MACFORMAT INVESTIGATES
Apple’s secret processor plans
Few things in life are as inscrutable as Apple’s future plans. The Cupertino giant jealously guards its secrets from prying eyes, hoping to spring its next batch of products on an unsuspecting public with maximum fanfare.
Which is why it’s so surprising that there is so much chatter in the rumour mill surrounding Apple’s upcoming processor strategy. One or two reports wouldn’t be surprising, but the veritable avalanche of supply chain whispers that has affronted Apple watchers in recent months is hard to ignore. Something big is coming for future Macs, the scale of which we only see once a decade. But to understand where Apple is heading, we need to know where it stands right now.
Why things are changing
You wouldn’t know it just from the surface, but all is not well between Apple and Intel. The two tech giants have worked together on Apple’s Macs in an official capacity since 2005, when Apple announced to the world that it would switch from PowerPC processors to Intel’s x86 chips.
The partnership has been fruitful for a long time, but in recent years the relationship has started to come under strain. Intel has repeatedly struggled to meet deadlines set by Apple for supplying internal components. We’re not just talking a few days late here and there – the delays have been so significant that Apple has often been forced to launch Macs with outdated processors. The MacBook Air, for example, has only just got Intel’s 10th-generation Ice Lake processors, despite those chips being available since August 2019. Its previous version, launched in July 2019, was stuck on 8th-gen chips – not even 9th-generation parts – because Intel was so far behind schedule.
Time and again, Apple’s devices have launched with dated Intel chips. Even the iPhone isn’t safe, despite Apple equipping it with ARM-based processors – reports suggest the 2020 iPhone, due to be the first iPhone with 5G connectivity, could miss out on this headline feature because Intel is unlikely to finish its 5G modem in time.
Things got so bad that during an earnings call with investors in May 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook all but blamed Intel for slumping revenues in Apple’s Mac department. He told his audience of shareholders: “For our Mac business overall, we faced some processor constraints in the March quarter, leading to a 5% revenue decline compared to last year,” adding that Apple believed its Mac revenue would have increased compared to
the year before were it not for those limits. Although Cook declined to call out Intel by name, the inference was obvious. By Apple’s standards, publicly blaming a supplier in this way is highly unusual and points towards the seriousness of the problem – and the extent to which Apple is looking for alternatives. But if Apple was to move away from Intel, what direction will it head in? Interestingly, there are two main contenders.
ARM-ing the Mac
If the whispers and rumours are to be believed, Apple is due to switch to ARM-based processors – perhaps as early as next year, according to reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. This is an unusual move, for one thing because very few desktop systems run on ARM chips, making them a relatively unknown quantity.
Would Apple risk putting its MacBook Air on relatively untested ARM processors when the Air is the company’s most popular laptop? And what about the Mac Pro, where professional users need the absolute best components they can get? Could ARM chips keep up with the beastly 28-core Intel Xeon W in Apple’s top-end desktop system?
Then, of course, there’s the software side of things. ARM chips run on a totally different architecture to Intel’s offerings – wouldn’t apps need to be totally rewritten to work on the new platform?
Microsoft currently offers an ARM-based Surface Pro X laptop but has published an extensive list of warnings and caveats for potential buyers, including that 64-bit apps won’t work, certain games will be incompatible, some antivirus apps will face problems, and more. Won’t Apple struggle with a similarly long list of problems?
As it turns out, it seems there are reassuring answers to both sets of questions. Former Apple senior executive Jean-Louis Gassée has noted that Ampere Computing (founded by former Intel President Renée James) sells ARMdesigned chips that can compete with Intel’s high-end Xeon processors; according to Gassée, Ampere’s chips produce roughly the same amount of computing output at almost half the power draw. There’s a reason Microsoft opted for ARM chips in the Surface Pro X – they provide the power Microsoft needed in an energy-efficient form.
As for the software side, consider Mac Catalyst, Apple’s project that allows developers to easily port their iPad apps to the Mac. The iPad currently runs on ARM-based Apple A-series chips, while the Mac runs on Intel’s processors. Mac Catalyst handles the heavy lifting in converting an ARM app to run on Intel
If Apple is to move away from Intel, there are two main contenders
platforms. With a little tweaking, it’d be the perfect tool to help developers move their apps the other way, from Intel to ARM architecture.
Speaking of the iPad, Apple’s tablet gives us plenty of hope should the company opt for ARM. Apple’s A-series chips are an absolute mile ahead of anything else on the mobile processor market, with the iPad Pro’s processor even being able to compete with rival laptops. Apple already knows how to make powerful ARM-based chips – now it just needs the will to make the switch a reality.
AMD answer?
Mac fans are used to near-silent operation from their computers, and that comes from Apple pushing Intel to deliver processors that can consume an absolute minimum of power while still delivering impressive performance.
Despite most of the industry talk focusing on Apple plumping for ARM processors, that consideration points towards another alternative in the form of Intel’s arch-rival AMD. Things took a particularly interesting turn at CES 2020, where AMD unveiled its Ryzen 4000-series processors. These offer up to eight cores and 16 threads, all while consuming a mere 15W of power, making them the perfect fit for Apple’s laptops.
It’s not just idle speculation, either. In February 2020, eagle-eyed sleuths spotted a tell-tale clue in macOS beta code: the codename ‘Renoir’, a name AMD is known to be using for its Ryzen 4000-series chips. And that wasn’t all – the names ‘Van Gogh’, ‘Picasso’ and ‘Navi’ also showed up, all of which are known to be codenames for various AMD processors and graphics chips.
So, what’s going on? It seems Apple is doing some extensive testing of AMD’s latest offerings, potentially hinting at its future plans. While it could be nothing more than curiosity on Apple’s part, it appears to tell us that the Cupertino giant is actively searching for alternatives to Intel silicon. AMD’s latest processors are at least under consideration.
Still, given the sheer volume of leaks and rumours, ARM seems like the most likely candidate. But whichever path Apple decides to go down, it seems clear it won’t be sticking with Intel for much longer. Whether Apple opts for ARM, AMD or something entirely different, we’re sure there are exciting times ahead for Apple’s Mac lineup.
The iPad gives us plenty of hope should the company opt for ARM