The Mac transition to Apple silicon is the process of changing the
central processing unit
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
s (CPUs) of
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
's line of
Mac computers from
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
's
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mod ...
processors to
Apple-designed systems on a chip that use the
ARM64
AArch64 or ARM64 is the 64-bit extension of the ARM architecture family.
It was first introduced with the Armv8-A architecture. Arm releases a new extension every year.
ARMv8.x and ARMv9.x extensions and features
Announced in October 2011, AR ...
architecture. CEO
Tim Cook
Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who has been the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. since 2011. Cook previously served as the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs.
...
announced a "two-year transition plan" in his
WWDC
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...
keynote address
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework f ...
on June 22, 2020,
and the first Macs with Apple-designed systems on a chip were released that November.
This is the third time Apple has switched the Macintosh to a new
instruction set architecture
In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA), also called computer architecture, is an abstract model of a computer. A device that executes instructions described by that ISA, such as a central processing unit (CPU), is called an ' ...
. The first was from the
Motorola 68000 series
The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and w ...
to
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
chips in 1994
and the second from
PowerPC to Intel processors using the
x86 architecture
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
in 2005–2006.
Background
![MacBook Pro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/MacBook_Pro.png)
The Macintosh was initially based on the
Motorola 68000 architecture, switching, after evaluating several possibilities, to the
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
family Apple co-developed with IBM and Motorola, in the early 1990s. With its second architecture switch, starting in 2005, to
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
32-bit
In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...
and
64-bit
In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
, with
Mac OS X Lion
OS X Lion, also known as Mac OS X Lion, (version 10.7) is the eighth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers.
A preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the "Back to the Mac" Apple Speci ...
dropping support for Macs with 32-bit processors in 2011, and
macOS Catalina
macOS Catalina (version 10.15) is the sixteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to macOS Mojave and was announced at WWDC 2019 on June 3, 2019 and released to the publ ...
dropping support for 32-bit Intel apps in 2019. Supported 64-bit Intel systems can still boot the latest versions of macOS.
Apple's ATG had spotted Acorn's ARM architecture, in 1985, and considered it as a possible replacement for either the MOS 6502 of the Apple II range, the 68000 of the original Macintosh, or use in a tablet device, under Paul Gavarini and Tom Pittard, in a project labelled Möbius. A partnership was established with Acorn Computers, and VLSI in 1990, and the later option taken up, with an ARM SoC appearing in the 1993
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in partic ...
, followed by the
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
in 2001 and the
iPhone in 2007. Apple has designed
its own custom ARM chips since 2009, which it has officially deployed since 2010 in its
iPhone,
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
,
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
,
Apple TV
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
and
Apple Watch
Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
product lines, as well as
AirPods
AirPods are wireless Bluetooth earbuds designed by Apple Inc. They were first announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. Within two years, they became Apple's most popular accessory. The most recent model, AirPods (3rd generation ...
,
Beats and
HomePod
The HomePod is a smart speaker developed by Apple Inc. The HomePod was designed to work with the Apple Music subscription service.
The HomePod was announced on June 5, 2017, at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. Its launch was later del ...
.
Between October 2016 and August 2020, Intel-based Macs with Apple-designed ARM co-processors were released.
In the 2010s, media reports documented Apple's frustrations and challenges with the pace and quality of Intel's technology development.
Apple reportedly had trouble with Intel
modem
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
s for
iPhones in 2017 due to technical issues and missed deadlines. Meanwhile, a 2018 report suggested that Intel chip issues prompted a redesign of the MacBook.
In 2019, Apple blamed Intel processor shortages for a decline in Mac sales. In June 2020, former Intel principal engineer François Piednoël said Intel's "abnormally bad" quality assurance in its
Skylake processors, making Apple "the number one filer of problems in the architecture", helped Apple decide to migrate. Intel CTO Mike Mayberry countered that quality assurance problems may arise at large scale from any CPU vendor.
History
Early involvement with ARM
In 1983,
Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the United Kingdom, UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archi ...
started working on a project to design its own CPU architecture and instructions set, called the Acorn
RISC
In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set comput ...
Machine (ARM).
