Apple set to ditch Intel processors for ARM early next year

First ARM-based Macs could arrive in 2020

It's no secret that Apple has been considering ditching Intel processors for its Mac and MacBook devices in favor of its own ARM-based CPU, and now it seems like the company will make the move as soon as next year.

According to the Axios website, developers and Intel insiders have privately revealed that Intel expects Apple to move to custom ARM-based chips in 2020.

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This follows reports that Apple is looking to make it easier for iPad and iPhone apps to run on Macs. As we noted a few days ago, Apple wants developers to be able to build a single app once and deploy it to all of Apple’s device platforms simultaneously by 2021. One way of ensuring this is if Macs, iPhones, and iPads all run on similar ARM-based processors.

Intel from Intel

While we’ve known that Apple has been looking to move from Intel CPUs for a while now, the fact that Intel is now apparently bracing itself to be dropped from Mac devices by 2020 makes it more likely that we will see non-Intel Macs as early as next year.

The move to an entirely new processor architecture won’t be easy – especially considering software compatibility – but it gives Apple an even tighter grip on the hardware that powers its Mac computers.

Perhaps we’ll hear more about Intel-free Macs at Apple’s WWDC 2019 event in June.



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