DigiTimes: Arm-Based 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air to Ship By End of 2020

[ctdonath]

My intel MacBook Air is still going after >6 years; looking forward to handing it down and moving on to the ARM platform.

 

[nvmls]

Good, although likely if it's coming this year won't carry a complete redesign, which would have been nicer.

 

[703541]

Will wait for the second generation.

 

[JosephAW]

Apple could introduce a single thunderbolt port 12" Mac Book Air ARM LCD model for education at a lower price point utilizing iCloud for storage and little internal storage like a chrome laptop and without the Intel CPU prices could result in a $499 starting price.

 

[magbarn]

Gosh, these Apple Silicon machines can't come soon enough for me. Just this morning, my 'early 2013' 13" MBP developed some issues with the trackpad (no longer registers a left-click). I hope it's a software thing that can be resolved with a full re-install. I'd hate to have to buy an Intel MBP so close to this paradigm shift Apple is about to unleash.

If you don’t have a spare machine then go ahead and buy another used 2013 mbp, then dump it when you get your ArMac. Why spend over $1000 on soon to be obsolete hardware?

 

[recoil80]

I’d be more worried about premature obsolescence over product quality.

Take the original iPad, for example. Shipped with iOS 3.2, and was only supported for 1 iOS update. Lasts iOS for the original iPad was 4.5.2. The iPad 2, released 1 year later, had iOS updates through iOS 7. This was due to the iPad 1 only having 256MB RAM. The iPad 2 had 512MB.

The first iPad was able to run iOS 5, but I get your point, the iPad 2 received updates up to iOS 9 and was far more capable thanks to the RAM and to a much powerful CPU.

 

[mattopotamus]

Great.

I'll set a calendar reminder for 3 years time to see where Apple is with their ARM lineup.

Meanwhile the 100million+ Intel Mac users (https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-says-there-are-100-million-macs-out-in-the-wild/) will carry on using our intel Macs for years to come, fuelling demand for software.

My only issue with Intel are the integrated graphics are trash. I see that damn spinning beachball way too much. I will definitely wait for benchmarks and real world users before I hop on board.

 

[gnasher729]

It doesn't make sense to me to launch a new laptop with Apple Silicon and not using the opportunity to bring a whole new design at the same time, i.e. a 14" MacBook Pro instead of 13". There's an opportunity here to both introduce Apple Silicon Macs and a new model altogether.

It makes total sense to me not to do two huge changes at the same time.

 

[Caliber26]

Thank you for the correction. I wanted to fire up my iPad 1 and 2 for exact iOS versions, but I can’t find my 30 pin charging cable at the moment. :-(

Fun fact: each device’s Wikipedia page will also tell you which versions of the OS it supported.

Just thought I’d share that little bit of useless knowledges in case you ever have the need to look this up again.

 

[Lone Deranger]

If you don’t have a spare machine then go ahead and buy another used 2013 mbp, then dump it when you get your ArMac. Why spend over $1000 on soon to be obsolete hardware?

That's an idea certainly worth considering. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[vmistery]

So first AS kit out Q4 to the paying public. I think people are very optimistic about the initial performance benefits of the AS switch, battery life and heat absolutely but graphics and and complex CPU tasks I doubt still, the proof of the pudding of course will come in due course.

 

[iBug2]

I'm really curious how they will differentiate between the Air and Pro lines with Apple Silicon. So far every Apple chip is pretty much just "1 better" than the last, with the X and Z series adding more GPU power.

Are they going to have different lines like i3/i5/i7/i9 with different capabilities? Or just names + core counts? And then there is TDP. Will they release this information now that all CPU's are in-house?

I'd expect 8-20 core count MBP's and 6-8 core MBA's. The Mac silicon has little to do with what powers iPads and iPhones. Completely different TDP.

 

[orbital~debris]

Still kinda seeing 'ARIA' instead of 'ARM' on this entwined graphic…

 

[tstone]

If you don’t have a spare machine then go ahead and buy another used 2013 mbp, then dump it when you get your ArMac. Why spend over $1000 on soon to be obsolete hardware?

