Items tagged with apple silicon
Apple's M1 "Apple Silicon" hit the market with a big splash in late 2020 when it launched inside the refreshed MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini. The SoC is currently available in an 8-core CPU configuration with either a 7- or 8-core GPU onboard paired with 8GB or 16GB of RAM. The M1 has since found its way to the all-new Mac mini and even the new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. However, a new report coming out of Japan alleges that second-generation Apple Silicon is already in production. The next-generation SoC is reportedly called the M2 and will be based on TSMC's 5-nanometer plus (N5P) process node. The M1 is currently in use in everything from the iPad Pro to the new iMac....
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Yesterday, Apple announced a refresh of its 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets. Last year's 2020 refresh was relatively minor with a slightly more powerful GPU in the A12Z Bionic processor and upgraded cameras, but Apple put more effort into the 2021 update. The new iPad Pros now feature the same M1 Apple Silicon that graces the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and the all-new iMac. The M1 SoC also means that the iPad Pro is available in 8GB and 16GB RAM configurations with up to 2TB of internal storage space. Both tablets now support Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and optional 5G wireless connectivity via a Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modem. Finally, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro gets a stunning...
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Apple today announced its all-new iMac, which is the “next big step” in the design evolution for the company’s all-in-one desktop. This time around, the iMac is much thinner than before, measuring just 11.5mm thick, and is entirely flat (rather than having a curved back). But what will most likely stand out most of all is the right colors that are now available across the iMac lineup. The back features bold colors like blue, red, and green. The color is mirrored on the front of the device, albeit in a lighter shade to not be too distracting. The display bezels are also thinner, although there is still a sizable “chin” at the bottom of the device. Speaking of the...
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After a lengthy technical preview, Parallels has officially released Parallels Desktop version 16.5 which includes official support for Apple's latest Macs. That includes support for the 2020 Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro which all bear the Apple Silicon M1 processor. Supported guests include Windows 10's Insider Preview for Arm 64 and multiple Linux distributions. During the preview period, we discovered that the Arm version of Windows ran pretty well, even when the guest OS is limited to just 4 GB of RAM and four CPU of the M1's eight CPU cores. Not only did the four-core VM outrun a Snapdragon 8cx in single- and multi-threaded Geekbench, it also more than doubled up performance...
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It has been over a year since the fourth-generation iPad Pro launched, which means that the fifth-generation is likely just around the corner. Luckily, Apple is dropping some hints about the next-gen iPad Pro in the newest iOS 14.5 Beta 5 release. A reference to an SoC with the internal codename "13G" was discovered, which has not been used by any other iOS devices. Based on previously disclosed GPUs used in iPhone and iPads, this SoC is the unannounced A14X Bionic. As you might recall, the standard A14 Bionic is used in the iPhone 12 family along with the current-generation iPad Air. The A14X Bionic, based on what we know from previous iPad Pro generations, will likely have additional...
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Apple last year confirmed a seismic shift that we all knew was coming for a long time. The company announced its decision to abandon Intel processors over the next 2 to 3 years and switch to its own Apple Silicon. Making this move would put Apple in the driver's seat concerning its product roadmap, though the move was bold and risky to be sure. The first products to move to Apple's homegrown SoC -- the M1 -- were the 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini. Intel is probably none-too pleased at Apple's decision, which has been compounded by the fact that Apple has touted its superiority over Intel chips ever since. In return, Intel has launched a new ad campaign...
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In August of last year, Apple gave the iMac a much-needed Comet Lake-H and Radeon Pro Navi refresh, which boosted the sleek all-in-one's performance. Concurrently, Apple sold the iMac Pro, which touted slightly better upgrades for more intensive computing tasks, but it seems people did not necessarily need all that horsepower. Putting the final nail in the coffin, Apple has finally updated the iMac Pro webpage with a “While Supplies Last” notice and is only allowing the sale of the machine's base configuration. Comparing the updated iMac and iMac Pro side by side, it is not hard to see why anyone would prefer the iMac over the Pro variant. When configuring an iMac, you can select...
