The Mac shifting to ARM may come as soon as a full decade after Steve Jobs died. Yet, as well as championing and managing the Intel move in the 2000s, he also considered these major computer hardware architecture changes to be essential every decade or so.
An unsubstantiated, and highly suspect, "leak" on Friday claims to reveal benchmarks from a pair of desktop-class ARM processors supposedly designed by Apple, offering what could be the first look at A-series silicon destined for Mac.
Over the past two decades, Apple has proven capable of exercising its rapidly lithe, innovating ability to take its existing technologies and create new computing forms that retain its influence over the most commercially successful and strategically important markets. That winning strategy of the past also appears to be the best suited for the future of PCs.
While a possible shift to an A-series processor in a Mac has been rumored for some time, a new report claims that Intel is certain that it is coming, and soon.
Reports from the supply chain suggest that long-time Apple partner Pegatron will be tasked with assembly of any ARM-based Mac product.
This week on the AppleInsider podcast, Mike with guest Charles Martin discuss the 2019 Mac Pro, Apple's possible shift to ARM in the Mac in 2020, Apple's poaching of a key AI executive from Google, and more!
The identification of the "Meltdown" and "Spectre" vulnerabilities in Intel- and ARM-based processors — including chips used in Apple's Macs, iPhones, and iPads — can be credited almost entirely to a Google security researcher in his early 20s, Jann Horn.
Israeli plaintiffs are seeking to file a class action lawsuit against Apple, ARM, and Intel over the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities recently uncovered in Intel and ARM-based processors.
Updates released in early December should already have dealt with "Meltdown" and "Spectre" vulnerabilities on older Intel Macs, according to Apple's release notes — but a late Friday retraction of the claim has shed some doubt on the situation.
Following the news that both Intel- and ARM-based processors can be susceptible to various hacks, Apple issued a statement on Thursday announcing that it has already implemented some fixes in the latest iOS and macOS releases, with more still to come. However, there are not currently any known exploits taking advantage of "Meltdown" and "Spectre."
Microsoft's ARM-powered laptop initiative could offer users exceptional battery life that could last for multiple days on a single charge, possibly paving the way for Apple to do the same with its more powerful A11 Bionic processor — should it so choose.
Apple has silently released ARM-ready source code for the XNU kernels found in iOS and macOS, marking a first for iOS, and possibly showing off some of the groundwork for Macs with ARM-based processors.
Apple is not only interested in chip production for the iPhone and iPad, but developing its own CPU for laptops, modems for the iPhone, and its own touchscreen processing system, a new report claims.
As it looks to lessen reliance on outside chip manufacturers, Apple is developing an ARM-based Mac processor designed to take some of the burden off primary Intel silicon, a report said on Wednesday.
As Intel looks to muscle its way into the smartphone CPU business, the chipmaker has reportedly set its sights on competing with TSMC, the firm currently responsible for the A-series processors found in the iPhone, iPad and more.
Intel on Tuesday announced it has reached an agreement with rival ARM Holdings to produce 10-nanometer ARM chip designs at its advanced fabrication facilities, a strategy targeting smartphone chipmakers.
In a massive deal valued at $32 billion, Japanese company Softbank announced on Monday that it will acquire ARM Holdings, the company that designs specifications for low-power mobile processors, including the A-series chips found in Apple's iPhone and iPad.
Revenue at British chip designer ARM Holdings rose 22 percent to 227.5 million pounds ($339 million) in the first quarter, largely on the back of 64-bit smartphones such as the iPhone 6 and the newly-shipped Samsung Galaxy S6, a report noted on Tuesday.
With its troubled mobile chip unit hemorrhaging cash — thanks in part to Apple's domination of the smartphone and tablet markets — Intel this week announced that it would no longer report mobile earnings as a separate line item, instead choosing to lump them in with its money-minting PC business.
A number of mobile executives who attended this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona are already projecting that the Apple Watch will dominate the smartwatch market when it launches in April, much as the iPad currently controls the tablet industry.
{{ summary }}
William Gallagher
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
Mike Wuerthele
Roger Fingas
Neil Hughes
Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
Mikey Campbell
Sam Oliver
