This week, Apple introduced their first Macs with Apple Silicon, or processors, fully designed by Apple. The chip, called M1, builds from the technology already included in iPads, iPhones, and Apple TV's. This marks the third time that Apple has switched architectures in the Mac, moving away from the original Motorola chips, then the PowerPC switch in 2005, and now what is expected to be a two-year transition period away from Intel processors. The change promises to provide faster performance, longer battery life, and less expensive devices. Announcing earlier this year that the first Apple Silicon-powered Mac would ship in 2020, the California-based company delivered threefold with a MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro, and a Mac Mini at the Mac-focused event on November 10. All are shipping within a week.
While we've not yet tested the new devices, we can highlight the following takeaways provided by Apple.
- Software will need to be modified to work natively on the new M1 chip. Apple has built in the ability for software designed for the Intel-based Macs to run on these new M1-based Macs using a translation layer--think of this as two people speaking two different languages using a translator. The expectation is that software would run slower using this process, but it should run. Of course, at ESU, all software will need to be tested. Developers will have the ability to include the necessary code to run on both platforms by providing a single universal app. While Apple had converted their catalog of software to the new format in time for the Mac event, we've now started to see mainstays in the Mac software community begin to announce their plans in short order including Microsoft, Adobe and Affinity.
- For those running Windows on their Mac, the new M1 Macs do not support it any longer.
- You'll now be able to run iOS or iPadOS apps on a Mac!
- The MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro 13" do not support more than one external monitor.
- There are 13" versions of the Intel-based MacBook Pro available to purchase (although at a premium, and why would you?). The MacBook Air is now only available with the M1 chip.
- Given the two-year timeline, Apple Silicon-powered versions of the iMac and others are most likely to appear within that time period. Keep that in mind if you were considering replacing a current iMac.
- Apple will continue to provide software and OS updates to the Intel Macs going forward.
On November 12, Apple released the new version of MacOS called Big Sur. In addition to being a new version of the operating system, it is also the first to move beyond MacOS X and is now MacOS 11. We'll be covering Big Sur in a future post.
