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Apple leaving Pro market and MacOS till 2020, will leave consumer iOS on ARM
  • Apple is planning to use its own chips in Mac computers beginning as early as 2020, replacing processors from Intel, according to people familiar with the plans, Bloomberg News’ Ian King and Mark Gurman report.

    The initiative, code named Kalamata, is still in the early developmental stages, but comes as part of a larger strategy to make all of Apple’s devices -- including Macs, iPhones, and iPads -- work more similarly and seamlessly together, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The project, which executives have approved, will likely result in a multi-step transition.

    The shift would be a blow to Intel, whose partnership helped revive Apple’s Mac success and linked the chipmaker to one of the leading brands in electronics. Apple provides Intel with about 5 percent of its annual revenue

    Intel shares dropped as much as 9.2 percent, the biggest intraday drop in more than two years.

    Not April joke :-)

    Of course, formally MacOS will remain, but will be incompatible with all existing software, except iOS applications.
    Move is expected as none of top Apple managers is interested in professional niche market anymore.

  • 11 Replies sorted by
  • Not too surprising either that Apple would want to accomplish both increased vertical integration and reduce the number of supported operating system/CPU architecture combinations.

  • @eatstoomuchjam

    Only Apple goal here is to maximize profits.
    As mobile Intel CPUs have extremely high margins.
    Plus they will finally get full control on software installations, lock down OS.

  • after spectre and meltdown i wouldn't want to bet on intel either.

  • @Vitaliy_Kisilev - we are saying pretty much the same thing. Vertical integration = higher profits and switching to some sort of converged OS lets them reduce the number of developers working on it which also saves money. That's a good point about locking down the OS as well - no more hackintoshes.

  • There's nothing here that Apple have not done previously. Before the move to Intel in 2006 they were using custom Motorola PowerPC chips.

  • @pureaxis

    Apple’s macOS, the operating system that runs on Intel’s x86 architecture, is now legacy software. This may sound like a blunt allegation to make, given that Apple still sells plenty of MacBooks and iMacs, but the development of that OS within Apple seems to have halted entirely.

    @caveport

    Just this time they go out of pro market entirely. And will kill many small developers with them as they won't be able to afford to redo their software or it won't run properly on extremely underpowered CPUs.

    Current Apple plan is to go further with reducing laptops thickness and battery size, no matter that. This 100% means very low power CPUs.

    Apple idea is actually made .... Apple Chromebook. With Adobe like licensing with monthly fees, as you do not pay, it locks out completely.

  • @longjohnsilver hahaha, what a ridiculous article. Apples spin machine in full swing

  • I would be surprised if Adobe isn't already working with Apple on this, too.

  • @Bernie while I recognize they are generally biased toward Apple IMHO most of their argument are true. Vertical integration, different use of computers etc...

  • Gerard Williams III, senior director in platform architecture, departed Apple last month after nine years, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    Williams led development of every Apple processor core from the A7 -- the first 64-bit processor for mobile devices -- to the A12X, the chip powering Apple's latest iPad Pro devices.

    Guy is very smart as he knows issues in chip industry and left at the best moment to not see Apple failure with ARM plan.