Apple silicon - page 7

Apple’s newest iMac is by far the fastest yet, with huge increases in both CPU and GPU performance. It also ships with improved speakers and microphones. And yet, it seems a lot of Apple fans don’t care.

The reason? The new iMac is powered by Intel processors, like all its predecessors since 2006, instead of Apple Silicon. Since Apple revealed its plan to switch to its own custom chips at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Intel processors just don’t hold the same appeal.

But there are some great reasons to continue buying Intel-powered Macs in 2020. Here are a few.

Apple could (possibly) debut its iMac refresh as soon as this week. But those hoping for the much-rumored iMac redesign and Apple Silicon integration likely will need to wait a bit longer.

The suggestion that Apple will update the iMac was first mentioned in a tweet by leaker @Soybeys that has since been deleted. Apple leaker Jon Prosser, who also has been known to be pretty accurate in the past, said new iMacs are on the way, but suggested they will debut in August instead.

Prosser also said not to expect a major iMac redesign until the first Apple Silicon Macs arrive further down the line.

Apple will release its first MacBook Pro and MacBook Air powered by Apple Silicon by the end of 2020, a report published Thursday claims.

According to Digitimes, Apple manufacturers will start shipping components such as backlit units (BLUs) for the next-gen MacBooks in the third quarter of 2020. That could be any time between now and September.

Macs moving from Intel to Apple Silicon could cause Windows computer-makers to dump Intel as well, according to Jean-Louis Gassée, the former head of Mac development back in the 1980s. He thinks the move could be led by Microsoft.

Apple will ship its first Apple Silicon-based MacBook Air late 2020 or early 2021, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed in a note published Friday.

Kuo has previously said a 13.3-inch Apple Silicon MacBook Pro will ship before the end of the year. However, this is the first time he has talked about the future of the MacBook Air line.

The (potentially) best news of all? Kuo thinks the switch from Intel CPUs could make the MacBook Air even cheaper than current models.

Macs will soon use Apple Silicon, the same type of proprietary processors found in iPhones. And an unconfirmed report indicates that Apple is exploring ways to let iPhones run Mac apps on an external display.

If true, an iOS handset could be all the computer many consumers need. They’d never have to buy a Mac again.

A benchmark done on a Mac mini running Apple Silicon hints that these processors will live up to the promise that they’ll offer performance comparable to Intel chips.

The evidence is preliminary, but promising.

Apple has confirmed that Boot Camp, the tool that allows Mac users to boot into Windows, will not be available on upcoming machines powered by custom ARM chips. Users will need to rely on virtualization software instead.

The “abnormally bad” quality of Intel’s Skylake architecture may have been what pushed Apple to make the jump to its own ARM-based Apple Silicon processors, claims a former Intel principal engineer in a report published by PC Gamer.

Monday’s WWDC 2020 keynote was very polished and a little fast-paced for me. This year, the entire Worldwide Developers Conference is virtual due to COVID-19, and the presentations flowed seamlessly from presenter to presenter, leaving little time for someone drawing to catch a breath. I ended up with five pages of drawings in my notebook.

I sketched out the important new features coming in iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7 and more. For a quick visual recap of the highlights of the WWDC 2020 keynote, check out my sketchnotes below.

In a dramatic shift, Apple is giving up Intel chips. Instead, future Macs will run Apple silicon — processors engineered by Apple based on ARM designs.

While Apple revealed a general timeline for the transition at its developers conference on Monday, and unveiled software developers will need to get their applications ready, the first ARM Macs are still months away.