Apple’s New MacBook and Mac Mini Computers Could Change PCs As We Know Them

This story is part of Apple event, our comprehensive coverage of the latest news from Apple HQ.

Tuesday, Apple announced its first personal computers powered by chips which look more like an iPhone than a regular PC. Machines are the $ 999 13-inch MacBook Air, the $ 699 Mac Mini and the MacBook Pro at $ 1,299. That alone is exciting for tech fans, but it’s also a sign of what can happen whether you buy a Mac or not. Apple said it will change the brains of his computers over the next two years. Starting with the machines that have just been unveiled, Apple will throw its weight behind its chips manufactured by it.

Most people might not care about changing a small chip in their Mac computer, but it could mean big changes for Apple and the tech industry as well. Over the past 14 years, Apple has was based on chips made by Intel to power his laptops and desktops. Apple spent more than a decade in research and development, and at least $ 1 billion buying more than half a dozen companies, to create the M1, a chip similar to those found in iPhones and iPads and which takes Intel. Apple’s first computers equipped with the M1 have been made available for pre-order and will begin shipping next week.

Apple claims the M1 is more powerful and energy efficient, allowing for potentially smaller and thinner designs, longer battery life, and new tech.

“Progress of this magnitude comes only from bold change,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook Apple’s Tuesday event. He added that Apple’s own chips would pave the way for new technology and “extraordinary battery life” in computers. “This is exactly why we are switching to Apple Mac silicon at Apple,” Cook said.

For Apple, this moment has been brewing for more than a decade. The question that has harassed the company since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011 is this? Jobs introduced the Mac computer, the iMac all-in-one desktop, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Since his death, Apple’s biggest new product has been the Apple Watch, which has grown into a huge company. Last year he far surpassed the entire Swiss watch industry. Yet this is not an iPhone-like breach in the universe.

By combining all of its devices under the same chips and the same common code, Apple will be able to deliver an experience that truly extends to its desktops, laptops, phones and watches. The company has previously said that app developers will be able to build an app and send it to all devices, with adjustments for keyboard and mouse for touch and finger gestures.

The result can be further blurring of the lines between what a computer is and what it is supposed to do.

It is the biggest advertisement in the field of “computers” in a long time. It represents a step function / a generation change.

At first, people will focus on the “transition” which is good, but the real impact is the direction it takes. So many initiatives come together. https://t.co/YWyCJubUpg

– Steven Sinofsky (@stevesi) November 10, 2020

The changes are already starting with Apple’s latest computer software, MacOS 11 Big Sur, which brings even more icons, sounds and general appearance to PCs iOS software that powers iPhones. Big Sur will be available on Thursday free for newly created Macs.

“With the current Mac, it’s Mac versus PC,” said Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Creative Strategies. “Now if it behaves like an iPhone, I can handle it as an extension of my ios devices. “

What may come

Apple says its transition to new chips can be a bit bumpy, as app developers change the way their apps are coded to work with this new machine. In the meantime, Apple promises most of the software we all use, including web browsers; photo and film editors of all kinds of companies; and even Microsoft’s popular Office suite of programs will work from day one on new machines.

What is likely to change more than anything involves a component other than the laptop and desktop chip. Apple iPhones and iPads don’t have fans to keep their chips cool. So far the company has achieved the same thing with its MacBook Air laptops, although its newer Mac Mini and MacBook Pro have fans.

But aside from those changes and assumptions about detachable laptop-iPad hybrids, Apple watchers seem to be struggling to come up with any design change ideas. (Author’s note: Apple, please report MagSafe magnetic charging cables to laptops. Pretty please.)

Another longer term game could be the integration of cellular service into these types of mobile chips. Computers with built-in cellular radios are niche products at best, but these types of processors are designed to work with cellular radios. People buy connected iPads all the time – a connected MacBook Air is not a big step forward.

While it’s not likely to come out anytime soon, carriers will likely be eager to get 5G in a future generation of Apple’s silicon-based MacBook.

New way to pay

By opting for its own chips and moving away from Intel’s, Apple will achieve more than expected performance and improved energy efficiency. For example, he could adjust his software more closely to work with his specialized chips. And the company will also be able to handle manufacturing.

“When you control your own destiny and control your own parts, you can save money,” said Bob O’Donnell, analyst at Technalysis Research.

In general, O’Donnell said, chip prices are at least 20% of the cost of a laptop. If Apple were to turn those savings into lower prices, it could attract new people who either won’t pay or can afford the company’s laptops, which start at $ 999.

It may also spark consumer interest and stimulate competition from other PC manufacturers, which so far have only played with the use of cell phone chips in computers (but with just under 7% market share in 2019, according to IDC).

But the Apple credit card could be the company’s real asset up its sleeve, analysts say. Putting Macs on an interest-free two-year installment plan could get people hooked on buying a computer for around $ 42 a month.

“Bringing the Mac into a larger population could be huge,” O’Donnell said.

Either way, Apple’s move is sure to make waves, both showing us the power of its iPhone chips and potentially pushing the industry to change its devices to keep pace.

“This is the biggest announcement in ‘computers’ in a long time,” tweeted Steven Sinofsky, a venture capitalist who oversaw Microsoft’s Windows software division over a decade ago. “The real impact is the direction it takes.”