switch as soon as WWDC 2020, insiders claim, giving developers a heads-up that the first Macs to use the same sort of chip tech as iPhone and iPad are in the pipeline for 2021. It's an aggressive roadmap, apparently buoyed by impressive performance for the new breed of Apple-designed chips in current prototypes.