Laptops: now with Apple Silicon mobile processors

Previously, ARM chips were used only in iPhones and iPads, and for laptops they were too weak. A year ago, the ice broke when the new A13 Bionic processor installed in Apple iPhone 11 64 GB Price from 7 844 up to 22 390 ₴ began to show from a new angle. At first, it was traditionally compared with the mobile Snapdragon and Kirin, and then it suddenly came to arm wrestling with the desktop Intel Core i5. Some of the audience then twisted their fingers at their temples, others realized that there is no smoke without fire, and Apple seems to be trying on the shoes of a processor manufacturer.


As time has shown, the skeptics were wrong. At WWDC 2020, the company's bosses presented a completely new family of Silicon mobile processors that will be used in new MacBooks and desktop PCs. What exactly is still unclear. Moreover, these will not be the same ARM chips that the iPhone or iPad are equipped with, but something much more powerful. Considering that Apple has been in this business for a decade, there is every reason to say that they have really learned how to optimize processors. After all, the latest Bionic is about 100 times more powerful than the company's first processor.


The transition from Intel processors to Apple Silicon will be gradual, the new macOS Big Sur, which was shown on the same day, will be equipped with a Rosetta 2 emulator, which will simplify the process of porting applications to new processors. The company is going to present the first Mac computer based on its own processor platform before the end of this year. In addition, Apple is also going to release already planned, in-development and production computers based on Intel processors. And that brings us to the next major announcement.

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PC and macOS Big Sur: Closer to iOS


The new desktop operating system was only briefly shown, but what was shown is much more interesting than the new notification curtains, icons and emoji. Big Sur will be a historic update that will bridge the gap between the company's laptops, smartphones and tablets. It will support these same Apple ARM processors and will learn how to run iOS and iPadOS applications on the Mac, which are available in the AppStore. Thus, it will be easier for developers to write and optimize applications for the entire ecosystem of Apple products, and it will be easier for users to navigate, since in the future there will apparently be a single store for all applications. Apple hopes that other major developers will support its fuse and optimize existing applications. Microsoft was said to be already working on adapting its Office suite for the new Apple processors. Adobe is also in business.


Therefore, it is not surprising that the design of the new MacOS is much more similar to iOS than to its predecessor macOS Catalina. First of all, we were shown an updated "Control Center" with the ability to adjust the brightness, access to settings and other functions, including the activation of a dark or light theme. The same will be in iOS 14, but more on that later. Appeared widgets for the calendar, weather, laptop and other usefulness as in iPadOS and the new iOS.


The Messages app on the Mac has become the same as in the mobile version: Memojis, group chats and communications, and other features of the mobile messenger have been added. Changed in the face of the Safari browser, which now looks the same on all systems. Plus, it's much faster, can fit more tabs on one screen, and translate selected text with the built-in translator. In general, Apple designers have redrawn almost the elements of the operating system and brought them to a common denominator, so third-party developers will have to try hard this year to keep up with Apple.

The developer version of Big Sur was released on June 22, with an official release scheduled for Fall 2020.

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iPhone: what's new in iOS 14


No revolutions happened in iOS 14 and, frankly, it’s not entirely clear why anyone was waiting for it at all. Instead, owners of Apple tablets and smartphones received a bunch of useful and cosmetic improvements. Moreover, there were really a lot of them, so let's go through the most important ones.

Pumped widgets on the desktop


Widgets made their debut in last year's iPadOS, which makes sense given that there's more room on the iPad's screen. In iOS 14, they will be more versatile, meaning users will be able to adjust the size and position of widgets, as well as place them anywhere on the desktop, mixing them with folders and app icons. The fact that this is serious and for a long time is evidenced by the appearance of a separate catalog "widget gallery". App widgets can stretch to the full width of the iPhone home screen. At the same time, several widgets can be placed on one page of the iPhone desktop, including one under the other.

Space organization


Obviously, iOS is also making moves towards the desktop OS. Last year, tablet users were finally given a normal file manager with the ability to connect external drives, this year they worked on sorting. Innovation number 1: applications are now displayed not only as a grid, but also as a list. Innovation number 2: the App Library feature that allows you to automatically sort applications by folders, directories and alphabetically. For example, collect all the games from Apple Arcade in the games folder, and connect the laptops, calendar and To-Do List in the organizer folder.

Built-in Translator


Apple has added a new Translator app in iOS 14 that allows you to quickly translate text into 11 languages.

Siri: still not too smart, but more delicate


The main upgrade of the odious voice assistant has touched on ease of use. Siri no longer takes up the whole screen, but appears as a small icon at the bottom of the screen. And it shows the results found in the form of a compact window on top of running applications.

Compact incoming calls


Incoming calls are now displayed not in full screen, but in the form of a compact push notification that does not cover the entire display.

App Clips and Lightweight Apps


This is a new feature in the spirit of Android Slices, which allows you to download lightweight versions of applications in 2 clicks without a full installation from the App Store. For example, if you need an application to pay for parking, iOS 14 will prompt you to quickly download the light version of the application and quickly pay for the service without first linking a card.

Updated messenger


In Messages, group chats have been improved: there is now the possibility of a direct response to specific messages, which are arranged in a separate discussion thread for easier reading. Like on twitter. The notification system has been made more flexible.

Navigation: routes, places of interest and energy consumption


In the long-suffering Apple Maps, city guides, bike routes and interesting places appeared. A new feature EV Routing has learned to track the current charge of an electric vehicle, taking into account elevation changes and weather, as well as build routes to compatible charging stations.

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iPadOS 14: Sidebars, improved navigation and a third-party browser


As for iPadOS, there were a lot of cosmetics and small updates that improved usability.

  • For example, handwriting works more correctly, and the Scribble function allows you to overtake written text into printed text.
  • Finally, it will be possible to install any email client or browser and use it as the default. Previously, users were tightly tied to Safari and Apple Mail.
  • The universal search engine was now very similar to Spotlight, which allowed Macs to search for apps, contacts, documents, and data within the apps themselves.
  • There are more sidebars for more convenient interaction with content in applications.

Smartwatches and watchOS 7


In addition to mobile and desktop operating systems, Apple Watch smartwatches have also received many improvements.

  • watchOS 7 has seriously redesigned the watch face system: there are much more of them, they can be customized according to the activities and lifestyle of the user, resized, add widgets, and more. Created watch faces can be shared. Or download a ready-made one, if you don’t want to fiddle with the settings.
  • The long-awaited tracking of sleep quality based on the analysis of micromovements and pulse has appeared. The user will be able to set the time for going to bed and the morning alarm, as well as “mute” annoying notifications so that they do not distract from sleep.
  • The Activity app has become Fitness, and the functionality of training has expanded. The watch will understand which workout is for warm-up and which is for strength. Added "Dancing" mode.
  • With the ongoing pandemic, the watch will remind you to wash your hands regularly.

What conclusion can be drawn from all this? The difficulties of Intel, which cannot provide partners with modern processors, pushed Apple to an unexpected step, and in the next 2 years, the Cupertino company intends to step into a new era together with its users. It's too early to make predictions, but on paper it looks exciting. Just imagine a single ecosystem of all smart gadgets that are tenaciously connected. This can especially improve the lives of creative people like artists, designers, musicians, content makers, who will be able to fully use the iPhone and iPad to create working sketches and sketches, and in the evening do serious work in exactly the same applications on the MacBook or iMac.