Apple working on an ARM-powered Mac has been talked about for years and the company has certainly had an interest in ARM chips. According a report from Bloomberg, Apple’s long-time interest will turn into something more tangible when the company announces proprietary ARM chips at its WWDC conference later this month.
It is believed the company will launch the chips at the conference to give developers time to work with them ahead of new Macs coming this fall. Apple has never confirmed if it is interested in ARM processing on Mac, or whether it plans to move away from Intel. However, we did report last year on the company seemingly hiring people with an ARM switch in mind.
Apple is already a major ARM partner, using the British company’s processors in its A-series CPUs in iPad and iPhone. ARM also underpins the company’s Apple Watch products.
Apple is already a major ARM partner, using the British company’s processors in its A-series CPUs in iPad and iPhone.
Own Product
Microsoft and Google are already using ARM for some of their products, such as the Surface Pro X. However, Apple will take a different approach that is similar to its mobile chip output. Whereas Microsoft and Google use third-party chips, Apple will develop its own chipset based on ARM.
We have seen how this tactic pays off on iPhone through its own CPUs. So, it will be interesting to see if the company can extract more benefits from ARM than its rivals.
WWDC will get underway on June 22 and ARM-powered Macs could be a big part of the event. This year, the conference is being held entirely online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch the live stream on the Apple developer website.
