[ad_1]
Usually, people talk about how Apple devices look. But this time, what matters most is under the hood.
Sarah Tew / CNET
This story is part of Apple event, our comprehensive coverage of the latest news from Apple HQ.
Apple is expected to announce the first computers powered by chips that look more like an iPhone than a regular PC. That alone is exciting for techies, but it’s also a sign of what’s possible to come, whether you buy a Mac or not.
The iPhone maker has said it will change the brains of its computers over the next two years. Starting with the computers it is expected to announce on Tuesday, Apple will throw its weight behind its own self-made chips.
For the past 14 years, Apple has relied on chips made by Intel to power its laptops and desktops. Before the end of the year, Apple announced that it would start shipping computers with chips similar to its iPhones and iPads.
“Our vision for the Mac has always been to embrace breakthrough innovation and have the courage to make bold changes,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said when announcing the new initiative. earlier this summer. He added that Apple’s own chips would usher in new technology and “peak performance” in computers. “Every time we’ve done this, the Mac has gotten stronger and more capable,” he said.
Apple declined to comment on its upcoming event.
For Apple, this moment is one that has been brewing for more than a decade. The question that hangs over Apple since the death of its co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011 is what will follow. Jobs introduced the Mac computer, the iMac all-in-one desktop, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple’s biggest product launch since is the Apple Watch, which has grown into a huge company, far surpassing the entire Swiss watch industry last year. Yet this is not an iPhone-like breach in the universe.
By combining all of its devices under the same chips and common code, Apple will be able to deliver an experience that truly extends to its desktops, laptops, phones and watches. Apple 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 over 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.
The changes are already starting with Apple’s latest computer software, MacOS 11 Big Sur, which brings even more similar looks, icons and sounds from the iOS software that powers an iPhone to the computer.
“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. “
Apple’s iPad Air and iPhone 12 use the company’s A14 Bionic chip. New Macs could too.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland / CNET
What may come
The difference between computers and phones is only the screen size.
Angela Lang / CNET
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 that most of the software we all use, including web browsers, photo and movie editors from all kinds of companies, and even Microsoft’s popular Office suite of programs, will work on the new machines. since the first day.
What is likely to change more than anything is outside the laptop and desktop. Apple iPhones and iPads don’t have fans to keep their chips cool. Analysts are betting that if Apple can pull off the same trick with its computers, the fans who take up space and force the laptop to be thicker could be gone.
Check this out:
Apple’s silicon-powered Mac: what to expect
8:23
But aside from those changes and assumptions about detachable laptop-iPad hybrids, Apple watchers seem to have a hard time coming up with any design change ideas. (Author’s note: Apple, please bring MagSafe magnetic charging cables back to laptops. Rather please.)
Another longer term game may 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 won’t be coming out anytime soon, carriers will likely be eager to bring 5G into the next generation of Apple’s silicon-based MacBooks.
New way to pay
Apple’s credit card can be its secret weapon in helping more people consider their Mac computers.
CNET
One of the perks Apple gets from switching to its own chips and moving away from ones made by Intel is that it’s often cheaper to make your own products when you’re the size of your chip. ‘Apple.
“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, he says, chip prices are at least 20% of the cost of a laptop. And if Apple converts those savings into lower prices, it could attract new people who simply won’t pay or can’t afford the company’s laptops, which start at $ 999.
It may also spark consumer interest and stimulate competition from other PC manufacturers, who have so far played with the use of cell phone chips in computers.
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.
[ad_2]
Source link