The timing of the crossing that in 2022 will bring Apple from Intel to almost total independence on chips, at least in terms of design, anticipated by Bloomberg
At WWDC 2020 Apple surprised the whole world by announcing its "separation" from Intel due to the fact that it would be setting up on its own. With the M1 chips Apple has translated in the computer field what it has been applying for years in the iPhone field, designing in house the best chip based on the experience it wants to deliver in the hands of the customer.
The results are clear for all to see: Macs with Apple Silicon M1 chips combine high performance with benchmark power consumption, and although any new product needs an initial "break-in" phase in which they are understandable problems of youth, it seems that the Mac M1 did not even have that. When Apple announced its revolution it also said it would take some time to totally abandon Intel and put an Apple Silicon chip inside every product in the range, about two years. In the past few hours, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has detailed what the next steps will be and what to expect in the coming twelve months from Apple and its Apple Silicon chips.
Apple's proprietary chip roadmap
In his weekly column, Gurman explained that the transition should be completed by November 2022 so as not to fall behind the stated timeline of two years, precisely, from the release date of the first Mac M1.
The next step on the roadmap - by now it's well known because we've talked about it on several occasions - is the MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon M1X chips, which according to Gurman are on track to be made official "in the coming months", while "immediately after" a new high-end Mac mini is expected, perhaps precisely with the M1X chip of the MacBook Pro that should have higher performance than the current M1. All of this would happen by the end of the year.
The first pass of 2022 will feature iMacs, Apple's all-in-one machines that in recent months have gotten an update that featured just the M1 chip. However, the work on iMacs is incomplete: Apple has brought its new chip on about half of the range, that is, on all iMacs with 24-inch display.
But those with 27-inch display are missing for professionals, who have greater needs in terms of CPU and GPU and for this a different platform is expected. Who knows, once again, that it could be the M1X chip, or we should wait for Apple to update its line of chips by providing a more powerful one for the higher-end Macs.
The Mac Pros last, the most difficult challenge
After the iMacs it will be the turn of the Mac Pros. In the second half of the year says Gurman, with a revamped design and probably smaller in size than the current machine, "about half" writes the tipster. So, once the most demanding challenge of all, that of the powerful Mac Pro, is over, Apple will have concluded its transition from Intel to chips designed in house.
Transition aside, given that MacBook Air already has the experience with Intel behind it, the small laptop with the Apple should be the subject of an overhaul in 2022, which according to Gurman will bring support for the recent MagSafe magnetic wireless charging standard, which has already made proselytes in the Android world.