Apple Adding H.264 Hardware Decoder Chip to Macs?
Robert Cringley claims that Apple is planning on incorporating dedicated H.264 decoding chips into future Mac hardware.
Now comes the rumor I have heard, that I believe to be a fact, that has simply yet to be confirmed. I have heard that Apple plans to add hardware video decoding to ALL of its new computers beginning fairly soon, certainly this year.
The article claims that incorporating a dedicated H.264 decoding chip will allow Apple to ensure the same base performance on every machine it sells. The $50 chip is said to also offer H.264 encoding to allow users to quickly encode high quality video clips for upload to the internet.
H.264 is a high quality video format which Apple uses to encode their video content on iTunes and the web. Apple has a FAQ on H.264 on their website.
Robert Cringley has been know for posting speculative predictions in the past, but specifically notes that this is from an outside source that he believes to be true.
Popular Stories
If you pay for certain iCloud+ storage plans beyond the 5GB that Apple offers for free, you will receive two more perks on iOS 27 at no additional cost.
A summary of the two new iCloud+ perks on iOS 27:Increased daily usage limits for some new Apple Intelligence features, including image generation in the revamped Image Playground app.
HomeKit Secure Video cameras receive generated video...
Apple's first product release of summer 2026 occurred this week, but do not get too excited, as it is merely the Beats Solo Buds in a new color.
Beats Solo Buds are now offered in orange through Best Buy in the U.S., with availability set to expand to 7-Eleven stores in Japan on July 4.
Apple already offered orange Solo Buds in India for free with the purchase of an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 ...
Apple supplier Tata Electronics recently suffered a cyberattack that resulted in thousands of confidential files being published on the dark web, and this reportedly included some photos and documents related to the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro.
We have elected not to share any of the leaked photos in this story due to the illegal nature in which they were obtained, but they can easily be found...