It won't be "obsolete" for at least another 7 years, which is plenty of time to get your money's worth from a $1000 computer ... you buy an Intel based Mac now (If you need it) and wait a generation or two for the ARM based Mac to work out its quinks

I'm about to upgrade my 13'' Early-2015 MacBook Pro and get the 2020 version ... I was hoping a 14'' form factor would come this year but it's not so I'll get the Intel based Mac now and wait about 2 years or WWDC 2022 to see if the ARM based Mac has worked out its quinks then I'll make the transition ... Apple has already said they'll support Intel based Macs for at least another 7 years

 

[subi257]

Was hoping for a (new form factor) 14" MBP, but I'll "settle" for a 13"

I would not mind a 14"...if they can keep the overall dimensions of the 13". Considering that the current 13" is really 13.4".

 

[rp2011]

I’m not one for first gen Apple products, but having owned the iPad Pro and knowing how amazingly fast it is, and with all the built-in capabilities in the SOC, I will be buying the new Apple Silicon first gen Mac without hesitation.

 

[Morgon]

I still haven't heard any speculation on whether we're likely to see any Intel MBPs for the 15/16"...

 

[jlocker]

It is good that Apple can change and is changing processors, but the road has just started. If you need a low-end MacBook Air or a bottom MacBook Pro 13 you could be alright. But I would get AppleCare and plan on replacing it in about 2 years as Apple changes the processors and architecture designs. I like the Idea of getting a MacBook Pro 16 with a i9 processor right now and monitor Apple's changes to system. You can always turn it in for Apple credit in 3 to 4 years and get the ARM design.

 

[Mr. Dee]

But didn’t Apple say they have more Intel Macs in the pipeline for this year? I would have just waited until new year to launch any A Series Macs.

 

[ian87w]

I'm not so sure on the RAM or processor type being fixed. Maybe across a line, like the MBA gets A15, MBP gets A15Z. But RAM is still expensive (So the base Pro will start at 16GB), and the "pro" line will still need options for people that need 32/64GB.

I do see touchscreens/Apple Pencil + Face ID coming to the Mac soon, but I don't think these first models are going to have it. The first ones will be the "transition" models using the same body styles that we currently have. In Apple's eyes it makes perfect sense - cause the early adopters to double dip in 2020 and 2021. Get out a huge margin MBA/MBP 13" device (since fabrication on all the external components is super cheap after years of the same design) with a cheaper in-house processor and a ton of people will buy just because of the performance/battery gains (Maybe they even do a slight price drop at the same time?) Then in 2021 drop your all new design with touchscreen/Apple Pencil/Face ID with a 2-in-1 style body and those same people will jump on the upgrade again.

I think you got it. It's what happened in the past as well. Eg. the first intel iMac used the same white shell as the G5, then next refresh introduced the aluminum unibody one.
[automerge]1594908685[/automerge]

But didn’t Apple say they have more Intel Macs in the pipeline for this year? I would have just waited until new year to launch any A Series Macs.

They said the same thing during the PPC to intel transition, saying that they still had PPC Macs in the pipeline.

Spoiler

They lied.

 

[ksec]

I'm really curious how they will differentiate between the Air and Pro lines with Apple Silicon. So far every Apple chip is pretty much just "1 better" than the last, with the X and Z series adding more GPU power.

Are they going to have different lines like i3/i5/i7/i9 with different capabilities? Or just names + core counts? And then there is TDP. Will they release this information now that all CPU's are in-house?

It will simply be TDP differentiation. At least for Air and 13" MacBook Pro.

You have A14X, as you would in iPad Pro that has a TDP of 10W inside the MacBook Air. This could easily be a 25W Chip inside a 13" MacBook Pro. Basically allowing more core to run at Maximum Clockspeed, and GPU running at higher clock speed.

As a matter of fact a better bin of A14X could have pushed to 35W or even 45W. When you have 8 CPU ( At least that is what we kind of expect, or at 6 core ) That is 5W per core excluding Memory IO and GPU etc....

