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Support for ARM chips found in macOS Sierra Kernel

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And then, with slightly cheaper MacBooks, they could take over the world. "Everyone" would want one. Who would buy a Windows laptop for 800 if there was an Apple alternative? They would dominate.

When has Apple ever offered lower prices because they pay less for any laptop or desktop component ? Look at how much they charge for ram and storage when you upgrade those in a custom build Macbook Pro or Mac Pro.

They already have the means to replace the Macbook line with equally performing ARM SoCs, give them two more years and they can probably match 95 W TDP Intel CPUs in performance as well.

How would they replace the 18 core and 22 + core chips in the new iMac and Mac Pro that will be out in 2018 ? If they would support both Intel and Arm chips at the same time it's possible. When they left behind PowerPC chips for Intel they quickly phased out support in OS X so I don't think that is likely. Apple is trying to win back Pros and Prosumers so a complete switch to ARM would be a disaster for those customers. Developers would also be rather unhappy unless you'd be running iOS apps on your Mac laptop and desktop.
 
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There is a new Coffee lake CPU that will be incorporating AMD GPU in the die. A new partnership between them and Intel announced they will be using it for a few select vendors. Apple will likely be one of them. This will blow away any ARM chip for a few years at least. There is a thread here @ TM but I can't find it. Maybe Stork can bring it home?

It will use either Polaris or Vega tech and HBM2 memory built into the CPU. This will save power as no discreet graphics card is needed and size will decrease.
 
When has Apple ever offered lower prices because they pay less for any laptop or desktop component ? Look at how much they charge for ram and storage when you upgrade those in a custom build Macbook Pro or Mac Pro.

How would they replace the 18 core and 22 + core chips in the new iMac and Mac Pro that will be out in 2018 ? If they would support both Intel and Arm chips at the same time it's possible. When they left behind PowerPC chips for Intel they quickly phased out support in OS X so I don't think that is likely. Apple is trying to win back Pros and Prosumers so a complete switch to ARM would be a disaster for those customers. Developers would also be rather unhappy unless you'd be running iOS apps on your Mac laptop and desktop.
They only care for money. There is more money in winning a billion of regular consumers than a couple of thousand professionals.

Hey, not trying to predict the future here. Just speculating.

I don't think they could keep up with two versions simultaneously. Think of all the software that has to be converted. Devs don't have time to keep up with two entirely different instruction sets..

From a business perspective, I cannot see why they wouldn't want to.
You are skepical about replacements for 18 core CPUs. I understand that. I just think they got something hidden up their sleeve that've been in R&D for a long time now. And might soon be ready.
 
There is a new Coffee lake CPU that will be incorporating AMD GPU in the die. A new partnership between them and Intel announced they will be using it for a few select vendors. Apple will likely be one of them. This will blow away any ARM chip for a few years at least. There is a thread here @ TM but I can't find it. Maybe Stork can bring it home?

It will use either Polaris or Vega tech and HBM2 memory built into the CPU. This will save power as no discreet graphics card is needed and size will decrease.
I think this move was made by Intel, precisely because they know exactly what Apple is about to unleash in a year or two.

Apple has already proved they dominate the <5W ARM market. Is it not conceivable they have the knowledge and engineers to at the least challenge Intel in 15-95W?
 
From CNET Sept. 29, 2015

"We don't believe in having one operating system for PC and mobile," Cook said Tuesday during a fireside chat with Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, a company that provides cloud storage for businesses. "We think it subtracts from both, and you don't get the best experience from either. We're very much focused on two."

Cook's comments echo what Apple has said for years, that its PC and mobile systems will stay separate. Craig Federighi, Apple senior vice president of software engineering, told CNET after the company's iPad and Mac launch last year that introducing Macs with touchscreens was something Apple had no plans to do.

"We don't think it's the right interface, honestly," he said at the time. "Mac is sort of a sit-down experience."

I'm certain that Apple will continue to develop their own chips for mobile devices. They will also stay with Intel for desktops. We won't see macOS running on iPads and iPhones or vice versa, iOS running on desktops. They can both complement each other and even communicate quite well with features like handoff and continuity. Merging them into one "maciOS" would be a major mistake. I would definitely not use anything Apple if that were to happen. So fine, if they put an ARM chip into a macBook and run iOS on it then it's just an iPad with a keyboard attached and not anything radically different or revolutionary.
 
