The Mac transition to Apple silicon was the process of switching the
central processing units (CPUs) of Apple's line of
Mac computers from
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
's
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
processors to Apple-designed
Apple silicon
Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture family, ARM architecture. They are used in nearly all of the company's devices including Mac ...
ARM64
AArch64, also known as ARM64, is a 64-bit version of the ARM architecture family, a widely used set of computer processor designs. It was introduced in 2011 with the ARMv8 architecture and later became part of the ARMv9 series. AArch64 allows ...
systems-on-a-chip.
Apple CEO
Tim Cook announced a "two-year transition plan" to Apple silicon on June 22, 2020.
[ The first Macs with Apple-designed systems on a chip were released that November;] the last, the Mac Pro, was released in June 2023, completing the transition in three years.
The transition was the third time Apple had switched the Macintosh to a new instruction set architecture
In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that generally defines how software controls the CPU in a computer or a family of computers. A device or program that executes instructions described by that ISA, ...
. The first was from the Motorola 68000 series
The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit computing, 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and ...
to PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
processors in 1994, and the second was from PowerPC to Intel processors using the x86 architecture
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. T ...
in 2006.
Background
The first Mac, introduced in 1984, was the original Macintosh, based on the Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
; subsequent Macs used Motorola 68000 series
The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit computing, 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and ...
processors. Apple evaluated several possibilities for different processors in the early 1990s, switching in 1994 to the PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
family that was co-developed by Apple, IBM, and Motorola. In 2005, it switched again to Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
32-bit
In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...
and 64-bit x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. Th ...
. In 2011, Mac OS X Lion dropped support for Macs with 32-bit processors; in 2019, macOS Catalina
macOS Catalina (version 10.15) is the sixteenth software versioning, major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to macOS Mojave and was announced at WWDC 2019 on June 3, 2019 and ...
dropped support for 32-bit Intel apps. Supported 64-bit Intel systems can still boot the latest versions of macOS .
The genesis of the third switch began in 1985, when Acorn's ARM architecture was spotted by Apple's Advanced Technology Group (ATG), an internal research laboratory. The ATG thought it might replace the MOS 6502 of the Apple II range or the 68000 of the original Macintosh, or become the basis of a tablet device, under Paul Gavarini and Tom Pittard, in a project labelled Möbius. A partnership was established with Acorn Computers, and VLSI in 1990, and work began on a chip for small devices. The first Apple products with an ARM system on a chip
A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or Electronics, electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with computer memory, ...
were the 1993 Newton personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a multi-purpose mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. Following a boom in the 1990s and 2000s, PDAs were mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of more highly capable smar ...
, the 2001 iPod
The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
, and the 2007 iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
. Apple has designed its own custom ARM chips since 2009, which it has since used in its iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
, iPad
The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
, iPod
The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
, Apple TV
Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...
, Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is a brand of smartwatch products developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple. It incorporates activity tracker, fitness tracking, Health (Apple), health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates wit ...
, AirPods, Beats, AirPort Time Capsule and HomePod
The HomePod is a series of smart speakers developed by Apple Inc., Apple. Designed to work with the Apple Music subscription service, the HomePod incorporates beamforming and eight speakers and is sold in two colors: white and midnight. It is s ...
products.[ Between October 2016 and August 2020, Intel-based Macs with Apple-designed ARM co-processors were released.
In the 2010s, media reports documented Apple's frustrations and challenges with the pace and quality of Intel's technology development.] Apple reportedly had trouble with Intel modem
The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...
s for iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
s in 2017 due to technical issues and missed deadlines. Meanwhile, a 2018 report suggested that Intel chip issues prompted a redesign of the MacBook. In 2019, Apple blamed Intel processor shortages for a decline in Mac sales. In June 2020, former Intel principal engineer François Piednoël said Intel's "abnormally bad" quality assurance in its Skylake processors, making Apple "the number one filer of problems in the architecture", helped Apple decide to migrate. Intel CTO Mike Mayberry countered that quality assurance problems may arise at large scale from any CPU vendor.
History
Early involvement with ARM
In 1983, Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England in 1978 by Hermann Hauser, Christopher Curry (businessman), Chris Curry and Andy Hopper. The company produced a number of computers during the 1980s with asso ...
started working on a project to design its own CPU architecture and instructions set, called the Acorn RISC
In electronics and computer science, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer architecture designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a comp ...
