“KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a new report predicting that Apple would begin to put its custom ARM-based systems on chip (SOCs) in new Mac OS X systems starting this year,” Mark Hibben writes for Seeking Alpha. “While the exact time line for the introduction of ARM SOCs into Macs may be in doubt, their introduction appears increasingly inevitable. The most compelling reason for this is the lower cost of ARM processors relative to Intel processors of equivalent capability.”
“Increasingly, news reports have confirmed that Samsung and TSMC will have their own 14-16 nm processes in production by mid-year. Kuo’s analysis assumes this,” Hibben writes. “While the technical details of the process implementation for the foundries remain unknown, I consider it probable that these processes will achieve performance parity with Intel’s most advanced 14 nm process, currently only used for the Broadwell-based Core processors.”
“Thus it appears that Apple is at the threshold of a critical gate for deciding whether to pursue an ARM-based Mac. Without a process advantage, Intel’s chip offerings become much less compelling,” Hibben writes. “There is, of course, the issue of backward compatibility for Mac apps created for Intel-based Macs, but this is much less of an issue than some Intel bulls would have investors believe.”
“This may stem from ignorance of the app creation process for Mac OS X and iOS, so that it’s assumed that transitioning to a different platform is monumentally difficult for developers. For most developers with apps on the Mac App Store, it won’t be. If the developer has followed Apple guidelines and has used only tools provided by Apple in the Xcode developer environment, transitioning an app that’s already on the Mac App Store from Intel to ARM will be as simple as pushing a button,” Hibben writes. “Of course, not all Mac OS X software is on the App Store, and many developers use software tools not provided by Apple. Here, the situation is not either/or. Apple can continue, and will continue, to offer Intel-based Macs along side ARM-based Macs.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote yesterday:
There is no reason why Apple could not offer both A-series-powered Macs and Intel-based Macs. The two are not mutually exclusive…
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