In 1985, Apple's
Advanced Technology Group worked with Acorn to create an experimental prototype, code-named Mobius, to replace the
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
, using a modified ARM processor. The project was cancelled but Apple again partnered with Acorn when it needed a low-power, efficient processor for its future Newton PDA. In 1990, a new joint-venture was created between Acorn, Apple and
VLSI Technology
VLSI Technology, Inc., was an American company that designed and manufactured custom and semi-custom integrated circuits (ICs). The company was based in Silicon Valley, with headquarters at 1109 McKay Drive in San Jose. Along with LSI Logic, ...
with the goal of pursuing the development of the ARM processor. The company was named Advanced RISC Machines Ltd, becoming the new meaning of the ARM acronym. One of the first designs of the new company would be the ARM610 SoC, initially for Apple, that allowed the
Endianness
In computing, endianness, also known as byte sex, is the order or sequence of bytes of a word of digital data in computer memory. Endianness is primarily expressed as big-endian (BE) or little-endian (LE). A big-endian system stores the most sig ...
to be swapped, increased the address space from 26 bit (64 MB) to 32 bit (4 GB), and modified the memory management unit. Apple held a 43% stake in the company, which was reduced to 14.8% in 1999.
Transition from PowerPC to Intel
Since Apple's 2005–2006
transition to Intel processors, all Macintosh computers, until the transition to Apple silicon, have used Intel's
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
CPU architecture. During his 2005
WWDC
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...
keynote address,
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
noted that Intel-based processors outperformed
IBM's
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
processors in terms of energy consumption, and that if Apple continued to rely on PowerPC technology, it would be unable to build the future Macs it envisioned, including higher-performance workstation computers and advanced laptops for a rapidly growing laptop market: "As we look ahead, we can envision some amazing products we want to build ... And we don't know how to build them with the future PowerPC roadmap."
By June 2006, only Apple's high-end desktop computer and server product were still using PowerPC processors. The hardware transition was completed when Intel-based
Mac Pro
Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of f ...
s and
Xserve
Xserve is a line of rack unit computers designed by Apple Inc. for use as servers. Introduced in 2002, it was Apple's first designated server hardware design since the Apple Network Server in 1996. In the meantime, ordinary Power Macintosh G3 a ...
computers were announced in August 2006 and shipped by the end of the year.
Apple ceased support for booting on PowerPC as of
Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" in August 2009, three years after the transition was complete. Support for PowerPC applications via Rosetta was dropped from macOS in
10.7 "Lion" in July 2011, five years after the transition was complete.
Processor development
![Apple A12Z](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Apple_A12Z.jpg)
In 2008, Apple bought processor company
P.A. Semi
P. A. Semi (originally Palo Alto Semiconductor) was an American fabless semiconductor company founded in Santa Clara, California in 2003 by Daniel W. Dobberpuhl, who was previously the lead designer for the DEC Alpha 21064 and StrongARM process ...
for million.
At the time, it was reported that Apple bought P.A. Semi for its intellectual property and engineering talent.
CEO
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
later claimed that P.A. Semi would develop
system-on-chip
A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...
s for Apple's iPods and iPhones.
Following the acquisition, Apple signed a rare "Architecture license" with ARM, allowing the company to design its own core, using the ARM instruction set. The first Apple-designed chip was the
A4, released in 2010, which debuted in the first-generation iPad, then in the iPhone 4. Apple subsequently released a number of products with
its own processors.
Rumors of Apple shifting Macintosh to custom-designed ARM processors began circulating in 2011, when ''SemiAccurate'' predicted it would happen by mid-2013.
In 2014, ''MacRumors'' reported that Apple was testing an ARM-based Mac prototype with a large Magic Trackpad. In 2018, ''Bloomberg'' reported that Apple was planning to use its own chips based on the ARM architecture beginning in 2020.
The
Apple A12X Bionic
The Apple A12X Bionic is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPad Pro (3rd generation), announced on October 30, 2018. The A12X is an 8-core variant of the A12 (four big cores, four small cores) a ...
processor used in the
iPad Pro (3rd generation)
The third generation of iPad Pro is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Two models, with a 12.9 inch or 11 inch screen, were both announced on October 30, 2018, and were available to purchase on No ...
reportedly roughly matches the performance of Intel's
Core i7
The following is a list of Intel Core i7 brand microprocessors. Introduced in 2008, the Core i7 line of microprocessors are intended to be used by high-end users.