Machine (ARM). In 1985, Apple's Advanced Technology Group worked with Acorn to create an experimental prototype, code-named Mobius, to replace the Apple II
Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...
, using a modified ARM processor. The project was cancelled but Apple again partnered with Acorn when it needed a low-power, efficient processor for its future Newton PDA. In 1990, a new joint-venture was created between Acorn, Apple and VLSI Technology with the goal of pursuing the development of the ARM processor. The company was named Advanced RISC Machines Ltd, becoming the new meaning of the ARM acronym. One of the first designs of the new company would be the ARM610 SoC, initially for Apple, that allowed the Endianness
file:Gullivers_travels.jpg, ''Gulliver's Travels'' by Jonathan Swift, the novel from which the term was coined
In computing, endianness is the order in which bytes within a word (data type), word of digital data are transmitted over a data comm ...
to be swapped, increased the address space from 26 bit (64 MB) to 32 bit (4 GB), and modified the memory management unit. Apple held a 43% stake in the company, which was reduced to 14.8% in 1999.
Switch from PowerPC to Intel
In 2005 and 2006, Apple moved its Macintosh computers from IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
's PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
CPUs to Intel's x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. Th ...
CPU architecture. At his 2005 WWDC keynote address, Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
said that continuing to use PowerPC processors, which consumed more energy than Intel chips, would prevent Apple from making better workstation computers and laptops. "As we look ahead, we can envision some amazing products we want to build...And we don't know how to build them with the future PowerPC roadmap", Jobs said. In addition, he admitted that Mac OS X was being ported to the Intel architecture since as early as 2001.
By June 2006, only Apple's high-end desktop computer and server products were still using PowerPC processors. The hardware transition was completed when Intel-based Mac Pros and Xserve computers were announced in August 2006 and shipped by the end of the year.
Apple ceased support for booting on PowerPC as of Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard in August 2009, three years after the transition was complete. Support for PowerPC applications via Rosetta was dropped from macOS in 10.7 "Lion" in July 2011, five years after the transition was complete.
Processor development
In 2008, Apple bought processor company P.A. Semi for million. At the time, it was reported that Apple bought P.A. Semi for its intellectual property and engineering talent. CEO Steve Jobs later claimed that P.A. Semi would develop system-on-chips for Apple's iPods and iPhones. Following the acquisition, Apple signed a rare "Architecture license" with ARM, allowing the company to design its own core, using the ARM instruction set. The first Apple-designed chip was the A4, released in 2010, which debuted in the first-generation iPad, then in the iPhone 4. Apple subsequently released a number of products with its own chips.
Rumors of Apple shifting Macintosh to custom-designed ARM chips began circulating in 2011, when ''SemiAccurate'' predicted it would happen by mid-2013. In 2014, ''MacRumors'' reported that Apple was testing an ARM-based Mac prototype with a large Magic Trackpad. In 2018, ''Bloomberg'' reported that Apple was planning to use its own chips based on the ARM architecture beginning in 2020. The Apple A12X Bionic chip used in the iPad Pro (3rd generation), released in 2018, reportedly roughly matched the performance of Intel's Core i7 processor used in the MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple. Introduced in 2006, it is the high-end sibling of the MacBook family, sitting above the ultra-portable MacBook Air and previously the low-end MacBook li ...
at the time.
In the months and weeks leading up to Apple's 2020 WWDC, multiple media reports anticipated an official announcement of the transition during the event.
Transition process
2020
Apple announced its plans to shift the Macintosh platform to Apple silicon at WWDC in June 2020. The entire transition of the Macintosh product line was expected to take "about two years", with the first ARM-based Macs released by the end of 2020.[ Similar language was used during Apple's 2005–2006 transition to Intel, which actually took about one year.][
All Apple apps included with ]macOS Big Sur
macOS Big Sur (version 11) is the seventeenth software versioning, major release of macOS, Apple Inc., Apple's operating system for Macintosh computers. It was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 22, 2020, and w ...
are compatible with x86-64 and ARM architectures. Many third-party apps are similarly being made dual-platform, including prominent software packages such as Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc., Adobe for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital ...
and Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor program, word processing program developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platf ...
.
To enable x86-native software to run on new ARM-based Macs, Apple embedded Rosetta 2 dynamic binary translation software in Big Sur.[ Universal binary 2 enabled application developers to support both ]x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
and ARM64
AArch64, also known as ARM64, is a 64-bit version of the ARM architecture family, a widely used set of computer processor designs. It was introduced in 2011 with the ARMv8 architecture and later became part of the ARMv9 series. AArch64 allows ...
