I have no problems what processor Apple uses, as long as it does the job. Apple's always chosen the best CPU for the job. Changed to Intel when the chips they were co-developing weren't up to it, so we'll see how they go this time, with more control over the development process.
That said, ARM chips are not the stuff of actual computing. Being able to design ARM chips and thinking you can build a computer, is like building a petrol mower (do you have those in the US?) and deciding you can build a motor car.
There is no relation between the two, except internal combustion. Ditto for ARM and computing. While it's true, millions of people who would never buy a computer have bought iOS - that's not computing!
Call them trucks, if you like, but for that market, the (former) traditional computing market, ARM or anything like it, just won't do.
Now for what bothers me. The Retina 13" MacBook "Pro" ships with barely more GPU grunt than the 13" Air, and less grunt than the Non-Retina model. This is a disturbing trend in the 13" so-called Pro line. Both of these models are really MacBooks, nothing Pro about them. [Oh, that's right they have FireWire, wasn't that the first definition of a Pro? FireWire who?]
One of them has a fancy screen, which in real-world use will probably be the downfall of this year/model, making it notorious for all the wrong reasons. The 15" Retina should have taught Apple that GPU is everything, and you don't want people describing your flagship Pro notebook as having a screen that's a bit laggy (no matter how much of a technological marvel it is). Apple don't don't seem to have learnt that lesson. We await the next model, to see if it's a deliberate direction for Apple or just a misstep.
When did Apple become the company you never buy the first year/model of anything?
So, can ARM power Air models?, for example, where customers want light and functional, but don't expect grunt with at capital G? Not in ARM's wildest dream, unless Apple is prepared to do to the Airs what it's already done to the 13" Pros. This year dual core i7, next (year?)
just like the first Air, an iPod with a keyboard and screen. And a dog to boot!
Despite my first sentence, this "news" disturbs me, deeply. This is not the same Apple that changed to Intel because it had a new architecture that just worked better. This is an Apple unfettered by a humbling defeat like Power PC. This is the company that coined the expression "Post PC" and we should all be very worried indeed.