From CNET Sept. 29, 2015

"We don't believe in having one operating system for PC and mobile," Cook said Tuesday during a fireside chat with Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, a company that provides cloud storage for businesses. "We think it subtracts from both, and you don't get the best experience from either. We're very much focused on two."

Cook's comments echo what Apple has said for years, that its PC and mobile systems will stay separate. Craig Federighi, Apple senior vice president of software engineering, told CNET after the company's iPad and Mac launch last year that introducing Macs with touchscreens was something Apple had no plans to do.

"We don't think it's the right interface, honestly," he said at the time. "Mac is sort of a sit-down experience."

I'm certain that Apple will continue to develop their own chips for mobile devices. They will also stay with Intel for desktops. We won't see macOS running on iPads and iPhones or vice versa, iOS running on desktops. They can both complement each other and even communicate quite well with features like handoff and continuity. Merging them into one "maciOS" would be a major mistake. I would definitely not use anything Apple if that were to happen. So fine, if they put an ARM chip into a macBook and run iOS on it then it's just an iPad with a keyboard attached and not anything radically different or revolutionary.
Not talking about iOS on Mac. A terrible idea. Talking about macOS powered by ARM.

https://www.google.se/amp/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4110753-apple-arm-based-macbooks-pros-cons

"
The Nikkei article also claims, based on two industry sources, that Apple is looking to replace Intel in its line of Mac notebooks. The question of whether Apple can or should begin building ARM-based Macs is really about whether this paradigm shift will expand into the traditional strongholds of the PC industry. There are arguments to be made either way and in the sections below, I touch on those in looking at the specific question of the ARM-based MacBook.


The case for an ARM-based MacBook
I first wrote about the possibility of an ARM-based Mac notebook back in April 2014. At the time, I saw it as a way to address a segment of the notebook market ($500-$1000 devices) that Apple mostly ignored. ARM processors appeared to have cost advantages compared to Intel and would allow Apple to address this market segment without sacrificing gross margin."
 
Talking about macOS powered by ARM.

Which means that iOS and macOS would both run on the same hardware, something that Cook and others at Apple had said they will not do. It would have to be ARM chip(s) powering every Mac desktop that they make which as stated before will not be possible even in 2019. Apple won't make the transition part way just to sell Macbooks with ARM at a lower price.

Mac sales have steadily gone up this past year and customers want more powerful iMacs and Mac Pros. There's no way they will meet expectations by switching the Mac laptops and desktops to ARM. It's nice to wish, hope and dream it will happen but it doesn't make it so. The internet writers want to write stories to get page views. They've been saying the ARM switch is imminent since about 2011 and this year and next Apple has stated plans for more Intel based Macs including new Xeon W chips in iMac Pro and Mac Pro.
 
The A11 rivals and defeats my 7200U, by a large margin, performance wise. This was not the case in 2011.

What is stopping Apple from researching a more powerful processor utilizing loads more power than their A11?

You think they wouldn't take the chance to truly differentiate themselves from Windows computers, cut the bonds to Intel, increase profits and independance, and able to design the CPU/SoC exactly as they deem it necessary?

It's inevitable IMO. And I think two years is enough for them. Just a guess, of course.

I do not look forward to it. It's just.. progress.
 
I agree that Apple will one day make all of it's own chips for all of their products. They want control there just like in everything else they are doing. So whether that happens quickly or slowly we will have to adjust too and make decisions. They will one day leave Intel in the dust just like IBM and Motorola. For that to happen in two years is pushing it a little based on the past record of Apple. They just don't make wholesale changes until they are 100 % ready for the transition and certain it will be a success. In 2006 they didn't release just an Intel based Mac Mini and keep PowerPC chips in everything else. The whole Mac line of products got new Intel Core Duo, Core 2 Duo and Xeon CPUs. Then 3 years later all PowerPC support was dropped from the Snow Leopard OS. Those like me who bought a PowerPC based Mac in 2005 were left out in the cold. Could not even install Snow Leopard. That is why I ended up here in 2011 and have been using a CustoMac ever since.

Here's the Wiki article that gives the whole story of the Intel transition:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple's_transition_to_Intel_processors
Very interesting read. Amazing how successful it was.

Apple always does what is best for Apple. That's why they are now a 897.5 billion dollar market cap corp. today, headed for the Trillion dollar mark soon. Mind boggling isn't it ?
 
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