Apple aims to sell Macs with its own chips

Apple Inc. is planning to start selling Mac computers with its own main processors by next year, relying on designs that helped popularize the iphone and ipad, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Cupertino, Calif,based technology giant is working on three of its own Mac processors, known as systems- on- a- chip, based on the A14 processor in the next iphone. The first of these will be much faster than the processors in the iphone and ipad, the people said.

Apple is preparing to release at least one Mac with its own chip next year, according to the people. But the initiative to develop multiple chips, code- named Kalamata, suggests the company will transition more of its Mac lineup away from current supplier Intel Corp.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Apple’s partner for iphone and ipad processors, will build the new Mac chips, said the people, who asked not to be identified. The components will be based on a 5- nanometre production technique, the same size Apple will use in the next iphones and ipad Pros, one of the people said. An Apple spokesman declined to comment, as did Intel and TSMC.

Apple is designing more of its own chips to gain greater control over the performance of its devices and differentiate them from rivals. Getting Macs, iphones and ipads running the same underlying technology should make it easier for Apple to unify its apps ecosystem and update its computers more often. The move would also reduce reliance on Intel, which has struggled to maintain the annual increases in performance it once offered.

“This news has negative longer- term implications for Intel, in line with our concerns around Intel’s future market share,” Brad Gastwirth, chief technology strategist at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note to investors. Shares of the chipmaker fell as much as 2.2 per cent on Thursday while the rest of the market rose.

Current mobile device chips from Apple have multiple processing units, or cores, that handle different types of tasks. The latest ipad Pro has four cores for performance- intensive workloads and another four to handle low- power tasks to preserve battery life.

Apple is exploring Mac processors with more than 12 cores for further in the future, the sources said.