Should Apple make Macs based on AMD processors?

Although Mac sales have been outgrowing the PC market for some time, Apple’s global market share of 7.8% shows there’s still plenty of growth opportunity. Could Apple spur that growth by making Macs with AMD processors instead of Intel chips?

Some analysts in the past (such as Mark Hibben) have suggested the tech giant could spur more Mac sales with reduced pricing achieved by either making a Mac based on the company’s own A line processor architecture or by using AMD chips.

However, this isn’t the first time such predictions have surfaced. In 2010 there were rumors that Apple was in talks with AMD with the idea that Macs with AMD chips could deliver 80% of the CPU of Intel chips at 60% of the cost.

This is almost certainly not going to happen — unless Apple buys AMD outright, which is a looooong shot. With its A line chips architecture progressing rapidly, Apple will probably move at least some Macs to an advanced A chip sooner rather than later.

By designing its own chips, Apple can build hardware and software that work together better than any off-the-shelf processor. If all its devices use a common chip design, it would offer a more seamless experience across desktops, laptops, tablets, phones and other devices. Plus, building its own processors could prove, in the long run, to be less expensive than buying Intel chips. That would allow Apple to either: a) lower prices on its devices, or b) make even more money.

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