Apple’s New Silicon. What’s the Big Deal?
Yesterday, Apple unveiled its new silicon for their new Macs and it has given me a lot to think about. The implications of Apple’s newest innovation is too important to overlook, especially for the average consumer. If you intend to buy a Mac in the near future, I strongly encourage you to read up about Apple’s new silicon before purchasing. Here are some of my thoughts.
The most important detail of the new chips is the fact that they are ARM based. Essentially, this means that they are more powerful versions of the same chip that is already in your iPhone or iPad. In many ways this is a huge advantage, but it raises a few questions. Traditionally, ARM SoCs (System on a Chip) trade raw computing power for maximal computing efficiency, which is great for mobile devices like phones or tablets where high intensity tasks are few and far between. On the other hand, PCs and laptops are often required to deal with these types of high intensity tasks that demand much more power. There is good news though. Apple is known for making exceptionally good silicon. A quick look at the Geekbench 5 scores for the A14 chip (current iPhone SoC) show a single-core performance rivaling that of high end desktop processors and multi-core performance on par with that of high end laptop chips, while only using a fraction of the power. For this reason I think it is safe to say that the new M1 chip will easily be powerful enough. Keep in mind that these scores are semi-artificial and that how these scores will translate to actual user experience is still unknown.
More powerful and more efficient? What’s the catch?
An excellent question. The biggest issue with ARM processors is the fact that they use a different architecture (and instruction set) to traditional x86 based processors. This means that if you want a program to become available on the new Macs, it has to be recompiled by the developer to run on ARM and re-released. This process can become very complicated and it is unclear what effects this will have on the optimization of 3rd party apps originally written for x86. In particular, Adobe Photoshop will not be available on the new macs at launch (supposedly releasing in early 2021). I cannot say for certain about other programs, but it can be said that 3rd party app development for Apple devices just got a whole lot more complicated.
Anything else I should know?
Yes, actually. Interestingly enough all 3 of Apple’s new devices (MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini) all use the M1 chip. This basically means that the performance differential between the devices is entirely determined by the initial specification (amount of memory, etc.) and the cooling solution. The MacBook Air has only passive cooling (fan-less) while the Mini and Pro both have active cooling (they have fans). For the average consumer, this means that the Pro and the Mini will perform better under sustained loads (e.g. video rendering). More importantly, there is now very little benefit in spending the extra $300 to get a MacBook Pro unless you absolutely need a touch screen and touch bar, because in many cases the Air will perform just as well.
You should also know that due to the unique way in which SoCs are constructed, it will become impossible to increase the RAM of the devices in the future. I think this was a bad move from Apple because that means in a few years, when programs inevitably become more memory intensive, you will have to buy a whole new system rather than just upgrading your current system. This is expensive and also damaging to the environment as all those device just become e-waste. An interesting decision from a company which didn’t include a charger with its new phone for “environmental reasons.”
So should I buy one?
This decision is up to you, but if I was looking to buy a Mac right now I’d definitely wait for the reviews to come out before I forked over my cash. That being said, if you just use your laptop for writing, internet browsing, watching videos, and occasionally editing a photo or two, then the new MacBook Air looks like a solid option. Just make sure the applications you frequently use are available, and I would suggest you go for the bigger RAM option if budget allows.
Is this really such a big deal?
In my opinion, yes, it is. The transition from traditional CPU’s to lower power, ARM based CPU’s is a huge milestone in the industry. Windows on ARM has existed for a while now (running on Qualcomm’s SoCs), but now that Apple has finally joined the party we can hopefully see some massive strides in low-power computing. It will hopefully drive developers to pour more resources into high-end application development on ARM devices. This can improve the experience on not just these new devices but also on iPads, iPhones and even android devices (which also run on ARM processors). It also means that Apple is encroaching on Intel and AMD’s territory which could force them to start making massive leaps forward in developing their own silicon. Competition is great for consumers and that is exactly what Apple have brought to the table with their new silicon. Personally, I hope that it brings more attention to reduced instruction set computing (RISC), in particular to RISC-V, an open-source CPU architecture developed by the University of California in Berkeley.
Final Remarks.
I have not spoken about the graphics performance of the new M1 chip because there is a lack of reliable data on the subject, which is one of the reasons I suggest you wait for reviews before purchasing. I can say that Apple’s event yesterday was quite misleading when it came to quoting performance figures (see video from Linus Tech Tips below) and so I recommend you take those numbers with pinch, or maybe a whole handful of salt.
Useful links
