ARM MacBook

[TSE]

With the update of the new MacBook Air, the new MacBook is as lost as ever - it's more expensive, slower, and it's just odd to me that Apple has two ultraportables with two different names.

Could Apple be putting their own chips into their MacBook, running full MacOS on it, and using it to expand app compatibility for a couple years while their other computers use Intel, until enough apps are compatible for the full switch?

Say they release an ARM-based MacBook right now for MacOS. It might or might not have a Rosetta-style compatibility layer for existing apps, but the main point Tim Cook would make is: Here is an Apple-CPU MacBook, running full MacOS, and while it doesn't have compatibility with Windows nor any apps outside of the essentials as of right now, it has better battery life, a much, much stronger CPU, GPU, faster flash storage, it's fanless, all compared to Intel, and this is our future. So buy Intel if you need what you need now, but buy the MacBook for future proofing and an overall better product for anything outside of gaming and pro-applications until they get coded for it. They can continue to update their machines with Intel, but as we've noticed - Apple's upgrade cycles are more frequent and much more drastic of improvements.

While more and more apps come out for ARM MacOS, Apple transitions into their own chips by eventually making every computer switch over.

Do you guys see this as likely?

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I hope so! I'd buy one instantly or at least, the following year for the second generation model
The 12" McBook is just beautiful in design, size - ARM technology would be extraordinary. Having got used to the slick super fast speed of the A11 in my iPhone X and the A10X in the Apple TV 4K, i'm all for it!

I se my MacBook 24/7 and for me, using Apple's Software, just works. Even basic things like Microsoft Word, for me, Apple Page works a million times better - nicer layout, more creative, easier to understand - same with Keynote, Numbers - again Final Cut Pro X compared to Premiere. Audio editing which I use daily, I tend to stick to Audacity (so hopefully they'd do an update . The rest, I stick to Apple Photos, iTunes etc. I sync the MacBook daily with my iPhone X and use Apple HomeSharing the Apple TV 4K. I love the ecosystem.

I guess that i'm a perfect user of what a 12" MacBook with ARM would be

 

[StellarVixen]

I do not really know, but that new Air is horrible.

Not in terms of CPU, but the amount of storage and RAM offered for the money.

CPU, I can tolerate, however. No one is buying the Air to run CPU intensive physics simulations, for an example, or run 10 VMs at once...

It is 8 GB of RAM that are soon to become obsolete, and 256 GB of storage that can get populated very fast. All of this for 1.5K? Thanks, but no thanks.


Even with ARM CPU, Apple will still be penny pinching on storage and RAM. Those are as important as CPU, because they are not removable.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I do not really know, but that new Air is horrible.

Not in terms of CPU, but the amount of storage and RAM offered for the money.

CPU, I can tolerate, however. No one is buying the Air to run CPU intensive physics simulations, for an example, or run 10 VMs at once...

It is 8 GB of RAM that are soon to become obsolete, and 256 GB of storage that can get populated very fast. All of this for 1.5K? Thanks, but no thanks.


Even with ARM CPU, Apple will still be penny pinching on storage and RAM. Those are as important as CPU, because they are not removable.

I agree. I wouldn't expect the 12" MacBook with ARM to be cheaper infact, I see it as a flagship luxury model - I wouldn't be surprised if it starts at £2000.
Kind of reminds me of when the MacBook Air launched at the HUGE price. I remember for a few years it had a 64GB SSD. My gosh can you imagine trying to cope with that??? After the OS, you'd be lucky to have 50GB - so not cool!

 

[curmudgeonette]

the new MacBook is as lost as ever - it's more expensive

Yes and no: When configured identically (i.e. w/ 256GB SSD) the rMB12 is $100 cheaper. The rMBA simply has a cheaper configuration available.

Do you guys see this as likely?

Yes. I think Apple has almost been able to offer this for a while now. The likely hangup is that a few pieces of MacOS are provided by outside vendors in binary form, i.e. Apple can't recompile them for ARM.

I wouldn't expect the 12" MacBook with ARM to be cheaper infact, I see it as a flagship luxury model - I wouldn't be surprised if it starts at £2000.

An ARM powered rMB12 could be cheaper: Apple would be able to integrate the SSD controller and SMC onto their SOC - plus maybe the Bluetooth and WiFi controllers.

 

[Loge]

Without compatibility with existing apps (including Windows) this is not going to fly.

 

[SJ Burnett]

An ARM powered rMB12 could be cheaper: Apple would be able to integrate the SSD controller and SMC onto their SOC - plus maybe the Bluetooth and WiFi controllers.

So Apple could make savings that they could pass on to their customers? uhh-huhh

 

[StellarVixen]

That's not even the case on iPhone, where every bit of available space matters, let alone on laptop.
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An ARM powered rMB12 could be cheaper: Apple would be able to integrate the SSD controller and SMC onto their SOC - plus maybe the Bluetooth and WiFi controllers.

 

[fokmik]

The ARM mac will come to the 12"
Maybe even next year
So we can have a better cpu/gpu than the current model, better battery, i think they can reach 12-13 hours
Keeping the price

 

[sosumi99]

An ARM powered rMB12 could be cheaper: Apple would be able to integrate the SSD controller and SMC onto their SOC - plus maybe the Bluetooth and WiFi controllers.

I see no chance that the ARM rMB will be cheaper. When it comes out, it will be like the original Air, atrociously “overpriced,” but pointing to the direction of the future.

It’s not a bad strategy. The pricing is a way to filter out price- and value-conscious customers so that only the biggest fans and people who value portability/battery life above all else will buy it. Then they can iterate over the platform for the next few years. I think there’s a good chance that in a few years ARM-powered Mac laptops will be really great.

 

[KPOM]

Without compatibility with existing apps (including Windows) this is not going to fly.

Apple's done this twice before. Snapdragon chips exist that emulate 32-bit x86. Apple is pushing 64-bit so my guess is that they would not release an ARM Mac until they are confident it has enough power to emulate x64 for the transition.