.[
To enable developers to create software for ARM-based Macs before they went on sale, Apple introduced the Universal App Quick Start Program, which allowed developers to pay $500 to rent a Developer Transition Kit (DTK), a computer built around the A12Z chip originally used in the iPad Pro (4th generation) and housed in a ]Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
case.
The "two-year transition" from Intel to Apple silicon Mac began on November 10, 2020 when Apple unveiled the Apple M1, the first system on a chip based on the ARM architecture
ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer, RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for central processing unit, com ...
, slated to be used in Macs. Apple then released the updated models of the Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
, MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple. Introduced in 2006, it is the high-end sibling of the MacBook family, sitting above the ultra-portable MacBook Air and previously the low-end MacBook li ...
based on the M1 chip, 7 days later.[
]
2021
In April 2021, Apple released the redesigned 24-inch iMac
The iMac is a series of all-in-one computers from Apple Inc., sold as part of the company's Mac (computer), Mac family of computers. First introduced in 1998, it has remained a primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since and evol ...
based on the M1 to replace the 21.5-inch Intel model.
In October 2021, Apple announced the M1 Pro and M1 Max, and the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models based on them. The M1 Pro and M1 Max uses an integrated Apple-designed GPUs to replace the integrated and discrete GPUs supplied by Intel and AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...
; the MacBook Pro models based on them lack support for external GPUs. Apple discontinued all of their Intel-based laptops following the announcement.
2022
In March 2022, Apple announced the Mac Studio
The Mac Studio is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small-form-factor workstation computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of four desktop computers in the Mac (computer), Mac lineup, sitting above the consumer-range M ...
, the new high-end compact desktop model that uses the M1 Ultra, a dual-SoC configuration of two M1 Max chips. Apple concurrently discontinued the 27-inch Intel-based iMac, leaving the Mac Pro and Core i5/i7 Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
as the last Intel-based Macs. Senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus confirmed the development of the Apple silicon-based Mac Pro.
2023
In January 2023, Apple announced updated Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
models based on the M2 and M2 Pro chips, and discontinued the previous Intel Core i5/i7 model, leaving the Mac Pro as the last Intel-based Mac.
On June 5, 2023, Apple announced the Apple silicon Mac Pro based on the M2 Ultra chip during the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is currently held at Apple Park in California. The event is used to showcase new software and technologies in the macO ...
keynote. Apple discontinued the Intel Mac Pro, marking the end of Intel-based Mac sales and completing the "two-year transition" to Apple silicon from Intel almost three years after Apple announced it, or two years and seven months between the release of the first Apple silicon Mac and the discontinuation of the last Intel Mac.
2025
At WWDC 2025 on June 9, 2025, Apple announced that macOS Tahoe
macOS Tahoe (version 26) is the upcoming twenty-second major release of Apple's macOS operating system. The successor to macOS Sequoia (macOS 15), it was first announced at WWDC 2025 on June 9, 2025, with its first developer beta released the ...
would be the last release of macOS that would support Intel Macs, with macOS 27 in 2026 being exclusive to Macs with Apple silicon. Apple additionally announced that most Rosetta 2 features would be removed in macOS 28 in 2027.
Impact
In June 2020, tech analyst Daniel Newman estimated that Apple accounted for $1.5 billion to $3.0 billion (about 2% to 4%) of Intel's annual revenue, and only 6.9% to 12% of the PC market in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and 7% globally. Some speculated that Apple's move away from Intel chips could prompt other customers to do the same.[ CNET speculated that the transition might reduce Apple's component costs.]
Users and developers
Apps created for the iOS platform can run natively on ARM-powered Macs.
The transition could restrict or even eliminate hobbyist " Hackintosh" computers, which use commodity PC hardware to run macOS, in violation of license restrictions.
The Boot Camp software, which enables Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
-based Macs to natively run Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
in an Apple-supported dual booting environment, is not implemented on Apple silicon-based Macs. , Apple said it has "no plans to direct boot into Windows" on ARM-based Macintosh computers. Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi suggested that virtualization
In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers.
Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...
technology is a viable alternative: "Purely virtualization is the route... Hypervisors can be very efficient, so the need to direct boot shouldn't really be the concern."
