Apple Plans to Announce Shift to its Own Mac Chips at WWDC: Bloomberg

It appears as though Apple is preparing to announce its move away from Intel chips to its own Mac processors during this year’s developer conference.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple will be replacing the chips found in its Mac products with a chipset of its very own. Via sources familiar with the subject, Apple may announce the shift during the WWDC, which is scheduled to start on June 22nd.

From the report, Apple’s shift from Intel chips is being held under the codename Kalamata. The new processors appear to be based on the same architecture as the ones used in the iPhone and iPad. Though, it is likely that Macs will continue to run off the MacOS operating system rather than transition to iOS or iPadOS systems.

At least three processors are known to be in development. The first of which is being based on the next iPhone’s A14 chip. Based on the report, the chip will feature a main central processing unit and a graphics processing unit. A Neural Engine will be utilized for machine learning. There will also be a deep focus on security, a feature Apple touts when it comes to its Mac line.

Worried that Intel’s chipset performance gain roadmap may impede Apple’s future development plans, Apple’s chip-development unit, alongside lead Johny Srouji, decided to make the transition. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will build the new processors using the same 5-nanometer technique as it is used for the iPhone and iPad. Apple will also be utilizing technology licensed from Arm Ltd. Internal tests have shown “sizeable improvements”, specifically in regards to AI-powered apps and graphical performance.

Given that the hardware transition is still months out, Apple wants to ensure third-party developers have time to adjust before 2021. The announcement date could fluctuate given internal plans. However, given that Apple has been wanting to transition away from Intel since 2018, an announcement is likely to come sooner rather than later.