Apple plans to release Macs with Apple’s own CPUs and GPUs in 2021. The chips developed by the company are codenamed Kalamata, according to a new report from Bloomberg that cites sources close to Apple.
The sources say that Apple is working on three different SoCs for Macs. These chips will all be based on the A14 chip developed by the company for the next iPhone 12. The first series of Mac chips will use eight high-performance cores, and four energy-efficient cores called Firestorm and Icestorm respectively. It appears from the sources that Apple is investigating whether the company plans to introduce chips with more cores at a later date.
According to Bloomberg, one of the chips that Apple is developing is much faster than the chips currently used in the iPhone or iPad. So far they still lack the power to replace the fastest Intel chips in the MacBook Pro or Mac Pro. But just like those iPhone and iPad chips, these chips are manufactured using a 5nm process by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
The fact that Apple is developing multiple Mac chips may indicate that Apple is not just thinking of a new Mac laptop based on its own silicone design, but an entire product line. It is not known whether this product line will be added to the existing Intel lineup, or whether Apple plans to replace the current Macs in the future.
Apple and Intel
Apple has been using Intel CPUs since 2006. This made it easier for developers to port software from Windows to Mac, and the other way around. Nowadays, there is no significant difference in quality between Apple and Microsoft operating systems. Apple’s iOS/iPadOS operating system is a huge platform, with a much more robust software ecosystem than what users are used to on a Mac today.
Besides, a core part of Apple’s product design and marketing philosophy has always been the end-to-end integration of hardware, software and services. Using their own chips, instead of those from Intel, would mean that Apple would have full control over the entire Mac experience.
Also read: Three months with the iPhone 11 Pro
18 minutes ago
