Apple's ARM revolution: the results of the presentation of the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac Mini

How is ARM different from a regular desktop processor?

Your iPhone, Android smartphone or tablet uses an ARM processor from Qualcomm, Mediatek, Samsung, Huawei and Apple, and your computer or laptop has an x86 chip from Intel and AMD. Initially, the difference between the two architectures was enormous, they used fundamentally different instruction sets (RISC and CISC) and fundamentally different architectures. Now the difference is blurring — desktop processors use RISC cores with an x86 decoder, Apple mobile chips bypass Core i7 desktop processors in synthetic tests, and Ampere recently introduced its first 80-core ARM processor, which is several percent faster than AMD server monsters. EPYC. In general, the difference in approach came down to the architecture of the processor. And, as far as we can judge from the words of Apple, she is almost the coolest.

Why is the Apple M1 single-chip processor so cool

So, M1 is a single-chip all-in-one system, that is, all elements of the system, including the processor, RAM and USB controllers, are soldered on a single chip. It boasts 8 working cores, 8 graphics and a separate neural block for machine learning. By the way, the chip was created using a 5-nm process technology. For comparison, the very fresh AMD Ryzen Vermeer chips are made using the 7nm process technology, while Intel with its 14nm is hopelessly stuck in the past. Actually, in many ways, this is why Apple stopped working with them.

At the presentation itself, we were told a lot about the performance of the M1. Rather, colorful slides were brought to the virtual stage, on which the new processor literally arranges a bloodbath for opponents. Everything is as usual — a lot of "imaging" and characteristics in the spirit of "5 times faster than something there", but few facts and specifics.

According to Apple, we have the first 5nm mobile processor with 16 billion transistors (Samsung Exynos 9000 with 15.3 billion transistors is lying unconscious).
It has the fastest integrated graphics at 2.6 Teraflops (Intel Iris Xe is also defeated).
It outperforms a quad-core processor by 3.5 times, which is "used in 90% of this year's top-selling laptops" (a crowd of opponents groans in the corner). Didn't understand anything? This is fine. Get another helping of 'amazing' and don't hold up the queue.
It is the most energy efficient laptop processor on the market with the best performance per watt. Again, no specific figures were given.
The MacOS Big Sur operating system on the M1 chip is 2 times faster than before. Thanks to architecture optimizations, efficient code, and RAM optimizations, the new MacBooks will wake up from sleep as quickly as the iPhone and iPad, they promise.
Bonus: laptops with the M1 chip will move towards universality and learn how to run iOS applications.

MacBook on ARM — is it good or bad?

In childhood, many of us had a friend who could do 300 push-ups, sit down 500 times, tame a wild tiger with a cutlet from the canteen and meet any girl at school. He had to believe by word of mouth, he was in no hurry to prove his words. This is what Apple is. For the past couple of years, the company has tossed convenient synthetic test results to the press and claimed that the new iPads are faster than most laptops. But the matter did not lead to real tests.

Platforms are still different. Now in the hands of the company were old MacBooks with Intel chips, and new ones with Apple M1, take it, compare it, draw conclusions. But instead, we again saw a bunch of obscure charts in which the company bypasses opponents known only to it alone. “2.4 times faster than the processor used in popular laptops last year” — what is this wording? Are you talking about Core i5? Or about Core i7? What is his index? Was it running stock or turbo boost? What software are you comparing? The list of questions can go on forever.

Now for some positivity. The new Macs were said to render everything 6 times faster in Final Cut (compared to what?), the younger MacBook Air could render video in DaVinci Resolve at 4K resolution, and the built-in video core could run a new, highly demanding Baldur's Gate 3-caliber toy. And this is where it gets more interesting. On the one hand, it sounds too promising, on the other hand, would the guys from Apple be so blatantly lying from the stage? If the new Macbooks actually compete with the underpowered Chromebooks, the internet will be flooded with the news. And then the company's reputation will receive a serious blow, and its products will be abandoned by numerous professionals who are accustomed to relying on the company's equipment. Optimism is also added by the fact that Apple has been producing SoCs for a dozen years and during this time they have learned how to optimize processors well. And this is not to mention the dark times of PowerPC and the cooperation with Intel that has not yet begun.

How quickly will Apple get on a new footing and what can buyers expect?

Of course, all this should be accompanied by new software. Apple is already developing new products and updating old ones for the new architecture, and macOS Big Sur will include a Rosetta 2 emulator that will make it easier for third-party developers to port applications to new processors. They also promise support for standard applications that will work on both old and new processors. According to Apple's plan, a full transition to ARM processors will take about two years.

And now let's take a closer look at the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and desktop Mac Mini, which debuted at the presentation.