Apple Expected to Announce Arm-Based Mac Plans at WWDC, Transition Away From Intel to Begin in 2021

[dspdoc]

One and done meaning likely no Intel updates to it. The G5 Quad shipped with 10.4 and received 10.5 as its only OS update. The system still works for years and years, just deprecated sooner.

For the sake of ethical integrity I certainly hope Apple doesn’t pull this. If they do they will piss off a hoard of high end pro users that I suspect would leave the ecosystem altogether. As @maflynn said; we are talking about machines costing much more than some very nice automobiles.

 

[raindogg]

That intel transition was a tough one. Hopefully they don't forget about the pro users, windows just doesn't do it for me and I'm not ready to retire.

 

[asiga]

Too many professional software houses develop for Windows only, and we use their software in virtual machines on Macs (or with bootcamp). The move to ARM will imply to lose a lot of professional users that depend on Windows software, unless Apple manages to get them port their applications to ARM Macs, which is unlikely.

Said this, if I wanted to drop Intel, I'd choose RISC V rather than ARM. No doubt.

 

[frosty18]

The invitation gives away the game i think, with it's "HELLO" sticker on it.

Apple used "Hello" with the introduction of the Macintosh in the 80's, the iMac in the 90's (and the macbook pro with Touch Bar in 2016. )

It just refreshed the 13" MBP and the 16" inch isn't that old so it's unlikely that they would use the word "hello" for another 'simple' refresh.

Agreed. I think this new ARM Mac will be a preview to the future of the MacBook. I hope to see a rounded display like the iPad Pros and maybe even a new case design, although I’m not quite sure what they could do at this point. The average consumer won’t even know what ARM means so they need to introduce a racial new design much like they did in 2015 with the MacBook or in 2008 with the MacBook Air.

 

[Trusteft]

The general public really doesn't care what brand of CPU is inside their computer. They will however love a laptop with a much longer battery life -- or a much lighter laptop with the same battery life as their old heavy laptop.

I assume you were one of the supporters of the netbook then.

 

[DinkThifferent]

Unless these chips end up being 100% compatible with x86, I seriously doubt I will ever buy another Apple computer.
Bad bad bad move.

"I will never ever buy another Apple product if they get rid of the Floppy Disk CD-ROM drive Firewire 30-pin connector headphone jack INTEL CHIPS! "


Everything Apple has ever done has always considered to be a bad move, yet somehow this bad company has revolutionized the computer, music and smartphone industry.

Watch them announce and proof it first, before throwing your Macs into the trash can.

 

[Trusteft]

Even if Apple stops producing intel Macs overnight, they are still obligated to support the existing Macs with software updates for the next 6-7 years at least. I don’t think it’s good PR for someone who bought a top-of-the-line Mac Pro or MBP to be told that they are not getting any more updates to the OS.

Officially ending support for Intel Macs in 2026 sounds about right.

Apple might be "obliged" to support them for a small number of years. Everyone else, not so much.

 

[iRun26.2]

Id like to have more than 2 chrome tabs open without it overheating thank you very much.

I am getting it mostly for video editing but if the arm has better performance than intel for that task then it would make sense to go for the arm version

While I did know the MacBook Air has some trouble with overheating, I didn't think 2 Chrome tabs would make it hot.

If you do a lot of video editing I would think you might be better with a 16" MacBook Pro than a 13" MacBook Pro (although the 16" MBP also have some heating issues...which is why I'm going with the 13" MacBook Pro too). For the little video editing I do, the 13 MBP will be just fine.

The ARM processors may very well work great for video editing since Apple will most likely be able to optimize that work flow right out of the gate.

 

[Fusionskies]

Wait, does this mean that boot camp will be a thing of the past?

 

[guzhogi]

If this transition means more affordable Macs across the board, I’m in!

I could see possibly less expensive to make, but same (if not higher) prices for consumers, meaning higher profit margins for Apple.

I think I might buy the last Intel MBP they make, just so I can play Windows games. As for ARM, I'll see how it works. I'm curious to see how ARM CPUs will perform, whether faster, more efficient, or what?

Something I would like (or at least interested) to see is have Apple wait two+ years between macOS versions, recode EVERYTHING, or at least as much as possible, to Swift, and fine tune to ARM.

 

[Finn824]

I was very hopeful about the Intel switch, especially when it came to gaming. But now years after it happened, I am disillusioned. Especially after the Catalina drop of 32bit which showed how companies like Steam choose to treat Apple clients (all my Steam library was rendered useless unless I were to install Windows on my machine). Or how stuff like Borderlands 3 keeps deteriorating with each update. Back to console gaming for me, so I no longer care about the Mac architecture.

They are probably leaning towards making iPad and Mac the same family of devices in a few years, bringing the architecture closer makes sense.

