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<\/p>\nAt Apple\u2019s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, the company dropped a bombshell: in the future, Macs will no longer be powered by Intel chips but will instead rely on custom-designed Apple chips. As surprising as this is, the company has made such massive transitions twice before: first in 1994 with the move from Motorola\u2019s 68000 chips to IBM\u2019s PowerPC platform, and again in 2006 with the jump to processors from Intel. Here are answers to the main questions we\u2019ve been hearing.<\/p>\n
For many years now, Apple has created its own chips to power the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV. These chips, the A series, are based on a platform called ARM, though Apple took pains to avoid saying that during the keynote. Of all Apple\u2019s products, only the Mac continues to use processors from Intel.<\/p>\n
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Apple said it would be creating chips specifically to power Macs, although they\u2019ll be part of the same chip family used in iOS devices. That makes sense since macOS and iOS share a great deal of code under the hood.<\/p>\n
There are three main reasons:<\/p>\n
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<\/li>\nApple said that we\u2019d see the first Mac with Apple silicon by the end of 2020. If past performance is any indication, expect it in December.<\/p>\n
The company did not say what type of Mac it would be, although the Developer Transition Kit hardware that developers can rent from Apple is a Mac mini with the same A12Z chip that runs the latest iPad Pro models. Other likely possibilities include the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac.<\/p>\n
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There are two schools of thought here. Some recommend buying the first models that appear after a major chip change because Macs with the previous chips may have a shorter effective lifespan once the transition is complete. Others prefer to buy the last models with the earlier chips under the assumption that the first new Macs might have unanticipated problems.<\/p>\n
For the longest lifespan, wait for new Macs with Apple silicon. But if you\u2019re worried that the first models out will have teething pains, invest in the last Intel-based Macs.<\/p>\n
The company said that it anticipates releasing new Intel-based Macs for roughly 2 years and that it has some exciting new models in the pipeline.<\/p>\n
Apple didn\u2019t commit to a specific length of time but said it would be releasing new software and supporting Intel-based Macs \u201cfor years to come.\u201d In the previous processor transition from PowerPC to Intel, Apple maintained the Rosetta translation environment for over 5 years.<\/p>\n
In other words, if you buy an Intel-based Mac today, it should have an effective lifespan of at least 3\u20135 years. Businesses often refresh their Macs on such a cycle, so that\u2019s not unreasonable.<\/p>\n
Happily, yes! Apple announced Rosetta 2, which will ship with macOS before Macs with Apple silicon appear. Rosetta 2 automatically translates existing Intel-based apps and can even dynamically translate apps with just-in-time code. If that all sounds like mumbo-jumbo, don\u2019t worry\u2014Apple said that Rosetta 2 will be completely transparent to the user.<\/p>\n
We hope that\u2019s true, but Rosetta 2 will probably work only with 64-bit apps that work in 10.15 Catalina. Old 32-bit apps that don\u2019t run in Catalina are unlikely to be supported, nor will low-level software like kernel extensions. Plus, with translated software, performance is always a question.<\/p>\n
Although existing apps should still run, thanks to Rosetta 2, developers will be recompiling their apps to take advantage of all the capabilities of Apple silicon, so where upgrades are available, you\u2019ll generally want to take advantage of them. Native apps running on Apple silicon should enjoy better performance.<\/p>\n
Maybe. Apple talked about virtualization on Macs with Apple silicon and even showed off Parallels Desktop running Linux (versions of which run on ARM chips) but said nothing about Windows.<\/p>\n
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