TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Alviva shares leap higher on R3-billion take-private offer

      30 June 2022

      Datatec to sell Analysys Mason for as much as R4.1-billion

      30 June 2022

      Futuregrowth launches start-up fund, targets R600-million raise

      30 June 2022

      Eskom is killing the rand

      30 June 2022

      Eskom ramps up load shedding as crisis deepens

      30 June 2022
    • World

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022

      Bitcoin just had its worst quarter in a decade

      30 June 2022

      Samsung beats TSMC to 3nm chip production

      30 June 2022

      Napster plots crypto comeback

      29 June 2022

      Pictures: Chinese spacecraft acquires images of entire planet of Mars

      29 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Sections»Consumer electronics»Apple’s new Macs could revive the PC chip wars

    Apple’s new Macs could revive the PC chip wars

    Consumer electronics By Agency Staff9 November 2020
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    Apple on Tuesday is expected to unveil new Mac computers using its own in-house processor chips, a move that could reignite a race to control the market for desktop and laptop chips and benefit players such as Qualcomm.

    The market has been dominated by Intel and AMD since 2006, when Apple joined most other major computer makers in using chips based on Intel’s x86 computing architecture.

    On Tuesday, Apple is expected to start a two-year process of ending its nearly 15-year relationship with Intel by introducing Mac computers with Apple-designed chips based on computing architecture technology from ARM, which Nvidia has agreed to buy from SoftBank Group in a US$40-billion deal.

    ARM-based PCs are niche sellers today, but Apple’s entry into the market is likely to grab consumer attention

    Apple will design the chips using ARM technology and have them manufactured by a partner, most likely Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which makes processors for Apple’s iPhone. UK-based ARM’s technology also powers most Android phones.

    Apple’s forthcoming machines already have competition from Qualcomm, which since 2016 has worked with Microsoft to adapt the Windows operating system to Qualcomm’s ARM-based processors.

    Qualcomm and Microsoft have worked with PC makers such as Lenovo and Asustek Computer to sell laptops using the new chips, and Microsoft’s own Surface Pro X released last year uses a Qualcomm processor.

    ‘Headstrong’

    Those devices are niche sellers today, but Apple’s entry into the market is likely to grab consumer attention around the emerging technology shift, especially if Apple begins to develop chips that rival Intel’s performance.

    “Apple diving headstrong into Arm will speed this up,” said Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy.

    ARM-based PCs have key differences from Intel-based machines. Because the chips are derived from smartphones where power consumption is a key concern, they tend to claim better battery life than conventional machines. Like smartphones, they also turn on quickly and can remain constantly connected to cellular data networks.

    “Where the connectivity has shined is the work-from-home situation,” said Miguel Nunes, senior director for product management at Qualcomm. “We see a lot of people realising that their WiFi at home can’t keep up with everything.”

    But hurdles remain for ARM-based PCs. Most software written in the past 20 years was for Intel machines, and until it is rewritten, it may have to rely on emulation that could slow down apps.

    Intel’s chip line-up “enables people to use their favourite Windows applications without experiencing the potential performance penalties associated with running non-native apps on non-x86 architecture via Windows, or worry if their favourite applications will run on their platform,” Intel said in a statement.

    Ben Bajarin, principal analyst for consumer market intelligence at Creative Strategies, said the critical test for ARM-based computers will be whether developers rewrite software used by big businesses, which are still the largest purchasers of machines. Apple’s entry to the market does not guarantee that will happen.

    “Most of Apple’s hardcore developer base is going to be using Apple’s proprietary developer tools,” he said. But with Microsoft also providing development tools for Windows on ARM, a broader shift “is not outside the realm of possibility”.  — Reported by Stephen Nellis, (c) 2020 Reuters

    Apple ARM Intel Nvidia Qualcomm top
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleNew curbs may be coming in South Africa over coronavirus fears
    Next Article SABC has no plan to ask Netflix to collect TV licence fees

    Related Posts

    Alviva shares leap higher on R3-billion take-private offer

    30 June 2022

    Datatec to sell Analysys Mason for as much as R4.1-billion

    30 June 2022

    Futuregrowth launches start-up fund, targets R600-million raise

    30 June 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Billetterie simplifies interactions between law firms and clients

    30 June 2022

    Think herding cats is tricky? Try herding a cloud

    29 June 2022

    How your business can help hybrid workers effectively

    28 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.