Back in 1984, the Mac carried the slogan "The computer for the rest of us". The Macintosh was special because of its new mouse input feature and the idea of revolutionizing the way people interacted with computers. Some features still remained today like the Apple logo in the newest macOS versions alongside the menubar.
The evolution of the Mac carried along with the challenges the computer industry has had to face over the decades. The internet was one of the biggest influencers of Mac hardware. For instance, the biggest selling point of the iMac G3 back in 1998 was internet compatibility. It was advertised as the default gateway for accessing the internet.
The evolution of the Mac carried along with the challenges the computer industry has had to face over the decades. The internet was one of the biggest influencers of Mac hardware. For instance, the biggest selling point of the iMac G3 back in 1998 was internet compatibility. It was advertised as the default gateway for accessing the internet.
The next step that Macs took began with the transition from the PowerPC (PPC) platform developed by IBM to the x86 Intel platform. This was a necessity since the efficiency and power output of the PPC wouldn't be as competitive as on the x86-architecture. Efficiency was the biggest influence for an evolutionary step of Mac hardware.
Today, the company faces a similar challenge to switch things up.
This time the main influencers are the devices we rely on and carry the most with us nowadays. They have become unforgettable tools for every part of our lives right now. The former idea of phones being just home line phone without the wire are long gone. Years ago, they started to replace consoles, TVs, navigation units, point-and-shoot cameras, and even our wallets.
The object referred to is obviously the smartphone. With the launch of the iPad Pro in 2015 even more with tablets.
This time the main influencers are the devices we rely on and carry the most with us nowadays. They have become unforgettable tools for every part of our lives right now. The former idea of phones being just home line phone without the wire are long gone. Years ago, they started to replace consoles, TVs, navigation units, point-and-shoot cameras, and even our wallets.
The object referred to is obviously the smartphone. With the launch of the iPad Pro in 2015 even more with tablets.
Smartphones and the ARM revolution
Back in the early 2000s, the smartphone wasn't seen as "the thing of the future". Flip phones like the Motorola Razr had the trendiest status a phone could get even though they weren't as smart as some Windows Mobile devices. This wasn't a problem related to software but had more to do with hardware.
Because these devices ran on a battery and were fairly slim, the possibility of installing an x86 CPU wasn't an option.
Forwarding to the early 2010s, the smartphone was able to compute more than a Windows 2000 computer could by also looking slim and being portable.
The efficiency of ARM chips increased and the interest in Always-Connected-Devices raised. Why would anyone want to wait for a computer to start up when a Smartphone could do the basic thing by just swiping on a glass surface?
The efficiency of ARM chips increased and the interest in Always-Connected-Devices raised. Why would anyone want to wait for a computer to start up when a Smartphone could do the basic thing by just swiping on a glass surface?
The Ultrabook segment introduced by Intel beginning 2011 tried to combine Intel chips with the slimmer and better-looking devices but still hadn't reached the power of their desktop counterparts.
Even the newest Y-Series chips have only a fraction of the power that desktop chips have. This is obviously understandable since the cooling system, power management and other relevant points of mobile computing play a big role here. But the efficiency of x86 is still not comparable to the ones of modern ARM chips like the Apple A12Z.
Even the newest Y-Series chips have only a fraction of the power that desktop chips have. This is obviously understandable since the cooling system, power management and other relevant points of mobile computing play a big role here. But the efficiency of x86 is still not comparable to the ones of modern ARM chips like the Apple A12Z.
Mac hardware and the Smartphone
The Mac was very essential for Apple. The company was built upon the idea of innovative computing and building an accessible interface for home and professional usage. But with the advancement of smartphones and tablets comes the question of what the Mac should do. The idea that the Mac could just be discontinued and forgotten about is not realistic or even possible.
iOS devices need the Mac for app development since XCode is only available on macOS.
This is where the long-rumored ARM-Macs could have a huge role to play: Apple has always stood to their decision that iOS and macOS wouldn't get unified. The idea of unifing an operating system to be usable on all devices didn't work out for Microsoft. App developers won't program things just because your concept seems right. The system has to deliver useful features and have a huge user base for developers to begin programming and supporting these platforms.
iOS devices are more popular than Macs. People who use iOS often don't even have a desktop computer. This is possible thanks to the iCloud Backup and Drive options.
iOS devices are more popular than Macs. People who use iOS often don't even have a desktop computer. This is possible thanks to the iCloud Backup and Drive options.
Catalyst - The biggest bet
At WWDC 2019 Apple Introduces a new feature for macOS Catalina called Catalyst. This feature could enable developers to easily transform iPad Apps to be Mac compatible. With a switch in XCode, developers are able to let macOS users also use their iPad and ARM optimized software.
This is essential for many reasons. First, Apples ambition is to have a professional and creative focused ecosystem for iPads.
The idea of the iPad Pros introduced in 2015 played a big roll in this planning of Apple. The reasons were very simple: The iPad was seen as a media consumption device. This is obvious when looking into the userbase of iPad users since the introduction in 2010. Most iPad users are family members using Safari for web browsing, Youtube and Netflix for video consumption or as bigger iPod Touches for Kids to play mobile games.
The idea of the iPad Pros introduced in 2015 played a big roll in this planning of Apple. The reasons were very simple: The iPad was seen as a media consumption device. This is obvious when looking into the userbase of iPad users since the introduction in 2010. Most iPad users are family members using Safari for web browsing, Youtube and Netflix for video consumption or as bigger iPod Touches for Kids to play mobile games.
The iPad Pro was introduced as a device for professional use. This was clear in the presentation of the first generation of the iPad Pro when Adobe and other professional software makers were showing off the newest additional features that came with the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil.
With the introduction of an ARM Mac, this software would become irrelevant for the Mac systems. But Apples transformation of the Mac from Intel to ARM is necessary for the obvious trend of Always-Connected-Devices. Else, the Mac could become irelevant and the iPad would be the only bet for Apple on home-computing.
Conclusion
Apple is playing a safe game right now. The Mac hardware is more than usable but will eventually need a transformation to ARM to keep up with other Apple products like the iPad Pro that gets faster every generation and even outperforms some of the current MacBook Pros.
The more software developers focus on iPadOS and ARM development, the more important it will become Catalyst for Apple since the Macs will need to keep up.
The more software developers focus on iPadOS and ARM development, the more important it will become Catalyst for Apple since the Macs will need to keep up.
The ARM-Transformation is needed for Apple if they want to let the Mac keep being a modern and usable device. The advantages of ARM are clearly becoming a lot bigger: Efficiency is higher, SoCs are getting faster and devices are getting thinner.
All plays in the cards of the ARM Architecture.
All plays in the cards of the ARM Architecture.
Comments
Post a Comment