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Apple Plans to Ditch Intel and Use Custom Mac Chips Starting in 2020
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Of course there was the transition from the 6502 to the 65c02 to the 65c816 to the 68000 if you really want to think about transitions. (Although most the 6502->65c816 were pretty easy, from the 65 series to the Mac's 68000 was a big deal.).
april fools! there switching to rizen chips by amd so they can have the macs be evenly bad in its graphics and processing power
Apple is planning to transition from Intel chips to its own custom made Mac chips as early as 2020, reports Bloomberg.
Apple's initiative, reportedly code named "Kalamata," is part of an effort to make Macs, iPhones, and iPads work "more similarly and seamlessly together" according to unspecified sources that spoke to Bloomberg. Apple already designs its own A-series chips found in iPhones and iPads.
The Mac chip plans are said to be in the early stages of development and the transition from Intel chips to Apple chips could involve multiple steps, starting with the "Marzipan" initiative coming in iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 to allow developers to create a single app able to run on both iOS and macOS.
With its own chips, Apple would not be forced to wait on new Intel chips before being able to release updated Macs, and the company could integrate new features on a faster schedule.Apple has already begun using custom designed T1 and T2 chips in its MacBook Pro and iMac Pro machines, and the company is said to be planning to integrate additional custom co-processors in Macs coming later this year. The custom chips will also be used in the upcoming Mac Pro, which is in development.
The T1 chip, included in the MacBook Pro, powers the Touch Bar and authenticates Touch ID. The T2 chip, in the iMac Pro integrates several components including the system management controller, image signal processor, SSD controller, and a Secure Enclave with a hardware-based encryption engine.
Previous rumors have suggested Apple is interested in creating its own ARM-based core processor chips for its Mac lineup in order to reduce its dependence on Intel. Apple is also rumored to be pursuing development of its own modem chips to also reduce reliance on both Intel and Qualcomm.
A move away from Intel would have a major impact on Intel, with Apple providing approximately five percent of Intel's annual revenue. Intel stock has already dropped following the news.
Article Link: Apple Plans to Ditch Intel and Use Custom Mac Chips Starting in 2020
Nope. That lesson was learnt by Steve. Unfortunately he didn't pass that lesson to Tim. So Tim wants to learn it himself again. I would like to see what will be the Enterprise penetration level with the new non-intel Macs.
I think all of this is a certainty. They've probably been running MacOS on ARM forever in Cupertino.
Apple's 13" offering for 2018 is not out yet. And I don't think they buy their chips off shelf--Intel makes some changes. Let's see what happens come WWDC
How many devices are out there needing drivers? Only market I can think of is Video and Audio production and even then it's very slim. But the general devices out there now use standards like TWAIN for scanning
Fresh with the picture of Pope Benedict from the keynote....So the G5 PowerBook may well come huh?
Moore's Law is nearing the end for CPU computing. Growth in GPU performance/parallel computation for scientific and graphical applications is the future.
I've moved all my VM Guests from locally hosted VirtualBox to a QNAP NAS Virtualization Station, thus dependency Intel for desktops/laptops is eliminated. Apple's support for eGPU eliminates is need for high power internal discrete graphics.
If it means more compact, longer battery life, less heat, lower cost, I'm on board.
I've moved all my VM Guests from locally hosted VirtualBox to a QNAP NAS Virtualization Station, thus dependency Intel for desktops/laptops is eliminated. Apple's support for eGPU eliminates is need for high power internal discrete graphics.
If it means more compact, longer battery life, less heat, lower cost, I'm on board.
every single piece of hardware technically has a "driver". the difference is, MOST OS's today include basic sets of drivers to get up and running.
a lot of the time, the driver is provided by the manufacturer to Apple / Microosft for testing and integration so that we never have to see / install them manually
however, shuld there be a fundamental architecture change, whatever new busses and connectivity that Apple moves to, would require new drivers to be written to control and manage them. For example, a move to ARM would require either the replacement of PCI-E for Apple's communication bus with a new one, that would require devices that want to connect to write new drivers. if the market isn't big enough, you will likely see a return to the old days where there were specific peripherals only for Apple devices that were not compatible.
Heck, the driver issue is already the reason why Nvidia cards are technically "unsupported" by Mac OS. Apple wont write them, and Nvidia doesn't really write them either. you might ge3t Nvidia cards working over thunderbolt, but it'll be a crapshoot.
