Macswith powerfulApple processors are finally available
Apple held another online event/announcement last Tuesday to introduce three new Mac models that eschew the Intel processors Macs have relied upon for more than a decade. The new models are powered by Apple’s new M1, the most powerful chip it has ever produced, and the first chip designed specifically for the Mac.
I have yet to touch an M1-powered Mac, so if you watched the 50minute event or browsed Apple’s website this week, you probably know about as much as I do.
Here are some things to think about:
First and foremost, Apple’s Boot Camp, which enables Intelpowered Mac to run Windows (and other operating systems), relies upon your Mac having an Intel processor.
So, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to boot into Windows on M1-powered Macs.
On the other hand, Parallels is testing a version of its Parallels Desktop virtualization software that runs natively on Macs with M1 chips (visit parallels.com for details).
The point is that if you rely on Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop or other emulation/virtualization software to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system on your Mac, take time to evaluate the state of emulation and virtualization software before switching to an M1-powered Mac.
Another thing to consider is that all Mac apps will have to be updated to run natively on M1powered Macs. While Apple’s Rosetta 2 technology will allow most Mac apps to run onM1 Macs without updating, history suggests that some apps will run better than others under Rosetta 2 and that some apps may not work correctly.
While all of Apple’s applications have been updated to run natively on M1, if you rely on third-party apps to get things done, I urge you to confirm that those apps run properly on an M1 processor. The good news is that RoaringApps (www.roaringapps.com) hosts a crowd-sourced list of apps that have been updated for M1. The bad news is that there were fewer than a dozen apps on the list when I looked (not surprising considering I wrote this column before any M1based Macs shipped).
Bottom line: If you’re considering a new M1equipped Mac this week (or month), give some thought to emulation and Rosetta 2 before you decide.
I’m not trying to dissuade you from M1equipped Macs; I just want to make clear that some things may not work as expected, especially in the very beginning.
That being said, I am looking forward to switching to an M1equipped Mac so I can render Final Cut Pro timelines up to 6x faster; watch up to 20 hours of video playback without recharging; edit 4K video without dropping frames; and run iOS and iPadOS apps on my Mac for the first time.
That’s all for now; I’ll tell you more once I get my hands on one.