Apple has decided to run its first Macs on Apple Silicon chips, the name the company uses for its own custom-built ARM chips that will be in use over the next two years.
Apple launched three new Macs with the M1 chip at its Nov. 10 One More Thing event. These Macs with silicon processors are available in 2 models:
- 13-inch MacBook Pro: one with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU and 256GB SSD, the other with 512GB of storage.
- MacBook Air: One with an 8-core CPU, a 7-core, 256GB GPU, the other with an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, and 512GB of storage.
- Mac mini: one with an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU with 256GB of storage, the other with 512GB of storage.
Indeed, the company had confirmed, as early as June 2020, that the first Mac Silicon would be launched before the end of 2020.
In this article, we'll go over what you need to know about the three M1 Macs and what Intel's move to a proprietary ARM-based system-on-chip means. We analyze what this transition could mean for the graphics capabilities of new Macs, and what they are able to run, including iOS apps, and more Windows.
MacBook ARM release date
Apple has confirmed that three Silicon Macs are now available for purchase, with delivery expected within a week.
Customers will be able to purchase them at select Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers starting around November 17, 2020.
Price of the first Apple Silicon Macs
Here are the starting prices for the new generation of Macs:
- The MacBook Air is available from €1, you can order it from this Apple page.
- The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at €1, it can be ordered from this Apple page.
- The Mac mini starts at €799, you can find it on sale on this Apple page.
Many rumors suggested that the new Macs would be cheaper than their predecessors, given that Apple no longer needs to pay Intel and can therefore pass on that expense less in final prices.
Of course, that's not the case for the MacBook Pro, but the more expensive MacBook Air saw a slight drop, as did the Mac mini.
The good news is that prices have not increased. However, we believe that here Apple wants to make this update appealing to consumers.
What will be the next Apple Silicon Macs?
Apple said the transition will take a few years. We think the rollout will likely look like this:
- 14-inch MacBook Pro: Q2021 2021/QXNUMX XNUMX
- 16-inch MacBook Pro: Q2021 2021/QXNUMX XNUMX
- iMac: second quarter 2021/third quarter 2021
- Mac Pro: Q2021 2021/QXNUMX XNUMX
What is Apple Silicon?
During WWDC in June 2020, Apple announced the abandonment of Intel processors for its Macs in order to turn to its own processors, Apple Silicon. You may have heard of processors under ARM, they are not ARM strictly speaking since ARM only licenses the architecture to Apple, Apple designs the chips and everything else.
Apple has a lot of experience in chip design, in fact, it manufactures its own processors for every iPhone, iPad and many other Apple products that incorporate Apple chips. Also, some Macs have ARM-based security T1 and T2 chips.
Silicon Graphics
The characteristics of consumer Macs are very different from those of Macs intended for professionals, especially creative people. However, most are currently equipped with integrated Intel graphics processors. What graphics will the new Apple Silicon Macs offer?
Apple describes its M1 system-on-chip GPU as the “fastest in the world”. It features up to eight cores capable of running nearly 25 threads simultaneously. It can also boast a throughput of 000 teraflops, according to the company.
Apple claims the GPU can handle intensive tasks with ease, like rendering 3D assets, playing multiple streams of 4K ProRes video.
macOS Big Sur on Apple Silicon Macs
The first Apple Silicon Macs will run on macOS Big Sur, this operating system is being developed for both types of Mac. However, this new generation M1 can achieve more than their Intel counterparts.
On the one hand, it will be possible to run iOS apps, which means developers won't have to develop separate versions of their apps for Mac and iOS/iPad OS. A single app could work on all platforms.
