The launch of the Apple Silicon aims to boost the performance of all Mac products. The shift will mark the company’s fourth processor change in history.
Yesterday was a historic day for Apple. CEO Tim Cook announced that the company is finally shifting to Apple-made processors for its Mac products. The shift comes after the successful transition of both the iPhone and iPad to Apple’s Bionic chips.
Since then, the company has never been in second place in terms of speed and efficiency of their devices. Tech enthusiasts are hopeful that a tighter knit ecosystem from the hardware to the software of Mac products will help Apple make them even more competitive.
Apple Silicon aims efficiency
The keynote presentation regarding the transition to Apple Silicon was quite technical. However, the gist of the speech was that Apple would no longer rely on a third-party supplier for its processor. The simple rationale behind the decision was integration.
Apple believes that the seamless design of hardware and software makes the overall performance of a computer top notch. As such, Apple is going to be self-reliant on processor design and production. They will make a ‘family of SoCs’ that will power their own devices.
“Apple is designing a family of SoCs for the Mac. This will give the Mac industry-leading performance per watt and higher performance GPUs — enabling app developers to write even more powerful pro apps and high-end games.”
The transition will be smooth
Developers usually find the shift from one processor to another more tedious than productive. However, Apple announced last night that the transition would be smooth. The latest macOS Big Sur has already been designed to run programs for the Apple Silicon.
Also, Apple will be using Xcode 12, which already has all the tools and integration mechanisms that can get apps running in a matter of days. For developers who will have a harder time shifting, Apple introduced the Rosetta 2. This program will allow Intel-designed applications to run on future Macs that already come with the Apple Silicon.
Lastly, developers can also make iPhone and iPad apps without having to fret over converting them to run, especially on the macOS.
Transition right away
Apple also announced during the keynote that developers could already sign up for the early shift to Apple Silicon. Apple calls this the Universal App Quick Start Program. Signing up for the program will just cost AU$ 700.
It will come with paperwork, forum supports, beta versions of macOS Big Sur, and Xcode 12. It also even includes a DTK that may be used for making the apps for Apple Silicon. However, the DTK must be returned after the program.
Image courtesy of Apple/Website Screenshot