Apple silicon - page 2

An anonymous tipster has bad news for the Mac Pro: Apple apparently has no plans to keep working on the scrapped chip that would have doubled the machine’s power. Development on Apple silicon is reportedly set all the way through the M5 generation.

There’s a beacon of hope, though. Multi-die packaging — technology being developed that could see the light of day around the M8 chip — eventually might give the Mac Pro the power it deserves. However, at Apple’s current pace, that’s at least six years away.

Apple reportedly began internal testing of Macs powered by next-generation M3 chips. At least one of the variants could feature a 12-core CPU, an 18-core GPU and 36GB of system memory.

The next-generation Apple silicon remains a few months away from release, however. Rumors suggest it could debut at the end of this year or early 2024.

Is it possible to get work done on an Apple silicon Mac without ever installing Rosetta 2, the compatibility layer for running old Intel apps? In short, yes.

After buying my first Apple silicon Mac earlier this year, I was curious if I could get settled into my new computer without Rosetta. And I was successful. I’ve been writing articles, making videos and recording podcasts for more than a month, and I haven’t yet come across a mission-critical app that’s Intel-exclusive.

Last week, I wrote a story incorrectly concluding that a full Linux desktop environment would soon run on Macs with Apple silicon. This was a misunderstanding of the facts.

While some of the work in the Asahi Linux project has been worked into Linux Kernel 6.2, and while Linux 6.2 will be adopted by the next major versions of Ubuntu and Fedora, this does not mean that Apple silicon Macs will be able to boot into these desktop environments.

A high-level Apple executive says an upgraded Mac Pro is on the way, even if he did so in a backhanded way.

The company’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing said in an interview that his company has “a clear goal to transition fully to Apple silicon.” That’s an oblique reference to the Mac Pro, the only macOS computer still running an Intel processor. A replacement with an Apple M-series chip could be out in mere weeks.

What pulled Apple away from Intel? In a new interview, Apple executives Tim Millet and Bob Borchers reveal why the company shifted to making its own Mac chips.

Plus, they shed light on what they’re doing to make the Mac a gaming platform once again, how the Apple silicon architecture can make it happen, and when the best time is to buy a new Mac.

Contrary to rumors, the upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro might disappoint many in the design department. A new report suggests the forthcoming Mac Pro refresh will have the same design as the 2019 Intel-based model.

The Apple silicon Mac Pro is widely expected to launch later this year. It would stand out in the Mac lineup by offering a certain degree of user upgradability but come with non-upgradeable system memory.

3 nanometer chip production is about to begin at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. This is important news for Apple, as TSMC makes the CPUs for Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc.

Apple is expected to use 3nm processors in products launching in 2023, making the devices faster and more efficient.

Apple is currently working on multiple new external monitors powered by Apple silicon. This includes a replacement for the Pro Display XDR that launched in 2019.

There’s no confirmed timeline for the launch of the new monitors.

Independent developers working to get Linux running on Apple silicon have made a significant breakthrough — the release of the first graphics driver. This is an important step toward running operating systems other than macOS on Apple’s powerful new computers.

“We’ve been working hard over the past two years to bring this new driver to everyone, and we’re really proud to finally be here,” wrote developers Alyssa Rosenzweig and Asahi Lina in a Wednesday blog post announcing the GPU driver release. “This is still an alpha driver, but it’s already good enough to run a smooth desktop experience and some games.”

Apple’s “Take Note” product blitz on Tuesday did not include any Mac news. Instead, iPad stole the spotlight: a new iPad Pro with M2, a new entry-level iPad that isn’t actually priced at the entry level, a new Magic Keyboard Folio and yet another lease on life for the original Apple Pencil (now with a dongle!). A surprise entry is a new Apple TV 4K at a lower price with a USB-C Siri Remote.

But according to Bloomberg, new Macs are “highly likely to launch before the calendar turns into 2023.” What can we expect soon — and what’s on the roadmap?

Apple first said it would transition from Intel chips to Apple silicon more than 2 years ago. Then Cupertino launched the first M1 Mac in November 2020. And, finally, today Microsoft said its Teams app will now run natively on M1 and M2 Macs.

So it’s about time.

But don’t get greedy and expect the upgrade immediately. The Redmond tech giant said the rollout to users will be incremental.

Apple unveiled the next-generation of Apple silicon during the WWDC22 keynote Monday. This new M2 chip, which is launching in a redesigned MacBook Air and as an under-the-hood addition to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, offers even more power and efficiency than the previous-generation M1 processor.

