Apple released the first batch of M1 powered Macs last year at its ‘Special Event’ in November. Since then, the entire computer industry has been ashook by the technological advancements the M-series chips bring to the market. While Intel is on its way to make similar chips with such a balance between performance and power efficiency, it is still a few years behind.
In the past few years, Intel has been unable to deliver the same level of performance improvements it brings every couple of years. Also, the industry has been moving towards power efficient chips with the ARM based architecture. However, Intel has not made major strides in the recent years and that is one of the reasons for Apple’s laptops not being upto the mark in the recent years.
Intel failed to provide power efficient chips
In 2015, Apple released the 12” MacBook – a truly portable laptop, however it did not particularly sell properly even though it was popular because of the low performance at such a high price of around $1200 (USD). The company has since then also released redesigned MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models which have thinner bodies.
While Apple has been making thinner and lighter laptops, the Intel chips inside them were not exactly power efficient, meaning, they would consume a lot of power and also generate a considerable amount of heat. But Apple’s goal has been to make truly innovative and cutting edge machines which would be premium grade. As a result, the company had to take a different direction, away from Intel as it has been able to provide the required type of chips.
The M1 chip is truly powerful while being truly power efficient and it does not generate much heat. As a result, the M1 MacBook Air does not even have a fan on the inside. The upcoming M-series are expected to push the boundaries even further. While Microsoft is also working on brining Windows to ARM based machines, it is going to take many many years before it is stable and all apps work without any issues.
