Intel Restates Support for Apple During Transition to Apple Silicon - MacRumors
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Intel Restates Support for Apple During Transition to Apple Silicon

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Apple on Monday confirmed its widely rumored plan to switch from Intel processors to custom silicon for its Macs, promising "incredible" performance and features.

16 inch macbook pro intel 10th gen
In a statement given to AppleInsider, Intel promised to continue supporting the Mac through its transition but insisted that its processors are still the best option for developers.

"Apple is a customer across several areas of business and we will continue to support them," said an Intel spokesperson.

"Intel remains focused on delivering the most advanced PC experiences and a wide range of technology choices that redefine computing. We believe Intel-powered PCs — like those based on our forthcoming Tiger Lake mobile platform — provide global customers the best experience in the areas they value most, as well as the most open platform for developers, both today and into the future."

Building on its industry-leading A-series chips for iPhones and iPads, Apple wants Macs with its custom silicon to have the highest performance with lower power usage. Apple says the vast majority of Mac apps can be quickly updated to be "universal" with support for both Intel-based Macs and those with Apple's custom silicon.

Apple said that it expects its first Mac with custom silicon to launch by the end of 2020, and it expects to transition its entire lineup within the next two years. "We plan to continue to support and release new versions of Mac OS for Intel-based Macs for years to come," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Developers can apply for a special Mac mini with an A12Z chip inside to help prepare their apps for Apple's custom silicon. This custom ‌Mac mini‌ will be running the macOS Big Sur beta and the latest version of Xcode.

On a related note, readers hoping to see imminent benchmarks of the Apple Silicon-powered ‌Mac mini‌ may be out of luck. Apple's terms and conditions for developers receiving the machines explicitly forbid benchmark tests on the Developers Transition Kit unless separately authorized by Apple.

Tag: Intel

Top Rated Comments

M
moabal
76 months ago
I mean.... what else are they going to say publicly?
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
dmyers7
76 months ago
Lets be honest, the A12x is not what is going into their desktops; they have something else in the pipeline that will blow the pants off even that for laptops and desktops. I agree that active cooling will help greatly. We know what the A12x can do without cooling; but they have something monumental when it comes to your next MacBook Pro. Something so good you will want to upgrade; it won't be marginal. This is a big step to move code away for Intel native and the ecosystem that already exists; it needs to be worth it besides saving $$ on Intel silicon.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PCMA Avatar
PCMA
76 months ago
I have complete confidence in Tim Cook's ability to manage this important transition smoothly.



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Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
Michael Scrip
76 months ago
In any given quarter there might be 5 million Macs sold.

But there could be 60 million Intel-powered Windows PCs sold in that same quarter.

Even though Apple has a tendency to buy only higher-end chips from Intel... I don't think this will affect Intel too much.

Intel has bigger problems than losing Apple as a customer.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
thequietaussie
76 months ago

Even though Apple has a tendency to buy only higher-end chips from Intel... I don't think this will affect Intel too much.
The damage to Intel is not necessarily the loss of Apple's immediate business. But the long-term, cumulative effect of a growing movement away from x86, and the industry's reliance on Intel as a whole.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macusercom Avatar
Macusercom
76 months ago
To be fair you can get an idea of the A12Z's performance by looking at the iPad Pro 2020 lineup though I guess it might be capable of more performance on an actively cooled Mac.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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