Apple Reveals 1st Mac Powered by M1 Chip

Apple unveiled on Tuesday, its first Mac computers powered by chips of its own design. Apple reported that the advantages of using the M1 chip included better battery life, instant wake from sleep mode, and the ability to run iOS apps.

Apple's chips are sometimes referred to as being Arm-based because it licenses the instruction sets - which determine how processors handle commands - from a UK-based company called Arm.

The new versions include13in (33cm) MacBook Air, which no longer requires a fan to keep its processor cool. Also, 13in MacBook Pro, which Apple noted it can now play video for 20 hours on a single battery charge - twice as long as before.

On other hand, it is a boon for Apple computers, which are overshadowed by the company’s iPhone but still rack up tens of billions of dollars in sales per year. Apple hopes developers now will create families of apps that work on both computers and phones. The MacBook Air will start at $999, the same as its predecessor, and have up to twice the battery life,” Apple said.

It added, “The M1 will also power the MacBook Pro notebook, which starts at $1299, and its $699 Mac Mini computer, which comes without a monitor.”

The Mini is targeted at engineers and scientists because of artificial intelligence capabilities of the new chip that usually require a graphics chip from Nvidia Corp or AMD.

Noteworthy, Apple is planning to manufacture about 2.5 million MacBook laptops powered by its own CPUs by February 2021. According to Nikkei’s Asia report iussued on Saturday.

The firm is calling suppliers to produce 2.5 million MacBook laptops powered by its in-house designed CPU by early 2021, as the California technology giant looks to rapidly cut its reliance on Intel chips, according to report.

Moreover, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will manufacture the Apple Silicon chips for the new MacBooks using a five-nanometer fabrication process. Meaning the upcoming product could also have the A14 chips from the iPhone 12 and iPad Air.