Apple Announces "3rd Transition" for macOS: From Intel CPUs to Apple Silicon

[pastrychef]

in the late 1980s there was a hardware emulator that allowed you to turn an Atari ST into a Mac by using OS upgrade ROMs

Spectre from Gadgets by Small. My first exposure to System/Finder. Good memories.

 

[Simon70]

I'm really curious to see how the new Apple Silicon-based MacPRO will contemplate all the features of modularity and customization on which the entire presentation campaign of the new MacPRO was based, when it was presented and on which the durability of the machine, precisely due to the expandability and updating possible for many years.
Only for having supported the latter thing, a company that wants to consider itself serious and professional with a professional user, cannot choose a way other than providing the aforementioned professional with a machine that is indifferent to them or better than the one they have chosen and at cost zero, if he wants to suspend that updateability of many years that was promised him, changing architecture and putting it out of business.
I would not want this to be read as a polemic, it is only a sincere curiosity and a positive expectation towards a novelty that precisely because of the presuppositions of difficulty it has to assert itself, without causing damage or creating suffering, must be revolutionary and make a leap in ahead of those many promised years, then a huge leap forward.

 

[Snoots]

I for one just don't like the dead looking Ios Iphone/Ipad graphic experience being forced onto the desktop experience, the dumbed down interface designs like Microsoft Office went to as they wanted to support tablets and phones. They just look cartoony to me and less artistic.

 

[CaseySJ]

** The end of Hackintosh as we know it **​

Yesterday's momentous announcement of the transition to Apple Silicon means that Macintosh will eventually become a completely closed and proprietary system.

But this won't happen right away. There is plenty of time. The chart below is one way of forecasting the future. It is not an official chart (obviously), but it does show three inevitable phases for Hackintosh, in green, orange, and red.

P.S. If this post looks familiar, it's because of a request to repost it here.

 

[hisartwork]

Those to think that ARM CPUs can't compete with Intel CPUs need to take a look at the Geekbench scores of the latest iPhones. It outperforms my overclocked i9-9900K in single core. It trails in multi-core performance, but on a laptop or desktop they can easily tack on more cores and increase clock speeds since space and cooling won't be as limited. I think it would be foolish to think that Apple will release ARM based Macs that can't out-bench Intel based ones, including the Mac Pros.

View attachment 477611

What I'd like to know is whether the ARM based Macs will still be using AMD graphics and whether users will still be able to replace graphics cards with off-the-shelf cards in the ARM based Mac Pros when they are released.

Those who believe that macOS will continue to be updated with support for Intel CPUs are lying to themselves. It makes no sense for Apple to continue support and development for two different platforms. I see a gradual wind down of support for Intel. Realistically, I think Intel based Macs and, by extension, hackintoshes will continue to see OS support and updates for 3-5 years. After that, whatever the last version of macOS that has Intel support will continue to get "Security Updates" for a few more years but no more new major releases of macOS and no more Universal 2 or Rosetta 2.

Looking at the comments, I see some have already made the decision to move on to Linux or Windows. To me, this really shows why Apple really left hackintoshing alone and never really actively went out of their way to inhibit it. Many hackintoshers would not have purchased Macs anyway.

Whle I do use Linux and Windows when I must, I can't see myself using either as my daily OS. I have always liked the UI of macOS best. I am most comfortable with macOS. I know macOS far better than any of the alternatives. Personally, I'm looking forward to buying my first ARM based Mac.

Just my two cents and my guesses/estimates...

Wow, never realized how quick these iPhones were!
I haven't bought a desktop from apple (just a laptop) since I made my first Hackintosh in 2012, thanks to this site and the pros like yourself. I too could never make the daily switch to windows, and have only dabbled with linux but its beyond my comfort level.

My current Hackintosh is 3 years old, and I was looking at building a new one at the end of this year....now im not so sure. Then again, if they support intel for 4 more years, I could survive off that last supported OS for a year or two after that (I just now upgraded from high sierra). That would give me roughly 6 years out of a new desktop. But ultimately It's really going to come down to the cost for me, I do love to tinker and upgrade my own hardware, but if the price is right to have a streamlined ecosystem (I have iOS, tvOS and iPadOS) on an ARM based MAC, sign me up. Bitter sweet.

 

[tonymacx86]

P.S. If this post looks familiar, it's because of a request to repost it here.

 

[Simon70]

To say two words about Hackintosh too ...
Nobody can know if a complete hardware market will be born around the new ARM architecture, such as the one that exists around Intel or AMD in the future and therefore it will be possible to create an ARM PC regardless of the operating system to be installed.
After all, the economic interests that will shift are very high and hardware manufacturers may be interested in creating a new market on which to earn for sure.
In this scenario and on this scenario, communities such as this one in which we find ourselves could be inserted and contribute and even be decisive precisely for the stimulus to the birth of that market, developing solutions capable of allowing the installation of new versions of MacOS, just as it happens Now.
Who knows that the good tonymacx86.com does not see the birth of a younger brother with the name of tonymacARM.com and who knows if the founder of our community has not already registered the domain? ;-)

 

[p1plup]

I think I'll invest in making my 4790K rig Catalina / Big Sur compatible, but not invest in a completely new i9+ setup. Cost will be: New GPU (currently have 980Ti), New 10x14 audio interface (mine's not Catalina supported), Paid upgrades/udpates for Waves, same for various NI & Arturia programs, surely VEP too. Probably $1000-ish.

It wasn't worth it just to get Catalina and the latest version of Logic Pro X but since this will be "the last one" may as well have the software groundwork for maybe an 9th-gen build when those are old. The biggest loss will be effectively a downgrade in GPU, which I'll really miss when I boot into Windows.

 

[Crazylegsmurphy]

My situation is simple. As a designer I prefer to use MacOS, but I'm also a gamer. I have specific hardware needs, but not an unlimited budget. Apple simply doesn't offer anything that will work for my needs, so I switched to Hackintosh.

If this is the end of Hackintosh, then I will simply have to accept that fate and move back to Windows. I prefer not to (as I have other Apple products), but I refuse to purchase any Apple hardware as long as it is overpriced and I can't use hardware that I need.

I looked at a MacMini, but it doesn't have the GPU power I need. I dislike iMacs for the screen and the poor GPU's. MacBook Pro's are useless to me and the Mac Pro starts at like $5000. There is nothing in the middle. Even if Apple came out with a desktop that would allow for Nvidia GPU's and was a reasonable cost, I could justify purchasing one and just dealing with having two computers, but they don't seem to be going that direction, so I might be out.

 

[p1plup]

If this is the end of Hackintosh, then I will simply have to accept that fate and move back to Windows.

If you do switch back, will you have to switch to another "main" set of programs? I toy with switching to Windows, but there's no Logic Pro for Windows. I do own Digital Performer and Ableton but the ergonomic setback is HUGE and I do it for fun/leisure not a living.