Apple will release the first Mac computer with an ARM processor in the first half of 2021, Tianfeng Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in his latest research report released on Monday.
Kuo predicts that one of Apple's new products to be released in the next 12 to 18 months will be a Mac equipped with an independently developed ARM processor instead of an Intel processor.
In the past few years, there have been more and more reports that Apple will switch to custom-designed ARM processors for the new Mac, and Kuo provided the specific timetable.
He said that since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Apple has become "more active" in funding research, development and production of 5nm process chips, and it is expected that these chips will be used in the first batch of ARM processors Mac computer.
That's because 5nm chips will be integrated into iPhones and iPads later this year and into Mac computers by 2021.
Apple is expected to receive shipments of 5nm process chips in mid-2020.
Kuo said that Apple will not only use 5nm custom chips for the first Mac with an ARM processor in 2021, but also flagship iPhones in 2020 and new mini LEDs expected to be launched from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021. This chip is used in the iPad version.
For Apple, the switch from Intel processors to custom ARM processors for Macs will be a major shift, which will give them greater flexibility for hardware updates to the Mac, as well as fine-tuning hardware and software efficiency to achieve the best experience.
It is worth pointing out that because this shift happens to ensure that the new ARM version of the Mac can support MacOS software, developers still have work to do.
