Apple To Replace Intel Processors For Macs With In-House Silicon Chips; How Does This Affect the Users?

Apple will no longer rely on Intel chips for its MacBook laptops. Instead, the company’s homegrown ARM-based processors will be the brains for the future of Apple computing.

Photo courtesy: Apple

New Delhi: Apple announced on Monday that it will replace Intel processors used in Mac computers with chips designed in-house, similar to those already powering iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. Apple CEO Tim Cook made the announcement today during his keynote speech opening the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference that Apple is transitioning to its own “Apple Silicon” chips for its Mac computers, a move that will reduce the company’s dependence on Intel chips. ALSO READ|Anti-China Sentiment Highest In Indians; 40% Consumers Don't Want To Buy Chinese Smartphones: Survey “It truly is a historical day for the Mac,” Cook said. “Apple Silicon will bring amazing technologies, industry-leading performance, and a common architecture across all of our products.” "With its powerful features and industry-leading performance, Apple silicon will make the Mac stronger and more capable than ever," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release. Apple said it plans to ship the first Mac with Apple silicon by the end of the year and complete the transition in about two years. Is it a breakup With Intel? Apple's move to introduce its own Arm-based processor chips for MacBook will be a blow to Intel, whose X-86 technology has dominated the PC industry for decades. Apple ranked No. 4 in PC sales last year, behind Lenovo Group, HP, and Dell. The Cupertino-based company shipped 17.68 million personal computers in 2019, accounting for 6.6% of global market share, according to data from IDC. ALSO READ|How Is 120Hz Display Better Than 60Hz Refresh Rate For Gaming, Streaming? Samsung Explains The announcement, however, does not mean Apple will be totally cut off from Intel. The company said it will continue to support and release new versions of operating systems for Intel-based Macs for years to come, and "has exciting new Intel-based Macs in development." Intel shares traded up 0.79% on Monday, recovering some of the losses from last week after initial reports on Apple's switch indicated Macs might be fully moving away from Intel chips. What changes do these silicon chips bring for the users and developers? Apple said the in-house-designed processor will give Macs an industry-leading performance per watt, meaning future MacBooks will have much longer battery life and higher-performance graphics processing units. Better GPUs will enable app developers to design even more powerful "pro apps," or apps developers use to create apps, and high-end games. The Mac has had three major transitions in its 36-year history: the move to PowerPC, the transition to Mac OS X, and the move to Intel. When Apple shifted its computer chips from IBM to Intel in 2005 the company and its developer partners did a tremendous amount of coding work to translate the binary language used by the Apps on IBM chips to those of Intel chips. Think of it like translating a novel into a new language. ALSO READ| Kaspersky Reveals Gaming-Related Web Attacks Up By Over 50%; Minecraft Most Targeted By Criminals The new Apple chip will share the same foundation as its A-Series processors, which have powered iPhones and iPads since 2010. A common architecture across all Apple product lines will make developers’ lives easier, as they will be able to write and optimize for the company’s entire ecosystem. Apple's New Operating System Big Sur With Apple’s PCs soon to share similar brains as its mobile devices, it’s only natural that its desktop OS starts to look a little more like its mobile one. MacOS Big Sur is the biggest redesign of Apple’s desktop OS in years, including new icons, a transparent menu bar, and layout tweaks within apps. Apple even imported the Control Center from iOS, as well as a new Notification Center that might as well have been copied from an iPhone. ALSO READ|'Xiaomi More Indian Than Other Smartphone Brands': Company's India Head Defends Amid Calls For Boycott With the latest operating systems to be integrated with the new chips, developers can now make their iOS and iPadOS apps available on the Mac without any modifications, making it easier to develop applications and also add more offerings in Mac computers. Apple also announced that latest iPhone operating system will be iOS 14, and updates for the iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV will be available. iOS 14 redesigns the home screen with an App Library and Widgets One of iOS’ biggest disadvantages against Android is its primitive style Home Screen. iOS 14 changes that in a big way with the new App Library. The App Library automatically sorts apps into different categories like Recently Added, Social, Entertainment, and Apple Arcade. Meanwhile, you can now place widgets among your home screen apps, as well as hide app pages entirely. A new ‘Smart Stack’ widget even automatically switches between widgets throughout your day, such as delivering the news or weather in the morning and then your physical activity later in the day. Siri learns to translate Google has often shown off its Translation technology at Android events, and now Apple is doing the same with a new Translate app for iOS. The app directly integrates with Siri, allowing you to ask the assistant to help you speak any of 11 languages to start. It can even detect which language is being spoken automatically. Picture-in-picture video comes to iPhones Today Apple announced picture-in-picture video is finally coming to iOS. Though this feature has been on the iPad since last year. The Apple Watch gets a handwashing timer We live in the age of coronavirus, so Apple wants you to wash your hands properly. The Apple Watch can now automatically detect when you start washing your hands and begin a 20-second timer to make sure you get rid of the germs. Watch the complete event on youtube: