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Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event: rumors, news, and announcements

Don’t let the name fool you: Apple’s “One More Thing” hardware event on Tuesday, November 10th, is likely more than just an add-on to October’s iPhone 12 announcements. The event is set to be the launch of the first of Apple’s promised Arm-based computers, marking the start of the company’s separation from longtime partner Intel and the first time Apple-designed silicon will appear in Macs outside of T2 security chips.

The move was announced back at WWDC, and alongside a (hopefully) smooth transition, Apple promises improvements in performance and battery life from the new, still unnamed chip. Aiding the transition is Rosetta 2, a new version of the emulator that Apple used during its last processor transition from PowerPC to Intel. Rosetta 2 should allow you to run emulated versions of your old macOS apps on the company’s new Arm-based products when it ships with macOS Big Sur. 

Big Sur (macOS 11.0) should also receive a final release date. The operating system will arrive with a new visual design that lifts a lot of elements from iOS 14 and a lot of features, too, like updated iMessage and Maps applications, widgets, and the Control Center interface. There’s also the possibility of other long-rumored products to finally appear — from AirTags to an updated version of the Apple TV 4K from way back in 2017. However this event shakes out, you can keep up with all of the news and announcements right here.

  • Sean Hollister

    Jun 23, 2020

    Sean Hollister

    Our biggest burning question about Apple’s ARM silicon

    Apple CEO Tim Cook in front of a silicon wafer platter
    Apple CEO Tim Cook, with a wafer of Apple silicon in the background

    For years, Apple has steadily revealed how the ARM-based chips in its mobile phones were catching up in performance to the beefier silicon you’d find inside a laptop or desktop — in 2018, the company claimed its new iPad Pro was faster than 92 percent of portable PCs. At some point, it seemed inevitable that Apple would turn the more efficient chips into the primary processors for its Mac computers, too.

    Now, it’s official: Apple is migrating the Mac to its own homegrown silicon, starting later this year.

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  • Chris Welch

    Jun 22, 2020

    Chris Welch

    Apple announces Mac mini powered by its own chips for developers

    Image: Apple

    After it confirmed that future Macs will be powered by Apple Silicon, the company also announced that developers will soon have access to a Developer Transition Kit that will take the form of a Mac mini.

    The mini will run on Apple’s A12Z chip — the same one found in the 2020 iPad Pro — and includes 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It will come preloaded with a beta versions of macOS Big Sur and Xcode to help developers ready their apps for consumer Macs when they launch starting later this year. The DTK also has “a variety of Mac I/O ports.”

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  • Chaim Gartenberg

    Jun 22, 2020

    Chaim Gartenberg

    Macs with new Apple-built chips will natively run iPhone and iPad apps

    Apple has announced that its new Macs that are powered by the company’s newly-announced Apple-built chips will be able to natively run iPhone and iPad apps, thanks to the shared architecture. Apps demoed during the keynote include Monument Valley 2, Calm, and the Fender Play app.

    The new apps will be installed directly from the Mac App Store, with multiple iOS apps able to run side-by-side alongside macOS apps. Apple says that the new feature will be available at launch alongside the new Macs with Apple chips, which are set to launch as early as the end of the year.

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  • Tom Warren

    Jun 22, 2020

    Tom Warren

    Apple is switching Macs to its own processors starting later this year

    Apple is officially moving to its own silicon chips for some of its Mac hardware. Calling it a “historic day for the Mac,” Apple CEO Tim Cook detailed the transitions to PowerPC, Mac OS X, and the move to Intel chips before unveiling its plans to use Apple’s own ARM-powered silicon in Macs in the future. It’s a big move that means macOS will support native iOS apps and macOS apps side by side on these new machines in the future.

    Apple will release the first Mac with Apple silicon at the end of this year, and it expects the transition to take two years. New Intel-powered Macs are still in the pipeline, so Apple isn’t moving exclusively to ARM-based Macs just yet. Still, this is a big shift for Apple to move away from Intel-based silicon in Macs.

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  • Monica Chin

    Jun 22, 2020

    Monica Chin

    Apple announces macOS Big Sur with a brand-new design

    Image: Apple

    It’s been a big day for Apple so far, with the announcements of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14. But for MacBook users, the exciting part of the day is just beginning. Apple has unveiled the next version of macOS: Big Sur.

    The biggest change is the new look. Big Sur brings the biggest redesign since the introduction of macOS 10, according to Apple. The new operating system borrows a number of elements from Apple’s iOS, including a customizable Control Center, where you can toggle brightness, Do Not Disturb, and other settings of your choice; and a new notification center, which keeps all of your notifications and widgets (also redesigned, and available in the App Store) in one column, sorts alerts by most recent, and groups related notifications together. Both interfaces are translucent, like their iOS counterparts.

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  • Sam Byford

    Jun 22, 2020

    Sam Byford

    First ARM Macs will be MacBook Pros and an all-new iMac: report

    A 2020 Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch with the display on and keyboard visible
    Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

    Apple is set to unveil its long-awaited Mac transition from Intel to ARM processors today at its online WWDC 2020 keynote, and analyst Ming-chi Kuo has issued his predictions for the first Macs that will use the new Apple-designed processors. His research note was reported on by MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and AppleInsider.

    First of all, Kuo says the last new Intel-based Mac ever will be a brand new iMac design with thinner bezels and a 24-inch display. This iMac is said to be planned for a release in Q3 2020, but an ARM version will follow it in the first quarter of next year.

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  • Apr 3, 2018

    Vlad Savov

    Apple is moving on from Intel because Intel isn’t moving anywhere

    Intel Logo

    A report from Bloomberg this week has made public something that should already have been apparent to tech industry observers: Apple is planning to replace Intel processors in Mac computers with its own chips starting sometime around 2020. The two California companies have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership ever since Apple made the switch to Intel CPUs with the 2006 MacBook Pro and iMac, but recent trends have made the breakup between them inevitable. Intel’s chip improvements have stagnated at the same time as Apple’s have accelerated, and now iPhone systems-on-chip are outperforming laptop-class silicon from Intel’s Core line. Even if Intel never cedes its performance crown, the future that Apple is building will invariably be better served by its own chip designs.

    Apple’s decision to ditch the world’s most popular CPU line for laptop and desktop computers may seem radical, but there are a number of key factors that actually make it obvious and unavoidable.

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  • Chris Welch

    Apr 2, 2018

    Chris Welch

    Apple will reportedly ditch Intel chips in Macs as early as 2020

    MacBook and MacBook Pro 2017
    Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

    In a major shift that carries big implications for both companies, Apple will reportedly replace Intel’s processors with the company’s own chips in Mac computers as soon as 2020, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The changeover is likely to begin with laptops such as the 12-inch MacBook. Intel’s stock price took a hit soon after the report was published; Bloomberg estimates that Apple provides approximately 5 percent of the chipmaker’s annual revenue. Aside from the processors in its Macs, Apple also uses Intel’s modem chips in some iPhones.

    Apple’s last major Mac processor transition of this scope occurred when it moved away from IBM’s PowerPC chips in favor of Intel’s. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs announced the move in 2005 and it was completed by the end of the following year. As in that earlier example, Bloomberg notes this would require a “multi-step transition.” Intel chips will almost certainly remain in Apple’s top-end machines like the iMac Pro and forthcoming Mac Pro revision until the company can produce in-house chips that are capable of meeting the demands of professional Mac users.

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