Apple is said to be releasing its first Mac with an ARM processor in 2021, and no longer uses processors made by Intel. Reportedly there are three Mac processors that are being developed through the Kalamata project, and all of them are based on the A14 chip which will be used in the iPhone 2020 output later.
The first generation ARM processor will have a 12-core CPU with eight high-performance ‘Firestorm’ cores and four energy-saving ‘Icestorm’ cores.
Apple has long been rumoured to be developing an ARM processor to replace the Intel processor used on its Mac device. In fact, the rumour itself has been circulating since at least 2012.
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But recently analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Macs with ARM processors might be released in 2021. Although there is a possibility the launch could be delayed because of the Corona pandemic.
If Apple really replaces the Intel processor with ARM, then they will have more control over the hardware used. Mainly because Intel is called difficult to offer a significant performance increase every time they launch a new processor.
The current ARM processor also has a very efficient power consumption, which certainly can increase battery life. In addition, the use of ARM processors is expected to reduce processor component costs by around 40% to 60%.
Here are the facts of the Apple ARM processor :
- There are three systems on a chip (SoC) developed for Mac and based on the A14 processor for iPhone and iPad devices. Apple is likely to provide the same development cycle for laptop processors and mobiles.
- This Mac chip will be produced by TSMC with 5nm manufacturing.
- This first chip has eight ‘fast’ cores and 4 energy-efficient cores, a total of 12. In comparison, the A12Z chip used by the latest iPad Pro has eight cores, namely four fast cores and four energy-efficient cores.
- In addition to the CPU, this SoC also has GPU
- Even though it changes using an ARM processor, Mac will still run macOS, not move to iOS. A similar step was taken by Microsoft for Windows laptops that use Qualcomm’s ARM processor.
- The ARM chip for Mac is estimated to only be available on regular MacBooks, because the ARM chip cannot match the performance of Intel processors on MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Pro.
- In 2018 Apple was said to have successfully developed a Mac chip based on the A12X processor used on the iPad Pro at the time. This success is expected to give Apple confidence to make the transition in early 2020.
Sources : Bloomberg
