Macs with Apple chips are coming in 2021, report claims

Apple will launch Mac computers with its own processors in 2021, Bloomberg reported Thursday citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the report, the company is working on three different processors, which are based on the next iPhone's A14, but are supposed to be much faster. As far actual devices go, we should see at least one Mac with an Apple chip next year.

These chips are based on ARM architecture and will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which produces chips for Apple's iPhone and iPad devices.

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The first Apple-branded Mac processors will have eight high-performance cores and at least four energy-efficient cores, the report claims. Apple might build processors with more than 12 cores in the future.

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It's unclear which Apple device will get the new processor first, but Bloomberg thinks that it's likely to be a new laptop, as it would be hard for Apple to beat Intel's chips' performance in pro-grade machines such as the Mac Pro, iMac, and the MacBook Pro.

Apple currently uses Intel chips in its Mac, iMac and MacBook lineups, but a transition to an in-house chip should give the company greater control over the performance of its devices. It should also make it easier for Apple to unify its apps ecosystem, which is something Apple has been working towards for a while (though Macs with new chips will still run macOS, as opposed to iPhone's iOS).

It's also worth noting that this is a reversal of Apple's long-time strategy. The company previously used PowerPC processors in Macs until 2006, when it switched to Intel's processors. The change kickstarted a fruitful period for Apple, with many of its PCs being heralded as some of the best in the world. But now, Apple is reportedly ready to make the switch again due to Intel's manufacturing challenges and slower chip progress.

The reports on Apple's in-house chips have been around since at least 2018, but the plan — codenamed Kalamata — hasn't materialized yet.

The report warns that Apple might change or postpone its plans due to the complexity of the project. But given its original plan to have the first of these chips out in 2020, it's also possible that Apple launches a Mac with an in-house processor as early as this year, which would be in line with a recent prediction by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.