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Apple's latest M1 Macs -- and many Intel-based ones, for that matter -- all use the company's T2 security chip, which encrypts the system's built-in storage. The issue with highly-integrated motherboards with onboard storage is that if the onboard SSD wears out, the whole system becomes a brick of e-waste. And as flash density increases by storing more bits per cell (for example, Samsung's QVO drives with QLC NAND), its longevity decreases, since it can't handle as many write operations. That's why it might be a good idea to keep track of whether a system with built-in storage is wearing itself down. Hector Martin, one of the developers responsible for porting the Linux kernel to Apple...
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While users may never want to have to rely on them, it's comforting to know that PCs running modern operating systems have fail-safes and recovery modes that can help get the system back up and running when disaster strikes. Back in the day, PCs came with a collection of floppy disks or a recovery CD that would reinstall the OS from scratch. These days it's a partition on the computer's primary storage that helps get back up and running. Every manufacturer does it a little differently, and with the advent of Apple Silicon M1 Macs, the procedure has gotten even easier. Every Mac that relies on a built-in SSD and has Apple's T2 security chip ships with a secure vault that prevents booting from...
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Apple made quite the splash with its first homegrown processor for Macs: the M1. This Apple Silicon SoC is based on the 5nm process node and includes an 8-core CPU, 7-core or 8-Core GPU, and up to 16GB of on-package LPDDR4x memory. While the M1 is perfectly fine for the three Macs that it launched in -- MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini -- it's not nearly enough to handle the needs of power users currently rocking the 16-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac Pro. To that end, the engineers in Cupertino are working on even more powerful Apple Silicon, with the next chip in the pipeline reportedly being called the M1X. According to specifications being reported by CPU Monkey,...
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Apple is embarking on a two-year plan to transition away from using Intel processors across its laptop and desktop families, in favor of its own Arm-based silicon. The venture begins with the M1, an impressive piece of hardware that is generally garnering favorable reviews (including our own Mac mini 2020 review with an M1 chip inside). However, it's not all peaches and cream—a security researcher has discovered the first bit of malware in the wild that is native to the M1 chip. Patrick Wardle, a former researcher for the US National Security Agency (NSA) and currently an independent macOS security researcher, came upon a malicious Safari browser extension called GoSearch22. It was originally...
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One of the more pragmatic aspects of Intel-powered Macs was their ability to run alternative operating systems, including Windows and Linux, without much effort at all. Apple even included a Windows preparation tool, Boot Camp, on all of its systems with Intel Core processors. With the advent of Apple Silicon Macs (such as the recent Mac mini) that have the company's M1 SoC under the hood, Apple discontinued Boot Camp. Those systems had been locked into macOS 11 Big Sur, but thanks to Arm-based virtual cloud device maker Corellium, Ubuntu Linux is now "completely usable." Arm offers an array of licenses to its architecture that range from processor licenses, in which a chip vendor can whole hog...
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When Apple announced its new Mac lineup -- consisting of a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13, and Mac mini -- with its new M1 processor, the company was met with a mixture of enthusiasm and skepticism. Apple's performance claims were incredible. For instance, the company said that its new Apple Silicon offers upwards of 3.4 times the performance as the last-generation Mac mini with a quad-core Intel Core i3 processor. That's the sort of thing that could make a Mac lover's eyes pop. However, proclaiming things like "more than three times the performance," without substantiating those claims, will also spur its share of detractors. So, we did what any curious spectator would do; we bought...
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We've already seen that Apple means business with its custom Arm-based M1 processors, which launched last month with new Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models. The M1 is a highly integrated SoC that includes an 8-core CPU (4 efficiency cores, 4 performance cores), either a 7- or 8-core GPU, and 8GB or 16GB of RAM integrated onto the die. However, Apple has much more powerful SoCs in the pipeline to fuel its higher-end Macs. A new report from Bloomberg, which is typically quite reliable when it comes to Apple leaks, alleges that the next generation of Apple Silicon will be destined for 16-inch MacBook Pro and iMac models. According to the publication, these could feature...
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When Apple announced in June that it would start building Macs with processors based on its own silicon that runs the Arm64 Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), that spelled the end for native Windows installations on Apple hardware. Boot Camp may be no more on Apple Silicon Macs built around the company's M1 processor, but Apple included support for hardware virtualization in its new platform regardless. That means a virtual machine could pave the way for Microsoft operating systems on Apple's processors some day. Apple's updated Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro 13" have only been around for a couple of weeks, but one enterprising developer has already gotten the Arm64 Insider Preview for...
