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Apple yesterday released a report titled “Apple Launches Media Blitz to Defend its Upcoming iOS 14 Privacy App which is Currently Under Attack by Advertisers and Facebook.” Apple’s Jane C. Horvath, senior director of global privacy, and Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, took their stand on protecting consumer privacy as ‘They are starting to prepare for an antitrust lawsuit brought by advertising forces who want to kill Apple’s iOS 14 “Application Tracking Transparency”, the feature is expected to launch in early 2021.
Hours after our report, an Ars Technica article surfaced focusing on the story of Apple’s new M1 processor that caused a stir when Apple’s SVP software Craig Federighi caused a stir about the possibility. that Windows is running natively on the M1. How realistic is this possibility? We discuss this briefly later in the report.
To be sure, one day we’ll look back and realize how successful Apple was in achieving the M1 goal; a goal envisioned by Steve Jobs. It would have been great to see Jobs showcase the M1, but this is just another moment in time that Apple fans have been deprived of being satisfied. Although still, Apple’s new team is proudly moving forward to advance the original vision.
The jump to PowerPC and then Intel were ways to advance the Mac, but never really achieved the goal of owning a PC platform. In the timeline of Apple’s existence, this will become a gargantuan leap forward and perhaps only the second-largest behind Apple’s introduction of their ARM A-series processors for Apple’s iDevices (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch).
In the Ars Technica report, Apple executives recounted that a few years ago, in a building on the Apple campus, a group of engineers met. Isolated from other members of the company, they took the guts of old MacBook Air laptops and connected them to their own prototype boards with the goal of building the very first machines that would run macOS on Apple’s ARM silicon, custom designed.
Ars Technica writer Samuel Axon notes in his report that hearing Apple’s Craig Federighi tell the story sounded a bit like a callback to Steve Wozniak in a Silicon Valley garage so many years ago. ‘years. On November 10, Apple finally took the plunge and introduced the first Macs running on Apple Silicon, called M1.
The mastermind behind Apple’s move to ARM and the A-Series chip was Israeli engineer Jony Srouji who had worked for decades on IBM and Intel processors.
In 2016, Patently Apple reported on Srouji in two articles. The first report was titled “One of Apple’s Top Secret Chip Executives Revealed in Fascinating New Interview” in 2016, followed by a second report in 2017 titled “Great Interview with Apple’s SVP Hardware Technologies Covers The Bionic A11 chip, PrimeSense Face ID and much more. “
In our 2016 report, Srouji noted that “Steve [Jobs] came to the conclusion that the only way for Apple to really differentiate itself and deliver something truly unique and truly awesome is to own your own silicon, ”Srouji said. You have to control it and own it. “
That same report further noted that “The first public signs of Srouji’s work came in 2010 with the debut of the iPad and iPhone 4. The processor, the A4, was a modified version of a design by ‘ARM Holdings, a UK company that licenses mobile devices A4 technology was designed to power the handset’s new high-definition’ Retina display ‘. “
This pioneering A-series processor project led by Srouji ultimately led to Steve Jobs’ vision being applied to the Mac.
Srouji told Ars Technica that “We want to create the best possible products. We really needed our own custom silicon to really deliver the best Macs we can offer.”
Srouji later described Apple as being in a special position to be successful: “As you know, we don’t design chips as merchants, as vendors, or as generic solutions, which allows us to integrate very tightly into the software and the system and the product – exactly what we need. “
When the decision was finally made to officially launch the M1 project, the circle of people who knew about it was initially quite small. But those who knew were walking around smiling from the moment we said we were going that route, Federighi said.
The switch to M1, for many developers, comes down to the classic conundrum: which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Federighi understands this and told Ars Technica that “Over time we will probably see some developers put some effort into getting their applications to run well on the Mac. This is still the beginning of Apple Silicon, but within a few years. , several million Macs with successors or brothers M1 or M1 will be on the market. The more there are, the easier it will be for developers to justify the effort. Time will tell how quickly this process evolves. ”
This is why it is so important for Apple to get its fan base to buy M1 hardware so that more developers can justify switching to M1 knowing all the time that x86-based Macs are now on the list. “Endangered species” without hope. to survive.