They will certainly need another design for 16" MacBook Pro, I think that should be aiming at 80W if they are making it SoC design with both CPU + GPU. Still have No idea on the desktop. The volume is so low it doesn't seems make any sense for another custom die. The best case would be reusing the 16" MacBook Pro die and push to 150W+. But that still leaves out Mac Pro.

 

[theluggage]

I'm really curious how they will differentiate between the Air and Pro lines with Apple Silicon. So far every Apple chip is pretty much just "1 better" than the last, with the X and Z series adding more GPU power.

Maybe they won't. The switch to ARM is an opportunity to re-visit the range of models.

The distinction between the Air and the low-end 13" MBP is already paper thin - and going by the benchmarks, even an A12 would fit in an Air and outperform the 2xTB Pro (the benchmarks put it in MBP15" territory, so that's being cautious). Meanwhile, the iPad Pro is nibbling away at the Air market.

So, there could just be: 13" MacBook, 16" MacBook Pro...
Or, 12" MacBook [Air], 14" MacBook Pro, 16" MacBook Pro...
(those are just 'for instances' not a prediction...)

...there's plenty of scope for good/better/best at each level by varying RAM, SSD and number of TB ports. (I won't Godwin this thread by mentioning the Touch Bar... oops!)

Also, Apple could easily have their own version of the i3/i5/i7/i9 division - it doesn't mean designing and manufacturing 4 different chips - just making one chip with the maximum specification then disabling cores/limiting clock speeds to make the lesser model: sounds like a con, but is Standard Operating Practice in the semiconductor industry and can be sort-of rationalised by product yields - if you buy the high-end you're paying for a chip that has passed the all-cores, max. clock speed tests.

 

[DevNull0]

I'm really curious how they will differentiate between the Air and Pro lines with Apple Silicon. So far every Apple chip is pretty much just "1 better" than the last, with the X and Z series adding more GPU power.

Are they going to have different lines like i3/i5/i7/i9 with different capabilities? Or just names + core counts? And then there is TDP. Will they release this information now that all CPU's are in-house?

I'm sure the marketing department will come up with something magical that only Apple has the courage to do.

 

[manwithashoe]

Is that 13" laptop with Apple Silicon not actually a MacBook with shrunken bezels (hence going from 12" to 13") instead of a 13" MacBook Pro ?


It doesn't make sense to me to launch a new laptop with Apple Silicon and not using the opportunity to bring a whole new design at the same time, i.e. a 14" MacBook Pro instead of 13". There's an opportunity here to both introduce Apple Silicon Macs and a new model altogether.

Also, we heard in the past that the first Mac with an A chip would be a revival of the MacBook. That would make more sense. It's the best 1st candidate for an Apple Silicon laptop as it used to be the least demanding laptop in terms of performances.

I imagine using the existing form factor would allow them to better boast the benefits of Arm/ARM. After doing so, they’ll start to flaunt it.

 

[lxmeta]

It will simply be TDP differentiation. At least for Air and 13" MacBook Pro.

You have A14X, as you would in iPad Pro that has a TDP of 10W inside the MacBook Air. This could easily be a 25W Chip inside a 13" MacBook Pro. Basically allowing more core to run at Maximum Clockspeed, and GPU running at higher clock speed.

As a matter of fact a better bin of A14X could have pushed to 35W or even 45W. When you have 8 CPU ( At least that is what we kind of expect, or at 6 core ) That is 5W per core excluding Memory IO and GPU etc....

They will certainly need another design for 16" MacBook Pro, I think that should be aiming at 80W if they are making it SoC design with both CPU + GPU. Still have No idea on the desktop. The volume is so low it doesn't seems make any sense for another custom die. The best case would be reusing the 16" MacBook Pro die and push to 150W+. But that still leaves out Mac Pro.

Why no Ampere Altra in the Mac Pro? That would be fun!
The jump from a 5w TDP A14 to 45W A14x seems a bit ambitious to me.
I expect them to go all in on a new A1xx for the Pros. (at least I hope)