According to an inside analyst who goes by Ming-Chi Kuo from the Cult of Mac, he mentioned that Apple is currently working on a new processor called ARM that could run up to twice as fast as Intel computers.
The company will be revealing its plans to move macOS to its A-series processors at the 2020 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
As of this writing, the first devices that will be released with the new processor are the 13.3-inch macBook and the 24-inch iMac with Apple planning to launch the new models in the in fourth quarter of 2020 or early in 2021 at the earliest.
Kuo hopes that by next year, all the new Macs will be run with ARM-based processing chips designed by Apple. The company apparently doesn't plan to offer shoppers Intel or ARM alternatives of future models.
Another blog post called Mac Rumors suggested that prior to the launch of the Arm-based iMac, Apple will be refreshing the existing Intel iMac in the third quarter of 2020.
According to Kuo, Apple's custom designed chips, planned mini-LED displays, and scissor switch keyboard will "create competitive advantages for MacBook models in two years" with mini-LED technology significantly improving the user experience.
Pros and cons to dumping Intel
The advantage for users of the switch is supposedly a gigantic boost in performance from 50 to 100 percent increase.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the company responsible for manufacturing Apple's chips claimed that it can can make smaller, more efficient chips than Intel boasting that the Apple A13 will be at the first of its kind as it is expected to be the first A-series CPU made with a 5-nanometer process. Rival Intel won't get a less-efficient 7nm processor on the market before 2021.
On the other side of the coin, third-party developers will have to recompile their applications for the new processor architecture. This is likely to reduce the amount of apps available for ARM-based Macs early in the transition process.
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Issues that the new ARM-based Macs will need to resolve
Here are some of the problems listed by Tom's guide that the new Macbooks will have to resolve:
- Some applications could get left behind.
In an interview with Brianna Wu, the CEO of independent game studio Giant Spacekat, and co-host of the Rocket podcast talked about the possible risks of Apple's ARM future.
She mentioned that softwares that specialize on 3D compositing and modelling are falling apart since these are often underreported.
And the ARM transition, if done across all Macs, would be bad news for users in those ecosystems. Wu told Tom's Guide: "I think the truth is that if Apple moves to ARM, that will cause those apps to go away entirely."
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Less AAA gaming on Mac.
Wu explained that regular users would "certainly notice fewer AAA games coming to macOS. Games like Final Fantasy would still need to be translated from x86 to ARM, or risk taking a hit on performance, both sound like risks that studios will be increasingly less willing to do.
