The big Apple announcement - what does it mean for you?

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference last month (WWDC 2020) was dominated by a single major announcement that could have huge ramifications, not only for Apple users but potentially every single PC owner.

That announcement? The move away from using Intel processors in Macs in favour of what Apple loosely termed ‘Apple silicon’ - fundamentally the same types of SoC (system on a chip) used to power the company’s iPhones and iPads.

These Apple designed processors will enable Apple to more closely tailor their hardware and software to one another. Apple’s major reasoning at the event focused on power and performance efficiency – achieving better performance while consuming less power.

And, moving forward, Apple’s Mac operating system, MacOS, will be built and optimised to run on its own processors. Third party software developers will also need to build and optimise their software in the same way.

The transition from Intel, Apple says, will take two years to complete, by which point no more Intel based Macs will be manufactured. And while Apple did reassure existing Mac users that their devices would be supported for many years to come, the announcement did leave many questions for those users.

The short term

The good news is that, at least for the short term (maybe the next 12-24 months), existing Mac users shouldn’t experience any issues with the changeover.

Apple will continue to release operating system updates for Intel based Macs, and everything that users are able to do today with their machines should continue. Your existing software should continue to run normally, and you probably won’t notice any difference.

If you’re an existing Mac owner, and you weren’t planning on changing your device any time soon, you should be OK for a while.

I’m due an upgrade

A major dilemma does exist however for those Mac owners who were considering upgrading their devices in the near future.

Do you upgrade now or wait until later in the year, by which time Apple has promised to release its first Apple silicon Mac?

For most people, buying a new computer is not a short-term commitment. A new computer is usually expected to last a number of years and so, those considering a new Mac right now would be well advised to think about what things might look like in three, five or seven years’ time.

Will the software you use today on your Mac still run on an Intel based system by then? What about support from the developer, or new software releases?

Anyone familiar with the ‘Osborne effect’ will understand the potential consequences that a major announcement like this can have. Knowing that the new product you’re about to buy will essentially be made obsolete by another product that’s been announced can make purchasing difficult.

If you absolutely need to upgrade your Mac today, you can probably do so with the confidence that you’ll be supported by Apple for a few years yet. However, if you are able to hold off on that purchase for a few months, that could be the wiser course of action.

What about Boot Camp?

It’s often been said that MacBooks are among the best Windows laptops that money can buy.

The reason for this? Great build quality and the ability to install Windows easily using the Apple Boot Camp utility, which exists natively within the Mac operating system.

Especially for business users, Boot Camp has allowed a best of both worlds approach that has made Macs a very attractive purchase. Accessing those applications that only run on Windows or perhaps just run better, while retaining access to everything great about the Mac and Mac OS too is very appealing.

But if you really need Windows, then as things stand there’s simply no way to install it on an Apple silicon Mac. It’s likely therefore that you’d need to go and purchase a Windows PC.

Boot Camp will continue to exist on Intel based Macs, which means it’ll keep working on your existing device – so if you’re in the market for an upgrade and Boot Camp is essential you might want to consider upgrading today rather than in six months’ time.

Knock-on effects

For Apple, the consequences of this move to using their own silicon (in an ideal world at least) are largely positive.

Full control over their own hardware and software development, better performance, longer lasting battery life and even the potential to bring over some of the best bits from iPhones and iPads like great cameras, apps, enhanced security and more.

But a successful transition will also require software developers to be on board, to enthusiastically develop and support their software for a new platform. And this may be a challenge for smaller developers especially.

And the potential knock-on effects go beyond just Mac.

We’ll try to keep the technical stuff as brief as possible but, in a nutshell, Intel processors use what’s known as an x86 architecture. While not exactly an accurate description, you can think of it as the language the software and hardware in your device use to talk to each other.

Apple’s chips on the other hand are based on a different type of architecture – ARM. That’s the architecture used in most phones and tablets in the world, but it isn’t used for many PCs.

However, if this move by Apple is successful, then what does that mean for, say, your Windows PC. Microsoft has already developed its own version of Windows for ARM. You can read more about that here.

These are interesting and yet uncertain times for Apple watchers, but also the PC world in general, and we’re likely to see some major developments over the next few months and years.