Rumor: ARM-Based Apple Macs 'Inevitable' But Far Off
Apple is reportedly working on merging its iOS and Mac platforms, but move away from Intel to ARM on Macs is likely years away, according to Stern Agee analyst Shaw Wu.
Apple will eventually use ARM-based processors in laptops and desktops as it works to merge its Mac and iOS platforms in the coming years, according to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu.
Wu, writing in a note to investors Tuesday that was picked up by Apple Insider, called the move "inevitable," but also said he believed it wouldn't happen for several years.
Earlier in the week, Bloomberg reported that Apple engineers "have grown confident that the chip designs used for its mobile devices will one day be powerful enough to run its desktops and laptops."
Apple currently uses ARM-based chips of its own design in iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, but relies on Intel's more powerful but more power hungry x86 processors for its Mac products. To date, ARM has had a tough time cracking the PC market, while Intel and other x86 chip designers are dominant in the PC space but are just beginning to find their way into smartphones and tablets.
One thing to consider is that Apple's partnership with Intel is relatively new in the computer world. PC makers long reliant on the "Wintel" model that combines Intel's chips with Microsoft's Windows operating systems have used x86-based platforms for many years, but Apple only began transitioning its Mac OS X platform to the Intel architecture in 2005. Prior to that, Macs ran on PowerPC microprocessors supplied by Freescale and IBM.
In other words, Apple would appear to be less entrenched in the x86 ecosystem than PC makers like Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and Dell, though as Wu noted, it would likely still take Apple a fair amount of time to optimize OS X for ARM.
ARM, meanwhile, recently , paving the way for the architecture's entry into more powerful modern PC and server platforms. Microsoft may have also given ARM-based PCs a fairly big nudge with its recent release of Windows RT, a variant of the new Windows 8 operating system that is currently being used in several tablets, including the software giant's own Surface slate.
Wu's take on the potential cross-integration of the Mac and iOS platforms was that it would make economic sense for Apple as a way to simplify and tie together its platform offerings. The Mac platform currently delivers less than 20 percent of Apple's total revenue, with sales of iOS-based iPhones and iPads accounting for up to 75 percent.