Back in June, Apple announced that the Mac will move from Intel to Apple silicon. The company announced the transition at WWDC and added that the complete transition will take two years. The first Mac chip for consumer machines is the M1 which powers the MacBook Air, the 13” base MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini (Intel version also available).
To allow developers to quickly move their apps to the new Mac architecture, the company released a developer transition kit (DTK) in June. The new Macs powered by M1 only released in November, so developers had some time to optimize their apps for the new platform. Apple of course having the upper hand, has already updated all of its apps on the Mac for the new ARM version of macOS.
Safari updated for M1 Macs
Safari continues to be one of the most liked web-browsers and with the browser now being optimized for the new ARM Macs, there are major performance gains. Apple’s web page for Safari reads, “And now with Apple silicon, it’s even faster than ever before.” The company has made major claims regarding its browser, such as “With a blazing-fast JavaScript engine, Safari is the world’s fastest browser.”
The new version of Safari for the Apple silicon or for the M1 Macs at the moment, will reportedly consume less power. As a result, Mac laptops will be able to run for longer when Safari is being used without requiring constant charging. Apple’s page also mentions the battery imporements by saying, “It’s developed to run specifically on Apple devices, so it’s geared to make the most out of your battery life and deliver long-lasting power.”
Other competitors in the web browser market like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have also been optimized for the new Apple silicon Macs. Google says, users should select “Mac with Apple chip” option while downloading the browser on a M1 Mac.
