Apple’s New MacBook Pro and iMac Will Be the First to Get ARM Processors

[Tsing]

Image: Apple



Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has learned that Apple’s new 13.3-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac will be the first Mac products to ditch Intel processors for the ARM variety. While the MacBook Pro will look much like its siblings, the iMac reportedly sports an “all-new form factor.”



Kuo’s note to investors (via MacRumors):



(1) ARM13.3-inchMacBookPro:The new model’s form factor design will be similar to that of the existing Intel 13.3-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌. Apple will discontinue the Intel 13.3-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ production after launching the ARM 13.3-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.(2) ARMiMac:‌ARM‌ ‌iMac‌ will be equipped with the all-new form factor design and a 24- inch display. Apple will launch the refresh of existing Intel ‌iMac‌ in 3Q20 before launching the...

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[Grimlakin]

I really want to see some performance numbers on these new mac book pro's. Are they good enough?

 

[Brian_B]

My guess:

CPU and graphics Performance be on par or slightly better than existing 13” MBP. Nothing major here. The big question will be the emulation performance hit for non-native apps.

Battery life will be significantly better (more than 20%), both while running and especially while sleeping

Will be able to do more with PowerNap (checking email/backups/etc while sleeping). MacBooks were already pretty good with this, and their sleep/hibernate was already really good, I’m just guessing they get more efficient while sleeping, almost to the point that actual shutdown just goes away.

I expect only a pair of USB C ports all the way around, pretty much what the 13” has now (*sigh*)

I give it a 40% chance to include LTE or 5G connectivity. Apple has always leaned on teathering to a mobile device for connectivity,

I don’t think we will see a touchscreen on the MBP, but I give it 50% odds the new iMac form factor at 24” does.

 

[ThreeDee]

Well .. I'm going to give it a 100% chance that it will cost too much for me to acquire one ... being poor white trash and all ..

 

[Riccochet]

So, is everything going to be emulated now? What about those users that use VMWare Fusion?

Too many questions. Seems rather risky to piss off their enterprise user base.

 

[Brian_B]

So, is everything going to be emulated now? What about those users that use VMWare Fusion?

Too many questions. Seems rather risky to piss off their enterprise user base.

There were emulation platforms on PPC before there was the hypervisor on x86, I imagine Fusion will either transition over to that or fade away. They did discuss that virtualization was still possible in the PR that I saw (although they mentioned it with respect to Linux, which has ARM kernels, so they may have actually meant ARM virtualization and not x86 emulation).

I assume this will run like Rosetta did on the PPC->x86 transiton, which was pretty painless. If the app is translated, it runs native. If not, it will still run via an emulation layer. After about 4-5 years, the emulation layer goes away, and anything that hasn't been translated by then goes away with it.

I don't think Apple cares too much about the Enterprise crowd though.

 

[Riccochet]

There were emulation platforms on PPC before there was the hypervisor on x86, I imagine Fusion will either transition over to that or fade away. They did discuss that virtualization was still possible in the PR that I saw (although they mentioned it with respect to Linux, which has ARM kernels, so they may have actually meant ARM virtualization and not x86 emulation).

I assume this will run like Rosetta did on the PPC->x86 transiton, which was pretty painless. If the app is translated, it runs native. If not, it will still run via an emulation layer. After about 4-5 years, the emulation layer goes away, and anything that hasn't been translated by then goes away with it.

I don't think Apple cares too much about the Enterprise crowd though.

We've been worried about it. We support a lot of medical practices that have providers who use Mac's. They insist on using Mac's. And their EHR system does not run on Mac, it runs on Windows. So they run VMWare Fusion to run Windows. The future is uncertain. We've had to email these people and tell them not to run out and buy the latest MBP until testing can be done to ensure their functionality is not impacted.

There are a lot of businesses that run Mac's that need x86 capabilities.

 

[rat]

My guess:

You left the biggest detail out...

* The ARM based Macs are going to proprietary as fuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkk..... No more bootcamp. No more Parallels or VMWare...

 

[Eduardo_Domingot]

The iOSification of Mac OS continues unabated.

 

[Brian_B]

You left the biggest detail out...

* The ARM based Macs are going to proprietary as fuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkk..... No more bootcamp. No more Parallels or VMWare...

I bet parallels / VMWare continue on in some fashion, and I bet eventually will even be to run 64-bit code — just not natively. 32-bit x86 emulation on ARM has been around for a while.

yeah I think Bootcamp is a confirmed kill. It may technically be possible to boot Windows for ARM, but this has never had a large market and I don’t see Apple going out of their way to talk MS into supporting it.