Apple will release its first Mac based on a custom ARM chip next year, according to Bloomberg. The report, which cites people familiar with the matter, claims Apple is working on three custom Mac processors as part of an internal project called Kalamata, with these said to be based around the A14 chipset set to debut in the iPhone 12.
Apple has long been rumored to be developing its own in-house ARM processors to replace the Intel chips it currently uses in its Macs. Rumors of the switch date back to at least 2012, and since then, we’ve heard multiple rumors that Apple could release its first ARM-powered Mac in 2020 or 2021. Although this latest report corroborates a recent report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that suggested an ARM Mac could come in 2021, there’s a chance the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could force Apple to delay its plans.
The switch would give Apple much more control over its own hardware at a time when Intel has been struggling to offer significant performance increases with each new generation of hardware. Current ARM processors are also often more power-efficient, which helps with battery life. Switching to ARM is expected to let Apple reduce its processor costs by 40 to 60 percent.
Bloomberg’s report offers a lot of technical details on the form Apple’s chips could take:
Three Mac System-on-Chip (SoC) designs based on the A14 processor are currently in development, and work has also started on a Mac SoC based on next year’s iPhone processor. Bloomberg speculates that Apple is planning to keep both its laptop and mobile chips on the same development cycle.
The Mac chips will reportedly be manufactured by TSMC based on a 5nm fabrication process.
The first of these chips will feature eight high-performance CPU cores and at least four energy-efficient cores, for 12 cores in total. The A12Z chip used in the current iPad Pro has eight cores: four high performance and four energy efficient.
As well as a CPU, the SoC will also include a GPU.
ARM Mac computers will continue to run macOS rather than switching to iOS, similar to the approach taken with existing Windows laptops that use Qualcomm ARM processors.
Bloomberg speculates that Apple’s first ARM-based machines will be lower-powered MacBooks because its own chips won’t be able to match Intel’s performance in its higher-end MacBook Pros, iMacs, and Mac Pro computers.
Back in 2018, Apple reportedly developed a prototype Mac chip based on that year’s iPad Pro A12X processor. The success of this prototype is thought to have given the company the confidence to target a transition as early as 2020.
Apple’s move to design more of its own chips, which has been rumored for some time, will also give the company greater control over the performance of its devices, Bloomberg notes, making it easier for the company to better unify its app ecosystem across iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
It will also lessen the firm’s reliance on Intel, which has delayed its chip roadmap several times in recent years, likely preventing the company from updating its MacBook line as fast as it would have liked.
The report says Apple is ‘exploring’ tools that would enable old apps built for Intel platforms to keep working on the new ARM-based Macs, much like it did when it switched from IBM PowerPC to Intel chipsets.
News of Apple’s imminent switch to custom-based Mac chips comes just days after reports claimed that Google was also working on its own processors to power future Pixel and Chromebook devices. The company’s first custom CPU, codenamed Whitechapel, will allegedly be manufactured with Samsung’s 5nm tech and feature an 8-core ARM processor.
