The new iPhone SE, and future Apple kit
Expect ARM-powered Apple hardware in future
Your next Mac could soon be ‘armed’ with an ARM rather than an Intel processor, if the latest rumours are anything to go by. While a switch has been rumoured for some time, the change could happen faster and be more extensive than anyone has anticipated.
Renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously suggested that at least one MacBook would arrive with an ARM processor in 2021. However, in a leaked research note seen by MacRumours, he’s now suggesting that the majority of Apple’s Mac line-up, both desktop and laptop, could go ARM in 2021. The reason? Kuo argues that doing so would not only enable Apple to cut its processor costs by between 40-60%, but that it would also enable it to more easily differentiate the Mac from its Windows PC competition.
Switching from x86 to ARM would also enable Apple to reduce its reliance on Intel, whose silicon has been plagued with problems for some time – from highly publicised security issues such as Spectre and Meltdown, to Intel’s
own struggles with its 10nm process. Contrast that with the 5nm process being used in Apple’s forthcoming A14 CPU and the difference is clear. There are a number of other advantages too.
As ARM processors are primarily designed for mobile use, they’re fast, efficient, cool and run on relatively low power – making a true all-day MacBook a distinct possibility. They also scale up in performance too. While the iPhone-bound A14 will exceed 3GHz, Ampere Computing (amperecomputing.com) is working on ARM CPUs that can go toe-to-toe with the Intel Xeon processors used in the £5K Mac Pro. As former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée explained in March: “Ampere topof-the-line chips consume less power, about 210W, than a competing Xeon CPU needing as much as 400W, for about the same amount of computing power.”
The switch needn’t be too traumatic either. Apple has been designing its own A-class processors for the iPhone and iPad since 2010, and also designs many other components, including GPUs, and the ARM-based T2 chip used in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Apple also has form when it comes to switching architectures, successfully migrating from 68k processors to PowerPC in the 1990s and from PowerPC to Intel in 2006-7. On both occasions, it managed to keep developers onside – as anyone who used Universal apps during the PowerPC/Intel transition will remember.
The big question, though, is whether computer users will be ready to accept such a change. Although rivals such as AMD have made inroads in recent years, Intel’s decades-long market dominance could prove to be the biggest obstacle to the success of ARM-based Macs.
ARM processors are fast, efficient, and run on relatively low power