“Today we begin our second generation of Apple silicon designed specifically for the Mac,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s SVP of hardware technologies, during the live-streamed keynote.

The new M2 chip “goes beyond the remarkable features of M1,” he said. “Unlike others in the industry who significantly increase power to gain performance, our approach is different. We continue to have a relentless focus on power-efficient performance. In other words, maximizing performance while minimizing power consumption.”

Apple filed a lawsuit Friday against a “stealth mode” startup known as Rivos, saying it poached engineers who stole proprietary information as part of the recruitment process.

Cupertino said Rivos plans to design chips that will compete with its own — and starting with Apple’s own technology.

Apple’s excellent 24-inch M1 iMac is cheaper than ever on Amazon right now. The base model with 7-core GPU and 256GB storage is available for $1,199 after a $100 discount.

The more powerful model with 8-core GPU sees an even more attractive discount of $150.

Apple and Adobe added better support for Apple silicon to a couple of their marquee applications for video professionals.

Apple’s Final Cut Pro has been optimized for the new Mac Studio desktop. And Adobe’s After Effects now offers native support for the Apple M1 chip.

When Apple rolled out the first M1 chip in late 2020, it seemed like a pretty big jump forward. Then the new M1 Pro and M1 Max in MacBook Pro models blew people away in October 2021. Now the Cupertino tech giant calls its latest M1 Ultra chip in the new Mac Studio desktop computer “the next giant leap for Apple silicon and the Mac.”

It’s almost like when Neil Armstrong got back from taking “one giant leap for mankind” on the moon in 1969 — if someone had told him, “you can toss that jalopy you went up in. Now we’ve got a real spaceship for ya.”

Apple said at its “Peek Performance” event Tuesday that the M1 Ultra is “the world’s most powerful chip for a personal computer.”

After gracing us with its jaw-dropping Mac Studio and 27-inch Studio Display on Tuesday, Apple finally discontinued the aging 27-inch iMac. The machine is no longer available to purchase through official Apple retail channels.

It’s probably not gone for good, however. Cupertino is rumored to be working on a larger iMac model that could appear alongside other new Mac models — including a new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro — later this year.

Dropbox this week rolled out the first stable update that optimizes its app for Apple silicon chips. The version 143.4.4161 release should be significantly snappier and more efficient on M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max machines.

The update, which should also fix a kernel extensions issue that prevents Dropbox from working properly under macOS 12.3, comes hot on the heels of a similar release for Dropbox competitor Microsoft OneDrive.

Microsoft on Monday rolled out a major OneDrive update that adds full Apple M1 support for the first time. Version 22.022 now runs natively on Apple silicon chipsets, which should mean improved performance and efficiency.

The update also eliminates a kernel extensions issue, which broke both OneDrive and Dropbox, that macOS 12.3 beta testers recently ran into.

Intel is planning to build more efficient mobile chipsets that will better compete with Apple silicon, according to a leaked internal roadmap.

The document outlines plans to take on the 14-inch MacBook Pro specifically with upcoming Arrow Lake processors that are scheduled to launch in late 2023 or early 2024. There just one (rather large) problem with that plan.

Regulatory filings for three new Mac models have been spotted ahead of Apple’s rumored spring event next month. Recent reports suggest Cupertino could be planning a new MacBook Pro with a next-generation “M2” chipset. Rumors also indicate Apple continues to work on a bigger iMac, a new MacBook Air and a new Mac mini.

The filings come after Apple last month registered a new iPhone and a new iPad — believed to be an upgraded iPhone SE with 5G support and a refreshed iPad Air likely to pack the newest A15 Bionic processor.

Apple will introduce a new Mac Pro with an upgraded M1 chipset by the end of the year to complete its Apple silicon transition, according to a tipster.

Previous rumors indicated the high-end desktop would stick with Intel chips until Apple’s next-generation “M2 Pro” chipset became available. However, a new rumor suggests it will initially get an even more powerful M1 chip instead.

Another key chip designer has left Apple for Microsoft. Mike Filippo, who joined Cupertino in 2019 after a decade with Arm, is the second processor engineer Apple has lost in as many weeks after Jeff Wilcox left to join Intel.

Filippo will reportedly work on server chips for Microsoft’s Azure group, which is said to be pushing forward with its own silicon for cloud computing services.

The next-generation version of the Dropbox app for macOS, which finally adds native support for Apple silicon chips, is now available to all in beta.

It comes less than a week after Dropbox began testing Apple M1 support with a small number of users. You can try it out for yourself by enabling “early releases” in your account preferences. We’ll show you how.