6 ms·

It could happen, but I suspect this is a negotiating position more than a real desire to leave behind x86 in favor of Apple's ARM architecture chips. It makes m

It could happen, but I suspect this is a negotiating position more than a real desire to leave behind x86 in favor of Apple's ARM architecture chips. It makes more sense for them to improve the iPad Pro than to drop software compatibility across the MacBook lines.

FreeFull 6y ago
Well, this wouldn't be the first time they've switched architectures. Before, it was PowerPC to x86, back around 2006.
- city41 6y ago
  And before that, Motorola 68k.
  - monocasa 6y ago
    For each of those there was a clear perf advantage on the transition though.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      For native apps sure. But my 6100/60 - the slowest PPC Mac - was slower in emulation than my LCII with a 68030-40Mhz accelerator. My computer was less than half the speed of the high end 040s at the time.
    - jkestner 6y ago
      1. We haven’t yet seen what Apple's desktop-class chip can do. 2. Performance per watt is critical. Apple moved to Intel in large part because PowerPC couldn’t get this down, and one of the first two Intel Macs introduced was the MacBook Pro.
EricE 6y ago
I dunno - an ARM version of the MacBook Air would be very appealing. I doubt that many MacBook Air users are running VMS (although the latest model supporting 16GB makes it more practical, it wouldn’t be my first choice) or Boot Camp. The vast majority of Mac Apps I use are in active development and I doubt there would be much lag before universal versions that also support ARM would be released. Apple has done this twice before(68K and PPC), and currently runs a split CPU architecture ecosystem - granted there are hard product delineations between them today, but there aren’t any significant technical reasons why Apple couldn’t effectively support both ARM and Intel Macs - and do so for an indefinite period of time.
- toyg 6y ago
  The MBA is a temporary aberration. The plan is to have that segment dominated by iPads. It's just taken a bit too long to figure out the right form factor (i.e. you really, really need a keyboard). I expect MBAs will eventually be dropped - again. The real issue is MBPs.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    The MBA that Apple has been selling alongside the iPad since 2010 is an “aberration”?
    - truculent 6y ago
      I think the poster is referring to * Apple tried to drop it once before (but the 12’ MacBook didn’t do well enough to usurp the MBA) * The latest iPad advertisement talking about “your next computer” and the keyboard + trackpad attachment Aberration May be a bit strong. Stopgap living beyond its intended life may be more appropriate?
clairity 6y ago
negotiating leverage is a nice side effect, but apple is serious about the move—the ipad pro is apple’s development platform for the switch to arm macs.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
The iPad has just received pointer and improved keyboard support. A clamshell version looks like the obvious next step to me.

FreeFull 6y ago

Well, this wouldn't be the first time they've switched architectures. Before, it was PowerPC to x86, back around 2006.

city41 6y ago
And before that, Motorola 68k.
- monocasa 6y ago
  For each of those there was a clear perf advantage on the transition though.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    For native apps sure. But my 6100/60 - the slowest PPC Mac - was slower in emulation than my LCII with a 68030-40Mhz accelerator. My computer was less than half the speed of the high end 040s at the time.
  - jkestner 6y ago
    1. We haven’t yet seen what Apple's desktop-class chip can do. 2. Performance per watt is critical. Apple moved to Intel in large part because PowerPC couldn’t get this down, and one of the first two Intel Macs introduced was the MacBook Pro.

EricE 6y ago

I dunno - an ARM version of the MacBook Air would be very appealing. I doubt that many MacBook Air users are running VMS (although the latest model supporting 16GB makes it more practical, it wouldn’t be my first choice) or Boot Camp. The vast majority of Mac Apps I use are in active development and I doubt there would be much lag before universal versions that also support ARM would be released. Apple has done this twice before(68K and PPC), and currently runs a split CPU architecture ecosystem - granted there are hard product delineations between them today, but there aren’t any significant technical reasons why Apple couldn’t effectively support both ARM and Intel Macs - and do so for an indefinite period of time.

toyg 6y ago
The MBA is a temporary aberration. The plan is to have that segment dominated by iPads. It's just taken a bit too long to figure out the right form factor (i.e. you really, really need a keyboard). I expect MBAs will eventually be dropped - again. The real issue is MBPs.
- scarface74 6y ago
  The MBA that Apple has been selling alongside the iPad since 2010 is an “aberration”?
  - truculent 6y ago
    I think the poster is referring to * Apple tried to drop it once before (but the 12’ MacBook didn’t do well enough to usurp the MBA) * The latest iPad advertisement talking about “your next computer” and the keyboard + trackpad attachment Aberration May be a bit strong. Stopgap living beyond its intended life may be more appropriate?

clairity 6y ago

negotiating leverage is a nice side effect, but apple is serious about the move—the ipad pro is apple’s development platform for the switch to arm macs.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

The iPad has just received pointer and improved keyboard support. A clamshell version looks like the obvious next step to me.