Apple is planning to start selling Macs with its own main processors by next year to leverage designs that helped popularize the iPhone and iPad, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the matter.
Apple is working on three of its own Mac processors, known as systems-on-a-chip, based on the A14 processor in the next iPhone. The first of these will be much faster than the processors in the iPhone and iPad, the people said.
Apple is preparing to release at least one Mac with its own chip next year, the people said. But the initiative to develop multiple chips, codenamed Kalamata, suggests the company will transition more of its Mac lineup away from current supplier Intel Corp.
The new Mac chips will be built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Apple's partner for iPhone and iPad processors, the people said.
The processor will be based on a 5-nanometer production technique, the same size Apple will use in the next iPhones and iPad Pros, one of the people said.
Apple is designing more of its own chips to gain greater control over the performance of its devices and differentiate them from rivals.
Getting Macs, iPhones and iPads running the same underlying technology should make it easier for Apple to unify its apps ecosystem and update its computers more often, the report said.
The move would also reduce reliance on Intel, which has struggled to maintain the annual increases in performance it once offered.
The first Mac processors will have eight high-performance cores, codenamed Firestorm, and at least four energy-efficient cores, known internally as Icestorm. Apple is exploring Mac processors with more than 12 cores for further in the future, the people said.
In some Macs, Apple's designs will double or quadruple the number of cores that Intel provides. The current entry-level MacBook Air has two cores, for example.
Like Qualcomm Inc. and the rest of the mobile semiconductor industry, Apple designs its smartphone chips with technology from Arm Inc.
The transition will be gradual, starting with less-powerful computers because the company's first custom Mac chips won't be able to rival the performance Intel provides for high-end MacBook Pros, iMacs and the Mac Pro desktop computer.
