In a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts we’ll see Macs with ARM processors by 2020 or 2021 and an Apple Car by 2023 (or 2024 or 2025).
He says Apple will develop its own ARM processors for Macs because this would give the company “full-stack” control of all of the Mac, like it has for the iPhone and iPad. Plus, such a move would result in lower expenses associated with building a Mac and, as a result, more market share due to lower prices.
Chances Apple will develop its own Mac chips, according to the Sellers Research Group (that’s me): 100%. I’ve said before that company’s hardware devices will be powered by ARM-based processors in the not-too-distant future.
As the late Steve Jobs once said, Apple products work so well because the company makes “the whole widget.” There’s no reason to think that Apple isn’t interested in making its own processors. By designing its own chips, Apple can build hardware and software that work together better than any off-the-shelf processor. When it introduced its A7 chip for the iPhone, Apple described it as “forward thinking” and having a “desktop-class architecture.” And the A series is now up to A11 with a 64-bit architecture.
Apple certainly has the money to make its own chips. Admittedly, such a task would be a huge one, even for Apple. However, the groundwork has been laid.
In 2008 Apple bought P.A. Semi, a chip designer that made “energy-efficient processors based on the PowerPC architecture that Apple used in Macs for years before adopting Intel’s x86 chips.” In December 2008 the company picked up a 3.6 percent stake in Imagination Technologies, a graphics chip maker. In 2010, Apple scooped up Intrinsity, which specializes in ARM processors. This August Apple acquired Passif Semiconductor, which manufactures switch-based wireless transceivers with low power consumption and a small footprint.
It’s not hard to imagine all Mac laptops, iMacs, and Mac minis (assuming it survives) using the descendants of Apple’s A9X system-on-chip (SoC) solutions within two years — with the Mac Pro taking longer to make the switch.
And what about the Apple Car? Per AppleInsider, Kuo feelsApple’s advanced driver assistance systems will get a TSMC chip at launch at some point between 2023 and 2025, with it supporting either high automation of driver’s tasks, or complete automation, including navigation and driving.
Chances Apple will develop its own automobile, according to the Sellers Research Group: 40%. I don’t think that Apple will actually build its own automobiles, but will work with other manufactures to implement technologies such as enhanced CarPlay into their vehicles.
