Apple plans to announce ARM transition for all Macs at WWDC 2020

At its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) later this month, Apple plans to announce the beginning of its transition from Intel-based Macs to ARM-based ones with internally designed CPUs, according to a report from Bloomberg. The report comes from Mark Gurman, who has had a generally good track record on reporting the internal workings of Apple and cites “people familiar with the plans.”

The sources say that Apple is working on at least three different systems-on-a-chip for Macs. The first would be based on the A14, a processor planned for the new iPhone models coming later in 2020. The Mac processors would be manufactured by Apple partner TSMC “using a 5-nanometer production technique.” The project is codenamed Kalamata within Apple’s walls.

WWDC begins on June 22. For the first time in its history, it will be an online-only event this year—a result of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bloomberg report notes twice that world events and other factors make it possible Apple will delay the announcement. But the company’s leadership wants to share the plans at WWDC if possible as a way to give Mac software developers ample time to adjust to the change, which is expected to begin with the launch of the first ARM Mac hardware in 2021.

Apple last made a major transition in architecture when it moved from PowerPC processors to Intel ones in 2006, and it adopted a similar strategy of giving developers significant notice and providing tools for the change. As was the case between PowerPC and Intel, differences between Intel and ARM processors are substantial and will require developers to make changes to their apps.

Bloomberg’s sources clarified that the ARM Macs will continue to run macOS, not a branch of the iOS or iPadOS software used in ARM-based iPhones and iPads. That said, Apple began seriously planning the transition for Macs after it successfully adapted an iPad Pro processor for internal testing with Macs in 2018.

Apple has already started blurring the lines between iPadOS and macOS software in its developer initiatives. It introduced Catalyst, a framework for easily porting iPad apps to the Mac, last year. But most developers see Catalyst as a stopgap for companies that already have iPad apps before the ultimate plan gains momentum—that ultimate plan seems to be SwiftUI, a framework for developing apps for multiple Apple operating systems side by side.

Testing of ARM-based Mac chips at Apple has produced “sizable improvements” compared to Intel chips in graphics and AI performance. The new chips are also more power-efficient, which Apple could use either to improve battery life or produce thinner, lighter laptops—or whatever combination of the two it deems desirable. The shift would also free Apple from the shackles of Intel’s development roadmap, which has on more than one occasion stymied Apple’s ability to release the products it wants to, when it wishes to.

Further, Apple might no longer have to introduce secondary chips like the T2 security chip; it could put much or all of the silicon it wants on the system-on-chip, including a counterpart to its proprietary machine learning and AI processors from the iPhone and iPad, which currently have no peer in Macs.

All Macs will make the change

Rumors and reports have circulated about Apple’s plan to move to its own ARM-based Mac chips for years, but onlookers have been divided in their predictions about which Macs would make that transition.

Some have suggested that ARM chips are ideal for a laptop like the MacBook Air but that Apple would at least initially forgo introducing ARM to the iMac Pro or Mac Pro, since third-party software support from companies like Adobe and Autodesk is essential for those machines’ use cases. Others, though, have said Apple might start with the high-end desktops since performance matters most on those machines, and it could work with a small cabal of critical software companies directly to ease the transition.

According to today’s report, though, Apple plans to transition its entire line, from MacBooks to the Mac Pro—albeit not all at once. The report doesn’t indicate which machines will hit the market first, only that Apple plans to bring this change to all Macs at some point.

Bloomberg’s Gurman also notes that this shift is unlikely to drastically affect Intel’s bottom line right away, as Macs only barely breach double-digit market share against other types of personal computers. But he speculates that the move might inspire other laptop manufacturers, who are prone to mimicking Apple in some products, to do the same—and that could make for a much bigger concern at Intel.

Regardless of whether Apple moves forward with its ARM announcement plans, Cupertino will at a minimum introduce new versions of macOS, iPadOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS with “deeper integration of outside apps and services” (per Bloomberg) and expanded augmented reality features, as well as performance improvements. Rumors have also circulated about a new iMac model that may be introduced at the event.