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Apple is hitting the ground running today with the announcement of its very first custom Apple Silicon designed specifically for its MacBook line of laptops and Mac Mini desktops. Meet Apple M1, which is a new Arm-based SoC that Apple says delivers a significant boost in performance over the Intel processors that it uses to power its current line of Macs, while offering claimed unrivaled power efficiency. To achieve this, M1 is built on a 5-nanometer process node and is comprised of some 16 billion transistors. At its heart is an 8-core CPU with 4 high-performance cores coupled with 4 efficiency cores. The high-performance cores feature 192KB instruction cache, 128KB data cache and shared 12MB...
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Following a couple of launch events over the past two months, Apple still has one more thing to share before calling it a wrap for 2020. Whatever that might be, it will go down today during Apple's appropriately titled "One More Thing" event. And golly gee, whatever could that one additional thing be? We are completely and utterly stumped! (Quick, someone cue Borat's "Not!" sound byte) Let us go ahead and work things out by process of elimination, shall we? Over the past couple of months, Apple introduced the iPhone 12 family, including an iPhone 12 mini, along with an all-new iPad Air powered by an A14 Bionic processor. It also unveiled a HomePod mini speaker, the Apple Watch Series 6, its Apple...
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Little birdies have been chirping quite a bit over the past couple of weeks that Apple would be announcing its first Apple Silicon powered Macs in November. The company today confirmed that it will be holding a "One More Thing" event scheduled for November 10th. Apple normally reserves its "One More Thing" phrase for some special, big product announcement (a la the way Apple announced the iPhone X, after it had already revealed the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus). Although the invite doesn't mention it specifically, we're no doubt going to see the first fruits of the company's Apple Silicon (Arm) labors. Apple will be holding the event virtually, just like it has for its other 2020 product launches...
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We know that Apple Silicon is on the way, and a new report today is giving us some additional insight into what Apple has in store for its first PC-centric SoC. Apple for the past decade and a half has relied on Intel to power to its laptops and desktops, but Apple Silicon is [hopefully] ushering in a new wave of performance and efficiency for Macs. According to China Times, the first custom, desktop-centric Apple Silicon chip will be the A14T. It's based on TSMC's 5nm process -- like the A14 found in the iPhone 12/iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Air -- and is reportedly being developed under the codename Mt. Jade. According to the report, this A14T-powered iMac will debut in the first...
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Earlier this year, Apple announced its intentions to move away from Intel x86-64 based processors to its own Apple Silicon using Arm architecture. The company stated that the first Macs running Apple Silicon would arrive by the end of 2020 – which would kick off a 2-year transition process for the whole Mac family -- and we're now getting a more dialed-in date according to a familiar source. While talking about the upcoming iPhone 12 launch, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman threw in just a single sentence that sets into motion what Apple has planned: "The first Mac laptop with Apple’s own processor, among other products, will emerge at another launch in November."...
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It’s no secret that Apple is working on Macs powered by its own family of Arm-based processors, currently dubbed Apple Silicon. We’ve heard rumors that among the first devices that will debut with Apple Silicon will be a new 13-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch MacBook Air. However, a new report suggests that we could see the resurgence of an Apple laptop that was recently discontinued: the 12-inch MacBook. The China Times is reporting that a MacBook revival will be powered by a version of Apple’s upcoming A14X processor, which will also be used in the next-generation iPad Pro. The A14X (which will be built on TSMC's 5nm process node) is allegedly being developed under...
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We’re likely a month away (give or take a week) from the official unveil of Apple’s iPhone 12 family. Analysts are expecting for this to be a Super Cycle upgrade for customers, which means that Apple should see a big increase in sales year-over-year. So, why would there be an iPhone 12 Super Cycle? Well, we’re glad you asked. The iPhone 12 family is supposed to bring 1) an all-new design language, 2) the first 5G support in the iPhone range, and 3) a faster and more efficient A14 Bionic SoC. It’s that last point that is our primary focus today. Reliable leaker Komiya claims to have the inside track on A14 Bionic performance, and says that the new SoC...
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