We know that Apple is making the transition from Intel chips to its own Apple Silicon hardware for MacBook and the Mac computing device lineup starting later this year. However, it is still anyone’s guess which Mac would be the one to usher in a generational change for the Mac devices—starting with the Apple A14X processor. Initially, it was believed that the MacBook Pro 13, perhaps morphing to the MacBook Pro 14, will signal the change in processing power. Now, there are suggestions that Apple could very well revive the 12-inch MacBook and add it to the line-up as well. Apple had announced the transition from Intel’s Core processors to the Apple Silicon chips, at WWDC earlier this summer. However, there seems to still be some ambiguity on which chips Apple will use for the initial transition.
Apple had last refreshed the 12-inch MacBook in 2017, and since then have focused on resurrecting the 13-inch MacBook Air. It was simply called the Apple MacBook at the time. However, a report by The China Times suggests that the first MacBook to get the Apple A14X processor will be the returning MacBook. It might weigh less than a kg and is expected to have battery life between 15-20 hours. The Apple A14X processor will be manufactured using the 5nm process and will be an evolution of the A14 chips that power the Apple iPhones at this time. It is expected to be a 12-core processor, with 8 high performance cores and 4 energy efficient cores.
“According to Apple’s supply chain, Apple is expected to launch a Macbook with a 12-inch Retina Display at the end of this year, using its self-developed and designed A14X processor, with the development code of Tonga, supporting a USB Type-C interface and weighing less than 1 kilogram, because of the low-power advantage of the Arm-based processor. The Macbook battery lasts 15 to 20 hours. The A14X processor will also be used in the new generation iPad Pro tablet,” says The China Times report. Apple has set a two year timeline to switch all MacBook, Mac, Mac Pro and iMac computing devices from Intel Core processors to Apple Silicon.
It is interesting that the report indicates the Apple A14X processor. During the WWDC keynote, Apple had confirmed that the custom-chips for the Macs will be able to run iPhone and iPad apps. The underlying architecture of Apple’s A12Z chip mentioned at the time which has been shipped with the Developer Transition Kit that includes a Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD with the macOS Big Sur developer beta, and the chips that power the iPhone and the iPad remains the same. Apple’s custom chips will have their own designed graphics and storage controllers as well.
It is expected that the ability to run iOS and iPadOS app versions alongside the macOS apps will be available from the outset, on Macs that are powered by the Apple Silicon. And that journey starts at the end of this year. The iOS apps that can be run on these Macs will show up in the App Store for macOS—though we will probably get a clearer idea of what this means as we get closer to the launch. This would likely also mean that an app which you may have purchased on your iPhone or iPad already, will be available on the Mac without having to buy again.
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