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see my pst above. this move would also eliminate eGPU's in their current form, as current GPU's use PCI-E, which right now would be incompatible with an ARM based CPU device (As intel controls the license/technology behind Thunderbolt, which Apple uses for egpu)
you would be 100% reliant on Apple also creating their own GPU connectivity via some other proprietary bus as I don't believe PCIE currently exists with ARM
Also: as a user of QNAP and servers platform. QNAPS do not compare for actual production workloads. fine for a few minor servers, DHCP, DNS, firewalls. But once you start throwing Database platforms and high availability requirements at them, you quickly run out of performance.
When Steve Jobs unveiled Mac OS X in 2001, he said that Mac OS X would keep Apple all set for 20 years. It sounds about right that by 2021 or so, there might be a replacement OS to replace Mac OS X/macOS, just in time to run on the new hardware and processing chips. I'm thinking a single, unified Apple OS that would run on the watch, iPod/iPad, iPhone, TV, and Mac, with different interfaces (desktop, mobile, and supermobile), that way the OS can be updated at the same time and the experience will be much more seamless.
With that said, I'm all for this, AS LONG as Apple does not lock down the desktop OS or dumb it down.
With that said, I'm all for this, AS LONG as Apple does not lock down the desktop OS or dumb it down.
lol What you're saying is you can live without macOS. So then for you, if Windows is such a priority over macOS then you don't need macOS in the first place. Anyone who needs a Mac isn't buying one because Windows is a priority. If you're just playing or fooling around with macOS then you need not worry. MS will take care of you.
I'm not going to not buy a Mac because it doesn't do Windows. Would I like it to do Windows? Sure. Will I not buy a Mac because of it? Hell no. I need a Mac.
One advantage of a new processor would be that it would force Adobe to rewrite Lightroom Classic and Premier to really optimize them. Lumafusion is running wonderfully on a mobile (ARM) system, it's crazy how slow some of the legacy professional graphics/video apps are on an Intel Mac. Technically we could do a lot on an ARM, even development work. At the same time, we would lose Windows, and every single app would have to be rebuilt. A lot of the programs would need a lot of work. If nothing else, the different endian (byte order) alone would cause a lot of breakage.
This is hilarious, the reason given is so Apple isn't tied to Intel to release new Macs... Apple can't even be bothered to update Macs when Intel processors are available.
What a stupid move. I've used Macs my whole life and going back to the PPC era would suck.
What a stupid move. I've used Macs my whole life and going back to the PPC era would suck.
umm.... meaning Apple always wated software to work well together which they now "do", but that's not enough?
What can't you do seemingly on a Mac now u can do on an iPad/iphone *without* an intel chip ? If its just one of those "well.. because all other tablet/phones we sell have custom chips, so why not." that's not good enough.
Unless there would be code that most developers would still cling to for backward compatibility, because if its as bad as implementing a new file system from scratch, you know they'll be problems.
What can't you do seemingly on a Mac now u can do on an iPad/iphone *without* an intel chip ? If its just one of those "well.. because all other tablet/phones we sell have custom chips, so why not." that's not good enough.
Unless there would be code that most developers would still cling to for backward compatibility, because if its as bad as implementing a new file system from scratch, you know they'll be problems.
Seems like PCIe on ARM exists. https://www.plda.com/products/asicfpgasoc-ip/pcie-soft-ip/pcie-30-soft-ip-arm-soc/xpressrich3-axi
remember the days where the architecture was so different that everything had to be "made for Apple" specifically or it didnt work? sounds like you do.
That could be a potential outcome here.
Enjoy using that logitech mouse? TOUGH! must have a PC based one AND a seperate more expensive Apple one. Want to use the same USB printer? TOUGH, must buy the Apple specific compatible list ones
Remember when you couldn't even take a document from one to another? Because Peperidge farms remembers.
I'm waiting for 2080.
oh man, I'll be 100... And I'll likely have forgotten who I was for 50 years at that point!
Your industry? Probably all. Seem like it would be the end of Mac OS as we know it. I’ll buy the last Intel Mac and hold on as long as s/w allows. Then I guess it’s onto the dark side. Will Adobe or MS continue to support Mac? Maybe half-heartedly. Already seems 3/4 heartedly. And others? Fuggetaboutit. Sad day if this rumor cones to pass, seems probable given Mac’s revenue value to Apple.
Days ago I posted Apple should spin Mac off b/c Apple has moved on from Mac. People objected. I wonder if this changes their mind.
rereading my post, I think I need to go to bed. I kept swapping PCIE and Thunderbolt...
We don't know if the world will come to an end at 2020.
MY VOTE FOR GIANT METEOR 2020!