Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What really baffles me is how much people lament the removal of the glowing Apple logo.

What baffles me even more is that some of those people don't seem to get that it was a cool trick done by simply putting a translucent panel in the back so that the screen backlight shone through - and that it's more than likely that either (a) it just won't work with new, high brightness displays or (b) newer high contrast/wide gamut displays don't want a big blob of potential light bleed in the middle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coolkiwi
I still can not believe that the design will be the same. It will be so unApple to do something like that on something so important like a change of architecture.
There's an element of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" about the current MBP and MBA designs (well, unless they were going to revert to the pre-2016 designs, which needed fixing even less, but that ain't gonna happen).

In a sense, it is reassuring: maybe they're going to take advantage of Apple Silicon's low power by making the machines more powerful instead of unnecessarily thinner.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coolkiwi
I doubt Tim Cook has any enthusiasm to make the product more outstanding rather than just swapping the processor architecture.

I mean, some users succinctly pointed out that Tim Cook literally developed the product such as MacBook Pro to become less impressive and more costly.

View attachment 1490430
It's because Tim Cook is a bean counter and nothing more. All he cares about is the bottom line. Reliable Macs that were once the gold-industry standard? Nope. He has done irreparable harm to Apple's once stellar reputation for quality and reliable software and hardware and turned Apple into his personal fiefdom and soapbox.
 
I struggle to understand how people can still buy an imac,

Because if you want/need a powerful desktop Mac it's currently Apple's most credible offering. The mini is knobbled by a mediocre integrated GPU (or an expensive, bulky external GPU with a laundry list of compatibility caveats) and the Pro is out of the question unless you have a business case for a $20k computer.

If Apple made a credible mid-range tower - or if I was switching to Windows - I wouldn't get an all-in-one even if it had nice thin bezels. However, if you do want an all-in-one, the iMac is the one Apple computer that makes the PC equivalents look under-specced and over-priced.

Like many have said, especially with the iMac, there's no point buying a new device when it looks like the one all the way from 2012.
Looks aren't everything (bezels even less so) , and the 2020 5k iMac is a lot more powerful than the 2012 version.

The only thing that needs changing with the iMac (apart from things which ain't gonna happen like expandable internal SSD) is the stand.

Maybe this has been answered before, but what is the future of virtualization OS programs such as Parallels, VMWare Fusion, or even Boot Camp for Windows users?

Apple have said that they won't support "direct booting of alternative OSs" => BootCamp is dead and even if Apple don't specifically lock it down, third-party dual boot solutions will be... challenging without Apple support in terms of firmware and drivers, since it looks like most functions will depend on proprietary Apple Silicon hardware.

Apple have shown Parallels virtualising Linux on Apple Silicon - but note that is Linux for ARM and not x86 Linux. Still, Linux for ARM is already pretty well supported and will be seriously useful.

Running Windows 10 for ARM on a virtual machine under Parallels (or similar) is mainly a licensing issue (the virtual machine can emulate Windows-compatible hardware and firmware etc. if necessary) - there's not currently a generic retail version of Win10 for ARM - and is likely to happen unless MS and Apple get into some silly political row. But, again, that's Windows for ARM which - although it includes its own x86 emulator/translator for Win32 binaries - isn't currently taking the Windows world by storm.

Running actual x86 Windows (or Linux) will require full emulation of an x86 system - and is unlikely to give good performance. However, emulation/translation technology has moved on since the bad old days of SoftWindows etc. on PPC so it might be a viable solution for running non-demanding software. Since there's an open-source emulator (QEMU) that already runs on both ARM Linux and x86 MacOS, and even a project based on that for iOS (even though it can't be distributed through the App Store) it's pretty likely that an open source emulation solution will turn up on ASi MacOS. It's also conceivable that a Major Maker of Mac Virtualisation Software could add x86 emulation to their virtualisation product, since there would be a lot of shared functionality.

I think it is also possible that someone will offer a Windows-in-the-cloud service that you access via remote desktop. That is already a "thing" (but mainly priced & targeted at corporate customers) so it's really a case of someone offering it in a consumer-friendly package.

Another possibility some have suggested is that WINE/Crossover might be made to work with Rosetta (I have no idea if that is feasible).

Overall, though, if a major part of your workflow relies on running x86 Windows software efficiently, I'd start thinking about PCs.
 
perfect timing. My 2017 macbook pro I refuse to own out of warranty because of the nightmare it has been for repairs and the warranty runs out December 31. Really hope the battery life is insane.
So, because bad Apple quality burned you on your current machine, you're gonna race out to buy a first generation apple silicon mac? Not sure I agree with your thinking there bud.
 
I still think a MacBook Pro is optimistic at this point. I think it'll be more like the first Air and an "executive" sort of laptop to start the transition, maybe Chromebook school focused. I'm not convinced that current speeds of emulation on ARM and a handful of native apps will be enough for most (do you want to run Safari?). Witness Microsoft's issues with Surface Pro X (yeah, yeah, Qualcomm SQ2 vs Apple silicon, tighter integration, blah blah...). Part of me hopes i'm wrong. ;)

Bootcamp: someone mentioned Windows (desktop) in the cloud and MS is supposedly going to talk about that more formally early next year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coolkiwi
There's an element of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" about the current MBP and MBA designs (well, unless they were going to revert to the pre-2016 designs, which needed fixing even less, but that ain't gonna happen).