As of 2022, Parallels Desktop for Mac preloads an ARM64 version of Windows 11
Windows 11 is a version of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released on October 5, 2021, as the successor to Windows 10 (2015). It is available as a free upgrade for devices running Windows 10 that meet the #System requirements, Windo ...
onto Apple Silicon-based Macs, and can also run ARM64 Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
and Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
. Microsoft officially endorses the use of Parallels Desktop for Mac to run Windows 11.
Reception
Before Apple released M1 Macs, ''Wired'' expressed skepticism that Apple's designers could scale a smartphone chip to drive a Mac Pro. It also questioned Apple's vague commitment to allow Intel binaries to run on ARM-based Macs "for years to come" and wondered which upcoming version of macOS would cease to support Intel Macs.
Laurent Giret remarked that Apple might "succeed where Microsoft has failed" due to Apple's "tight integration" of hardware and software, and a vast collection of applications that can already run on the new platform.
When systems containing M1 chips were released, they received near-universal acclaim for their high speed and low energy consumption.
Timeline
*June 22, 2020: Apple announced its plans to shift the Macintosh platform to Apple silicon at WWDC.[ Apple introduces the Universal App Quick Start Program, which allowed developers to pay $500 to rent a Developer Transition Kit (DTK), a computer built around the A12Z chip originally used in the iPad Pro (4th generation) and housed in a ]Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
case.
* November 11, 2020, Apple announced the Apple M1, its first ARM-based system on a chip to be used in Macs.[ M1 versions of the ]Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
, MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple. Introduced in 2006, it is the high-end sibling of the MacBook family, sitting above the ultra-portable MacBook Air and previously the low-end MacBook li ...
are announced, replacing their Intel counterparts.[
* April 24, 2021, Apple released a 24-inch ]iMac
The iMac is a series of all-in-one computers from Apple Inc., sold as part of the company's Mac (computer), Mac family of computers. First introduced in 1998, it has remained a primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since and evol ...
based on the M1 chip, replacing the 21.5-inch Intel iMac.[
* October 26, 2021, Apple announced the M1 Pro and M1 Max, and updated 14-inch and 16-inch ]MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple. Introduced in 2006, it is the high-end sibling of the MacBook family, sitting above the ultra-portable MacBook Air and previously the low-end MacBook li ...
models based on them, replacing their Intel counterparts.[ Apple discontinued all of their Intel-based laptops following the announcement.][
* March 8, 2022, Apple announced the ]Mac Studio
The Mac Studio is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small-form-factor workstation computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of four desktop computers in the Mac (computer), Mac lineup, sitting above the consumer-range M ...
, a new high-end desktop model that uses the M1 Ultra, replacing the 27-inch Intel iMac.[ Senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus confirmed the development of an Apple Silicon-based Mac Pro.][
* January 17, 2023, Apple announced updated ]Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is one of the company's four current Mac (computer), Mac desktop computers, positioned ...
models based on the M2 and M2 Pro chips, replacing the Intel Core i5/i7 models.[
* June 5, 2023: "Transition Complete" - Apple announced an Apple silicon Mac Pro based on the M2 Ultra chip during the 2023 ]Worldwide Developers Conference
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is currently held at Apple Park in California. The event is used to showcase new software and technologies in the macO ...
keynote, replacing the Intel Mac Pro.[
* Fall 2025: Apple will release ]macOS Tahoe
macOS Tahoe (version 26) is the upcoming twenty-second major release of Apple's macOS operating system. The successor to macOS Sequoia (macOS 15), it was first announced at WWDC 2025 on June 9, 2025, with its first developer beta released the ...
, the last major macOS release with support for Intel processors.
* 2026: Apple will release macOS 27 exclusively for Macs with Apple silicon. It will also be the last release with full Rosetta 2 functionality.[
* 2027: Apple will remove most Rosetta 2 features in macOS 28, with support limited to unmaintained games.][
* June 5, 2028: Intel hardware will reach "vintage" status after having been discontinued five years prior, ending most of Apple's service and parts support for Intel hardware.
* June 5, 2030: Intel hardware will reach "obsolete" status after having been discontinued seven years prior, ending all of Apple's service and parts support for Intel hardware.
]
See also
* Mac transition to Intel processors
* Apple silicon
Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture family, ARM architecture. They are used in nearly all of the company's devices including Mac ...
* Fat binary
References
{{reflist
Macintosh platform