Desktop processors
Nehalem microarchitecture (1st generation)
"Bloomfield" ...
processor used in the
MacBook Pro at the time.
In the months and weeks leading up to Apple's 2020
WWDC
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...
, multiple media reports anticipated an official announcement of the transition during the event.
Transition process
2020
Apple announced its plans to shift the Macintosh platform to Apple silicon in a series of WWDC presentations in June 2020. The entire transition of the Macintosh product line is expected to take "about two years", with the first ARM-based Macs released by the end of 2020.
Similar language was used during Apple's
2005–2006 transition to Intel, which actually took about one year.
All Apple apps included with
macOS Big Sur
macOS Big Sur (version 11) is the seventeenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s operating system for Macintosh computers. It was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 22, 2020, and was released to the public ...
are compatible with x86-64 and ARM architectures. Many third-party apps are similarly being made dual-platform, including prominent software packages such as
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
and
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processing software developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name ''Multi-Tool Word'' for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms includin ...
.
To enable x86-native software to run on new ARM-based Macs,
Rosetta 2
Rosetta is a dynamic binary translator developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, an application compatibility layer between different instruction set architectures. It enables a transition to newer hardware, by automatically translating software. The ...
dynamic binary translation
In computing, binary translation is a form of binary recompilation where sequences of instructions are translated from a ''source'' instruction set to the ''target'' instruction set. In some cases such as instruction set simulation, the target ...
software is transparently embedded in macOS Big Sur.
Universal binary 2 enables application developers to support both
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mod ...
and
ARM64
AArch64 or ARM64 is the 64-bit extension of the ARM architecture family.
It was first introduced with the Armv8-A architecture. Arm releases a new extension every year.
ARMv8.x and ARMv9.x extensions and features
Announced in October 2011, AR ...
.
To allow developers to prepare their software for a smooth user experience on ARM-based Macs, they were given the option to sign up for a one year membership to the Universal App Quick Start Program which provided a couple of benefits. One of which was a license to use a
Developer Transition Kit
The Developer Transition Kit is the name of two prototype Mac computers made available to software developers by Apple Inc. The first Developer Transition Kit was made available in 2005 prior to the Mac transition to Intel processors to aid in t ...
(DTK), temporarily made available by Apple. This
Developer Transition Kit
The Developer Transition Kit is the name of two prototype Mac computers made available to software developers by Apple Inc. The first Developer Transition Kit was made available in 2005 prior to the Mac transition to Intel processors to aid in t ...
uses the
A12Z chip, originally used in the
iPad Pro (4th generation)
The fourth-generation iPad Pro is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Two models, with a 12.9 inch or 11 inch screen, were both announced on March 18, 2020, and released on March 25.
The iPad Pro ...
, housed inside a
Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
case.
In an interview shortly after the announcement of the transition, Apple senior vice president of Software Engineering
Craig Federighi
Craig Federighi (born May 27, 1969) is an American engineer and business executive who is the senior vice president (SVP) of software engineering at Apple Inc. He oversees the development of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and Apple's common operating system ...
praised the performance of the DTK Apple's prototype ARM-based Mac.
In November 2020, Apple announced the
Apple M1
Apple M1 is a series of ARM architecture, ARM-based system-on-a-chip, systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) Apple silicon, designed by Apple Inc. as a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) for its Mac (computer), Mac desktop compu ...
, its first
ARM-based system on a chip to be used in Macs, alongside updated models of the
Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
,
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is a line of ultrabook computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It consists of a full-size keyboard, a machined aluminum case, and, in the more modern versions, a thin light structure. The Air was originally positioned ...
and 13-inch
MacBook Pro based on it.
2021
In April 2021, Apple released a redesigned 24-inch
iMac
iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms.
In it ...
based on the M1 to replace the 21.5-inch Intel model.
In October 2021, Apple announced the
M1 Pro and M1 Max, and updated 14-inch and 16-inch
MacBook Pro models based on them. The M1 Pro and M1 Max use integrated Apple-designed
GPUs
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
, replacing the integrated and discrete GPUs supplied by Intel and
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...
