Should You Buy the Next Mac?
For almost 15 years, Apple has been manufacturing powerful computers and laptops based on the Intel platform. Recently, Apple announced its switch from Intel to its very own set of computer chips powering the Mac range of computers. From its inception, Apple has been striving towards building a closed ecosystem, having total control over its products from hardware to software, encompassing the entire user experience.
The switch from Intel to its own ARM-based, meticulously designed chips was long anticipated. Apple says the ARM-based chips will deliver better performance while consuming less power. Along with performance, the new custom chips are believed to deliver many more benefits to make the Mac lineup of computers more robust, efficient, and incredibly powerful.
Intel has been dominating the computer chips market for more than a decade with little to no competition. Intel’s monopoly resulted in a lack of innovation and breakthroughs in the field of computing chips. Intel’s chips are expensive and not up to the mark for the growth and advancement in technology. ARM processors are believed to be exponentially more powerful and efficient compared to their Intel counterparts. The custom-designed chips have far too many benefits that outweigh the problems in switching the CPU architecture.
Performance
The major benefit of switching to the ARM processors can be seen in the performance. The first-ever arm based Mac mini debuted at the WWDC built around the 12Z bionic, which powers the latest iPad Pros. The 12Z chip in itself is powerful. The fan-less CPU sits inside a device as thin as the iPad Pro and yet outperforms the majority of the baseline i3 and i5 Intel processors. This is an evident example of the true capabilities of ARM-based processors.
Power Usage and Thermal’s and Efficiency
Another benefit that comes from the switch is drastically improved efficiency and power usage. The graph below gives a rough idea between the power efficiency of Intel chips compared to Apple’s very own.
(Graph is not drawn to scale or based on actual data, only a rough assumption) It can be inferred that the ARM chips deliver better performance while maintaining low levels of power consumption.
Price
Apple has been manufacturing its very own chips for more than a decade now. The ‘A’ series is the leading mobile chips powering the latest iPad Pros and iPhones. Apple already has the infrastructure to mass-produce the computing chips efficiently costing drastically less than its Intel counterparts. This translates to a cheaper line of Mac products.
Integration with macOS
The Apple ecosystem is one of the most important unique selling points of Apple products. The UI, software, and hardware are stitched together seamlessly to provide a smooth and enjoyable experience for the average user. A major reason why iPhones dominate the best-selling phones worldwide is that iOS, the operating system, is meticulously designed for the custom chips. On the other hand, macOS is built on Intel’s architecture which Apple has little to no control over. This seems to change with the shift to custom-built processors.
The jump from Intel to ARM chips seems an excellent move from Apple. However, the process isn’t as simple as it seems. Apple has stated that the transitioning period will last up to almost 2 years to completely switch to its very own computer chips. The process is long and tedious and full of challenges not just for the developers but for the users as well.
To aid its developers, Apple has started the shipping of a developer kit. The $500 kit is a Mac mini powered by the A12Z bionic chip in order to equip the developers with tools to test and run applications based on the latest architecture of the chips. The software development application, Xcode, also has been updated with features like Universal to aid developers in the development process.
My final verdict, the Mac lineup is up for some drastic changes. There’s a huge potential for the Macs to become faster, more powerful, and efficient. For now, we can only wait and see how Apple implements new changes. Hence for those who are planning to buy a Mac right now should definitely wait for the new model to arrive, the wait is worth it!
