Master of its destiny

The centrepiece of the company’s keynote address has been its break with Intel, transitioning its line of Macs (laptops and desktops) to processors it is designing itself. Apple has been using Intel-based processors for years, so the change is huge. The company’s progress will no longer be tied to Intel’s progress, paving the way for a big shift in software development. ARM-based Apple Silicon is an in-house chip which promises more efficient computers.

The challenge will be to convince third-party developers to update their apps accordingly. “We expect to ship our first Mac with Apple Silicon by the end of the year,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, adding that it would likely be two years before its full product line had made the jump. Also, now there will be more consistency across the iPhone, iPad and Mac ranges.