, and lack support for external GPUs. Apple discontinued all of their Intel-based laptops following the announcement.
2022
In March 2022, Apple announced the
Mac Studio
Mac Studio is a small-form-factor workstation designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc. It is one of four desktop computers in the Mac lineup, sitting above the consumer-range Mac Mini and iMac, and positioned below the Mac Pro. It is con ...
, a new high-end desktop model that uses the
M1 Ultra
Apple M1 is a series of ARM architecture, ARM-based system-on-a-chip, systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) Apple silicon, designed by Apple Inc. as a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) for its Mac (computer), Mac desktop compu ...
, a dual-SoC configuration of two M1 Max chips. Apple concurrently discontinued the 27-inch
Intel-based iMac, making the Mac Pro and Core i5/i7
Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
the last remaining Intel-based Macs.
Impact
In June 2020, tech analyst
Daniel Newman estimated that Apple accounted for $1.5 billion to $3.0 billion (about 2% to 4%) of Intel's annual revenue, and only 6.9% to 12% of the
PC market in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and 7% globally.
Some speculated that Apple's move away from Intel chips could prompt other customers to do the same.
CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
speculated that the transition might reduce Apple's component costs.
Users and developers
Apps created for the
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
platform can run natively on ARM-powered Macs.
The transition could restrict or even eliminate hobbyist "
Hackintosh
A Hackintosh (a portmanteau of " Hack" and "Macintosh") is a computer that runs Apple's Macintosh operating system macOS (formerly named "Mac OS X" or "OS X") on computer hardware not authorized for the purpose by Apple. This can also include ru ...
" computers, which use commodity PC hardware to run macOS, in violation of license restrictions.
The
Boot Camp software, which enables
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
-based Macs to natively run
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
in an Apple-supported
dual booting
Multi-booting is the act of installing multiple operating systems on a single computer, and being able to choose which one to Booting, boot. The term dual-booting refers to the common configuration of specifically two operating systems. Multi-bo ...
environment, will not be implemented on Apple silicon-based Macs. , Apple said it has "no plans to direct boot into Windows" on ARM-based Macintosh computers. Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering
Craig Federighi
Craig Federighi (born May 27, 1969) is an American engineer and business executive who is the senior vice president (SVP) of software engineering at Apple Inc. He oversees the development of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and Apple's common operating system ...
suggested that
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
technology is a viable alternative: "Purely virtualization is the route... Hypervisors can be very efficient, so the need to direct boot shouldn't really be the concern."
Microsoft had not commented on whether it would extend its ARM-based Windows license beyond
OEM
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
preinstallations.
As of 2022,
Parallels Desktop for Mac
Parallels Desktop for Mac is software providing hardware virtualization for Macintosh computers with Intel processors, and since version 16.5 also for Apple silicon-based Macintosh computers. It is developed by Parallels, since 2018 a subsidiary ...
preloads an ARM64 version of
Windows 11
Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 ...
onto Apple Silicon-based Macs, and can also run ARM64
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...
and
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
.
Reception
Before Apple released M1 Macs, ''Wired'' expressed skepticism that Apple's designers could use smartphone-related processors to drive a
Mac Pro
Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of f ...
. It also questioned Apple's vague commitment to allow Intel binaries to run on ARM-based Macs "for years to come" and wondered which upcoming version of macOS would cease to support Intel Macs.
Lauren Giret remarked that Apple might "succeed where Microsoft has failed" due to Apple's "tight integration" of hardware and software, and a vast collection of applications that can already run on the new platform.
When systems containing M1 processors were released, they received near-universal acclaim for their high speed and low energy consumption.
See also
*
Mac transition to Intel processors
Apple transitioned the CPUs of their Mac and Xserve computers from PowerPC to the x86 architecture from Intel.
The change was announced at the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who said Apple would gr ...
*
Apple silicon
Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, a ...
*
Fat binary
A fat binary (or multiarchitecture binary) is a computer executable program or library which has been expanded (or "fattened") with code native to multiple instruction sets which can consequently be run on multiple processor types. This results ...
References
{{reflist
Macintosh platform