At Apple’s 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Tim Cook delivered the headline that we long anticipated – Macs will transition away from Intel’s x86 processors and adopt Apple’s own proprietary silicon. Why not? After all, Apple has been designing industry-leading processors for its iPhone and Apple Watch which have also powered the iPad, iPod and Apple TV. The writing was on the wall that Apple would bring the Mac into the Apple silicon fold.

neXt Curve‘s Leonard Lee and Dean Freeman explore the following topics regarding the context and implications of Apple moving the Mac into their proprietary silicon strategy:

• What are the motivations and benefits of moving Macs to Apple Silicon? – We delve into the likely factors that brought about Apple Silicon for the Mac. We also examine how the Mac line could benefit from Apple-designed processors.
• What are the implications for Intel and others in Apple’s supply chain? – Is this a rebuke of Intel? We explore how Intel and other suppliers such as AMD could be impacted by the Macs move to Apple Silicon beyond the obvious?
• Will the electronics industry change their device engineering mindset? – Apple has been and continues to be a heterogenous computing pioneer with its A series chips and has designed revolutionary devices such as the S series SoPs (systems on package) for their Apple Watch. Will Apple change the way the electronics industry thinks about PC design?
• Is Apple shaping the next decade of personal computing? – With full vertical command of their Mac product roadmap, will Apple once again reinvent the laptop and the desktop with designs for the next decade?

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