has been through an entire cycle of sales challenges,
and the Mac Pro is, well, a cheese grater once again.
As we look ahead to the coming 12 months, concrete
details are, as always, few and far between. But there’s
plenty of speculation about what’s coming down the
road, and some of it has been building for some time
now. Here’s what to look for in Apple’s 2020.You and what ARMy
Apple announced its transition from PowerPC to Intel
processors in June 2005, just over ten years after it had
made the jump to PowerPC from the Motorola 68000
architecture that had powered every Mac in the decade
before. Fourteen years since that last transition, it’s
starting to seem like we’re overdue for the next jump.
The arguments in favour of such a transition have
been steadily mounting. Recent chips powering the
iPad and iPhone have proved to be screamers, in some
cases outperforming Macs in benchmark tests. These
chips also tend to consume less power than the current
processors in Macs, helping provide better battery life.
Not to mention every non-Mac device that Apple builds- from the Apple Watch to the HomePod to the Apple
TV to those iOS devices – uses processors that Apple
itself designs. That leaves the Mac as the odd man out
in the company’s line-up.
Apple has long had control issues, stemming in large
part from its brush with death in the ‘90s. The company
has slowly been building and acquiring the means to
design and build more and more of the components
of its devices in house, from power management
systems to graphics chips to cellular modems. That it
hasbeenthroughanentirecycleofsaleschallenges,
andtheMacProis,well,acheesegrateronceagain.
Aswelookaheadtothecoming 12 months,concrete
detailsare,asalways,fewandfarbetween.Butthere’s
plentyofspeculationaboutwhat’scomingdownthe
road,andsomeofithasbeenbuildingforsometime
now.Here’swhattolookforinApple’s2020.
YouandwhatARMy
AppleannounceditstransitionfromPowerPCtoIntel
processorsinJune2005,justovertenyearsafterithad
madethejumptoPowerPCfromtheMotorola 68000
architecturethathadpoweredeveryMacinthedecade
before.Fourteenyearssincethatlasttransition,it’s
startingtoseemlikewe’reoverdueforthenextjump.
Theargumentsinfavourofsuchatransitionhave
beensteadilymounting.Recentchipspoweringthe
iPadandiPhonehaveprovedtobescreamers,insome
casesoutperformingMacsinbenchmarktests.These
chipsalsotendtoconsumelesspowerthanthecurrent
processorsinMacs,helpingprovidebetterbatterylife.
Nottomentioneverynon-MacdevicethatApplebuilds
- fromtheAppleWatchtotheHomePodtotheApple
TVtothoseiOSdevices–usesprocessorsthatApple
itselfdesigns.ThatleavestheMacastheoddmanout
inthecompany’sline-up.
Applehaslonghadcontrolissues,stemminginlarge
partfromitsbrushwithdeathinthe‘90s.Thecompany
hasslowlybeenbuildingandacquiringthemeansto
designandbuildmoreandmoreofthecomponents
ofitsdevicesinhouse,frompowermanagement
systemstographicschipstocellularmodems.Thatit