Headlines that roamed the Apple blogosphere yesterday centered on Federighi stating that “Native Windows on Mac M1 is ‘Really Up to Microsoft’.”
Apple developer “Parallels”, now owned by Corel, is primarily involved in the development of virtualization software for macOS. For many Apple fans working for companies, running Windows-only critical applications requires Parallels (or VMWare). When Apple released its M1 Macs on November 10, Parallels was quick to officially state that “A new version of Parallels Desktop for Mac that can run on Macs with the Apple M1 chip is already in active development.” Most business users won’t upgrade to Mac M1s until Parallels updates their software, clearly and simply.
What about Windows running natively on M1?
Flashing to the last part of the Ars Technica report, they note that “while Apple Silicon Macs can run existing Mac, iPhone and iPad software, the new architecture cannot immediately run applications designed for x86 and Rosetta operating systems. 2 offers none The ability to run Windows software was only a small part of the success of Intel Macs, so some users, especially those with certain professional workflows, will see it as a loss.
Ars Technica asked Federighi what an Apple Silicon workflow would look like for a technologist who lives in multiple operating systems simultaneously.
Federighi pointed out that the M1 Macs use a virtualization framework that supports products like Parallels or VMWare. “For example, running ARM Linux from many vintages works great in virtualization on M1 Macs.”
While running Linux is important to many, other users, and probably the majority, ask questions about Windows.
Federighi indicated that Windows in the cloud was a possible solution, but there may still be hills to climb when it comes to software like Parallels or VMWare on Intel Macs.
Then came the big bang: Federighi added that “As far as Windows running natively on the machine, ‘it’s really Microsoft,’ he said. We have the core technologies to do that, to run their ARM version of Windows, which in turn of course supports x86 User Mode Applications. But it’s a decision Microsoft has to make, to license this technology for people to run on these Macs. But Macs are certainly very capable of it. It will probably be some time before we see how the future of Windows plays out on Apple-Silicon-Mac.
In reality, it’s not as if Dell would license the M1 processor, so the advantage for Windows running natively on M1 Macs, giving them a clear advantage over their partner’s hardware, is slim to none. While this is technically in the realm of possibilities, it cannot be taken seriously. Apple fans will need to continue to rely on Parallels to give them access to long-standing x86 apps.
Microsoft “Pluto” processor
Coincidentally this week, Microsoft wanted to participate in some of Apple’s M1 buzz and announced that its next step in developing its own silicon would come in the form of the “Pluto” processor which is a future security chip in the making. for Windows PCs.
This week, David Weston, Microsoft’s director of enterprise and operating systems security, announced alongside his largest silicon partners a new vision for Windows security to keep our customers protected today. and in the future.
“In collaboration with major silicon partners AMD, Intel and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., we are announcing the Microsoft Pluto security processor. This chip-to-cloud security technology, developed on Xbox and Azure Sphere, will bring even more advancements on security for future Windows PCs and signals the start of a journey with the ecosystem and OEM partners.
Our vision for the future of Windows PCs is security at the core, built into the processor, where hardware and software are tightly integrated into a unified approach designed to eliminate entire attack vectors. “
Asaf Shen, Senior Director of Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc .: “Qualcomm Technologies is excited to continue working with Microsoft to help secure a large number of devices and use cases. of-Trust like Microsoft Pluto is an important component in securing multiple use cases and the devices that enable them. “
Then Microsoft’s chief product officer, Panos Panay, stepped in to tell Bloomberg, “Microsoft plans to continue expanding in chips, but it is unlikely to focus on general-purpose chips like those from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm.
However, Panos interestingly added, “Where we think we need to invest in silicon, we absolutely will. If there is a need, we will fill it. ”
Translation: If Qualcomm can’t match the prowess of Apple’s M1 Silicon on Surface devices and ARM partners, Microsoft will have to follow Apple’s path and create its own silicon.
So much for Windows running natively on the M1.
In the end, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, seems firmly convinced of the success of the M1: “There were a lot of times when it was tough and tough,” he said. he admitted. “But for me personally, I never doubted that the decision we made was the right one. “
There is so much more to this story that is not covered here. Read the full Ars Technica report to learn more.
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