I agree with that statement....We will be forced to run the iOS on your Macs very soon. More total control for Apple...Apple could care less about enterprise / Schools / and professional computing... They sell their "Server" for $20.00...How serious can they be...get ready for touch screen iMacs

 

[asiga]

The general public really doesn't care what brand of CPU is inside their computer. They will however love a laptop with a much longer battery life -- or a much lighter laptop with the same battery life as their old heavy laptop.

The general public use computers for running applications. If a computer is no longer able to run the application they use, you are right they won't care about the reason, but however they will move to a computer which is able to run the application.

 

[dspdoc]

That intel transition was a tough one. Hopefully they don't forget about the pro users, windows just doesn't do it for me and I'm not ready to retire.

I’m with you! The 7,1 MP is a hefty investment for anyone. I suspect there’s quite a few in the wild. What a slap in the face a total move to ARM would be. What would they do, just keep the form factor and start shipping it with ARM. Sounds like a potential disaster. At least from the perspective of those who went all in on the 7,1.

 

[asiga]

Wait, does this mean that boot camp will be a thing of the past?

Obviously.

 

[Trusteft]

"I will never ever buy another Apple product if they get rid of the Floppy Disk CD-ROM drive Firewire 30-pin connector headphone jack INTEL CHIPS! "


Everything Apple has ever done has always considered to be a bad move, yet somehow this bad company has revolutionized the computer, music and smartphone industry.

Watch them announce and proof it first, before throwing your Macs into the trash can.

Einstein, I never said anything of the above, so stop making stuff up. I didn't even say Intel chips.

EDIT: spelling

 

[sbrunner]

I am just thinking on all the apps that will stop working. Double bad for engineers running VMs. Apple should take note from Microsoft.

 

[roflc0pter]

Given how well the current Ryzen 4xxx chips are doing, would've preferred those instead

 

[Plutonius]

Wait, does this mean that boot camp will be a thing of the past?

Yep, no bootcamp.

Apple will most likely supply some virtualization software but it will most likely run worse than Windows under bootcamp.

 

[Dreamail]

Sure, any current Intel Mac will be usable for years to come.
But will it really?

At the time of the 3rd transition (PowerPC to Intel) the Internet was not as ubiquitous, nor malware, phishing and other nuisances which require constant "security updates".
With Apple winding down Intel support for macOS X, how long until security updates will stop?
And then you are faced with dumping your Intel Mac for an ARM Mac, or stop using Internet related software - which with the current subscription model is likely -everything- you do.

So you effectively do not have a choice anymore to continue using your Intel Mac if the security updates on your old macOS stop...

 

[iRun26.2]

Rewind to this, Steve's words still preach a decade on

Cook presentation should be nearly identical...

 

[BootLoxes]

While I did know the MacBook Air has some trouble with overheating, I didn't think 2 Chrome tabs would make it hot.

That might have been a slight exaggeration but they do get hot easily

If you do a lot of video editing I would think you might be better with a 16" MacBook Pro than a 13" MacBook Pro (although the 16" MBP also have some heating issues...which is why I'm going with the 13" MacBook Pro too). For the little video editing I do, the 13 MBP will be just fine.

I travel across Japan on a bike often so I am trying to keep the size small. When I need the power I can just use my desktop at home.

The ARM processors may very well work great for video editing since Apple will most likely be able to optimize that work flow right out of the gate.

My ipad with lumafusion renders 4k video so fast its surprising. Had I known it would be that good I would have gotten the pro with 1tb and usb C. If arm brings that level of performance with final cut pro then I would be golden.

 

[amssullivan28]

There is Windows on ARM, but I’m guessing Microsoft wouldn’t have a version of it for ARM Macs (for a Boot Camp replacement)-or hoping Paralells comes out with a version for ARM Macs.

I use Windows 10 on my iMac for Prepar3D v4 and Microsoft Access and Publisher which all have no macOS versions.

Of course, for a database, there’s a Claris FileMaker, Affinity Publisher and X-Plane.

Hoping with ARM Macs, Apple lists the processor speed and GB of RAM (they hide that with iOS devices publicly).

 

[roflc0pter]

Just look at how the Surface Pro X is doing

 

[poorcody]

I'm intrigued of the talk of starting with a 12-core processor. One advantage over using Intel, was the fact Intel's prices go up quickly as the number of cores increase. Since a 12-core processor isn't significantly more expensive to make than a 4-core or whatever chip, Apple can gain that advantage right off the bat. And when you own the OS, compiler, and all hardware, there is a lot more potential for optimizing the use of multiple cores.

More cores also means more choices for performance vs battery-life, since you have more choices to put in low-power and high-power cores.

I'm nervous about losing Windows via Virtualization though. I hope they come up with some solution for that, even if it's through software emulation, which I think would be fast enough for my needs.

 

[dooyou]

What does this message now mean for an upcoming new purchase? That i would be an idiot to buy an "Intel" Macbook now?