Apple released its first custom chip for the Mac last month – the M1. It was a longtime coming, Intel has been struggling with making any major performance improvements with its processor while also not being able to make efficient chips. Whereas the ARM architecture is turning more popular as it is much more efficient.
The Cupertino based company Apple has years of experience in building ARM based chips for its iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. In the recent few years, the company also took to making custom security chips for the Mac as well – the T2 chip. It’s not just Apple that is looking to make the switch from Intel to ARM, major companies such as Microsoft and Amazon are also doing the same.
The future is at ARM’s length
Amazon’s ARM based chips are for its AWS servers. It’s still the early phase but the future looks completely ARM. It’s no news that Intel is on the decline; AMD has also erupted as a good replacement to Intel chips with heavy performance gains over Intel chips. Microsoft has also begun experimenting with ARM chips – the company released Surface Pro X last year, powered by the SQ1 chip made in collaboration with Qualcomm.
Apple announced its plans to move from Intel chips to using its own chips at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). For years, rumours and reports by noted Apple analysts, reported that Apple is planning to use ARM chips in the near future. Some theories include noting that the iPad and the Mac will fuse sometime in the future.
The M1 chip on the MacBook Air, the 13” MacBook Pro base model, and the Mac Mini has shocked the industry. The performance gains over the previous Intel chips in the same machine while improving efficiency is stupendous. The entire industry is now waiting for the next Apple silicon chip.
