Apple: The first Macs with ARM chips will be released by the end of the year

Η Apple, officially announced that leaves behind processors Intel for Mac its computers and will continue with its own chips.

Η company announced the transition to its online event Worldwide Developers Conference 2020.

The process will begin in late 2020 with the arrival of the first Mac powered by Apple-made ARM processors.

«Now it's time for a huge leap forward for the MacSaid Apple Cook CEO Tim Cook during the speech.

For years, the company has been developing custom ARM processors for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. He now wants to apply the same technologies to MacBook and Mac desktops, highlighting the benefits in efficiency and power consumption.

«We will maximize performance and battery life better than everSaid Johny Srouji, Apple SVP for hardware technology.

However, the company is not going to immediately stop supplying Intel processors, at least not yet. According to Cook, Apple still has some Macs with Intel processors ready for release, while the transition to ARM processors is expected to take two years.

For now, owners of current Macs do not have to worry. Apple plans to release new versions of macOS for Intel-based systems in the "coming years," Cook said, without elaborating. But do not be surprised if the company stops supporting one day.

(Credit: Apple)

Details of upcoming Macs, such as technical specifications, were not announced during the WWDC. However, the new chips will include a number of different components for the entire Mac series, including application-specific processors mechanical learning, video editing and embedded graphics.

The other great advantage of switching to the ARM architecture is how all Apple products will work with the same computer architecture. As a result, for the first time, Macs will be able to run iOS and iPadOS applications directly.

The big challenge with this transition is getting existing macOS applications running flawlessly through Apple's custom processor. However, the company promises that the transition will be smooth. First, Apple has already created native versions of its main applications to run on the custom processor.

In addition, major companies and developers, such as Microsoft and Adobe, are already moving their popular applications to the new platform. During the talk, Apple presented a sample of the native versions of Microsoft Office and Photoshop that work smoothly on the new Macs.

(Credit: Apple)

To make it easier for other developers to join, Apple will release a development kit this week in the form of the Mac mini. The kit will have an A12Z processor, which is in the new iPad Pro, and will offer some tips on the editing capabilities of the upcoming Mac.

Apple will also release a new version of Xcode to help developers move their applications to the new platform. "The vast majority of developers can transfer their applications in a matter of days," said Craig Federighi, SVP, Apple's software engineering division.

But to tackle macOS applications, such as games, that can not make this fast transition, Apple will release a program called Rosetta 2, which can allow consumers to "translate" existing programs into new systems. Mac. During the demo, Apple showed Rosetta 2 running Maya, 3D animation software, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

"With everything we do, the range of applications that users can run on these new Macs is truly unprecedented," Federighi added.

Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP for software engineering (Image: Apple)

According to an analyst, Apple is likely to end up to choose the 13-inch MacBook Pro to be the first system to receive the new custom chip.

However, the transition may not be as easy as it sounds. Microsoft tried to use processors based on ARM architecture in Surface products, but the results were mixed. Although products have been able to offer long battery life, they often find it difficult to run third-party applications due to a lack of software optimization.

"Microsoft's experience with Windows is the blueprint for the possibilities and pitfalls of introducing ARM processors into computers," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS Insight. "The benefits of cost, flexibility and energy consumption are clear. But in reality, the act of reassembling applications as stairs will take time. "Apple can make Final Cut Pro and iWork work smoothly, but ensuring that thousands of other plug-ins and plug-ins behave smoothly is another matter."

Apple today, among other things, present the next version of macOS, nicknamed Big Sur. New features include a custom homepage, more powerful tabs, new translation options, and a new Privacy Report.

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