In a sense, it is reassuring: maybe they're going to take advantage of Apple Silicon's low power by making the machines more powerful instead of unnecessarily thinner.
Probably not that so much as it's a matter of "don't make too many changes at once." It's risky from an engineering standpoint.
 
Apple will have to really impress me, I am already planing out a PC build to replace my mac pro 2013 trash can. Have a feeling I am a gone for good.

That's perfectly reasonable. There are great choices for desktop PC computing. Even if Apple REALLY impresses us with what Apple Silicon can be, with the current generation of CPU/GPU for desktops, I think you'd be hard pressed to replace an older Mac Pro with anything else.

I would LOVE if Apple Silicon is a game changer and makes me want to get a new MacBook, personally. That being said, I also envy those new GPU cards coming out.

I hope Apple Silicon is a game changer. I also fondly wish their new laptops would allow removable/replaceable storage. (Certainly unlikely.) I'd also like it if they could, say, still use an eGPU through thunderbolt. (Doubtful.)

If Apple Silicon doesn't wow me, I'm fine with iOS as far as Apple products go. But I may look XPS-ward for other work.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Coolkiwi
hmmm, if one is OK with running Windows, I'd take issue with that.
I get not preferring Windows. But being almost irrationally repulsed at Windows is a strange stereotype of Mac fans. I work with both, and I set up workflows for people with both. Coming from the MacOS/Linux world, I have an instinctive dislike of the Windows management system. But disliking, say, the Windows experience when getting work done and/or flipping from browser to IDE to MSWord? It's hardly even that different.

Granted, there is a LOT that I take for granted as a techy. Such as running Powershell scripts right away that flense Windows of all its awful pre-installed apps and telemetry. Microsoft should always be criticized for that. But as I see iCloud screaming at me for the 10th time today, I can no longer say Apple is much better.
 
MacBook Pros will now be overpriced iPads that you can’t install any software (now simply apps), unless the developer sells it through the Apple Store...am I missing something?

Well,

  • MacBooks Pro really won't be that much more iPad-like than before. The CPU-architecture changes, and that's about it. (Even that isn't entirely true, as they already have the T2 running bridgeOS.)
  • If you don't find MacBooks Pro overpriced now, you probably won't when they move to ARM.
  • We already know for a fact that Big Sur or Apple Silicon won't be more restrictive in terms of which apps you can run compared to Catalina or Intel.
 
I care only about processing power, app availability and learning curves for updated apps for my use cases. I couldn’t care less about lower power draw. That’s mostly a battery size issue or, maybe, a fan noise issue for a desktop machine. I just won’t be interest in Apple silicon if it causes loss of performance, reduces available apps or forces me to learn how to use an app that wasn’t broken.
...then these are not the ’droids you are looking for....
 
Looks aren't everything (bezels even less so) , and the 2020 5k iMac is a lot more powerful than the 2012 version.

The only thing that needs changing with the iMac (apart from things which ain't gonna happen like expandable internal SSD) is the stand.
This is good to know. The last time I used the iMac was the 2012 version and it looks the exact same so glad to know the 2020 one is super powerful. Been looking at those and seeing what Tuesday's announcement brings before deciding to bite.
 
I believe Apple said at WWDC that Adobe had already ported all of their Creative Cloud apps to work on Apple Silicon. Chrome will probably need to be emulated, at least at first. Spotify will as well, but you’ll theoretically also have the option of running the iPad version natively.
Something that will really tell us something about how this is going to go will be Chrome. As it is, Chrome is a downloadable app for iOS already. So there's going to be a native Apple Silicon version built for the hardware they have as a core.

However, browsing Chrome on iOS (or any "app") is sandboxed. You don't get to add the extensions you get to on the desktop. AFAIK, you don't get the instant access to the back-end code you get with a full OS.

Is Apple going to allow users to install Chrome? And Chromium? And put in extensions that kill all unwanted ads or hide cookies like I can do on a full desktop OS? As it is, if you install Chrome through the iOS App store, you are tagged and tracked across the web at every step. And you have no real ability to customize your experience with extensions. My worry is that Apple will change the user experience to make Mac OS less like a computer and more like that. In which case, MacOS will become a very different thing, indeed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Frank Philips
Something that will really tell us something about how this is going to go will be Chrome. As it is, Chrome is a downloadable app for iOS already. So there's going to be a native Apple Silicon version built for the hardware they have as a core.

However, browsing Chrome on iOS (or any "app") is sandboxed. You don't get to add the extensions you get to on the desktop. AFAIK, you don't get the instant access to the back-end code you get with a full OS.

Is Apple going to allow users to install Chrome? And Chromium? And put in extensions that kill all unwanted ads or hide cookies like I can do on a full desktop OS? As it is, if you install Chrome through the iOS App store, you are tagged and tracked across the web at every step. And you have no real ability to customize your experience with extensions. My worry is that Apple will change the user experience to make Mac OS less like a computer and more like that. In which case, MacOS will become a very different thing, indeed.

What?

There is absolutely no indication whatsoever that Apple will do anything to prevent users from installing whatever they want, same as now. All of the security features they’ve added are overridable - if you really want to run an unnotarized app from an unknown developer, you’re free to do so, and always have been.
 
Airtags

New Apple TV with HDMI 2.1, tv audio through earc to HomePods, U1 chip and Airtag remote.

New HomePods with U1 chip and updated processor.
 
Last edited:
  • Disagree
Reactions: ModusOperandi
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.