Intel expects Apple to move to ARM Macs by 2020

A number of growing reports suggest that Apple is going to be switching away from Intel as the supplier of processors for their Macintosh lineup of computers. Apple would be moving to and adopting their own in-house developed ARM chipsets by 2020.

Moving to ARM isn’t exactly going to be an easy task for Apple. Since ARM is built on a different architecture as to Intel’s processors, this means that Mac OS currently by default just simply wouldn’t work. In other words it’s going to require Apple to completely rebuild and recompile their operating system for use on ARM. This would also completely eliminate the existence of Windows on Macs as well with the architecture being different so a special version of Windows would need to be created, or the current version be adapted significantly. Not only the operating systems, but all pro-grade applications will have to be recompiled for ARM so it is dependent on the likes of Adobe and other companies to be on board. If the difficulties faced can be overcome, this is going to be a great move for Apple as it’s going to reduce prices, increase margins and increase the battery life due to the more efficient chips. Not only this, but Apple’s A-series processors are almost passing Intel’s desktop grade processors in terms of performance which is clear from benchmarks such as the likes of Geekbench. With Apple implementing their own processor, this would allow them to optimise the hardware and software like they already do with iOS to further improve performance.

It will be interesting to see if Apple hints at moving their Macs to ARM during their next conference, WWDC in June.