Apple’s two-year transition away from Intel may technically be only halfway done, but the Mac lineup is already down to just four models that run Intel processors.
On Monday, Apple announced the next generation of its in-house processor technology for the Mac with the unveiling of two new chips, the M1 Pro and the M1 Max.
The successors to the original M1 “Apple Silicon” processor announced a year ago, the Arm-based chips aim to provide professional-level performance for two redesigned MacBook Pro models, which were also unveiled Monday.
[Related: 8 Big Features On Apple’s New MacBook Pro Models (With M1 Pro, M1 Max)]
With the announcements, Apple has phased out two more Intel-powered Macs from its lineup—the 16-inch MacBook Pro from late 2019 and the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro from May 2020. The new MacBook Pros, in 16.2-inch and 14.2-inch display sizes, have taken the place of the Intel models in the lineup.
On Apple’s website, the company now lists just four remaining Mac models for sale that run Intel processors. And only one of those Macs, the ultra-high-performance Mac Pro, does not have a configuration already available with Apple Silicon.https://fb864f4cac055986c039eb2e90f45a8c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
The Mac Pro desktop continues to be listed with a starting price of $5,999. Apple updated the Mac Pro in August to include new AMD graphics options, but notably did not update the Intel processor options for the desktop at the same time. The Mac Pro continues to feature the same Intel Xeon W processors, ranging from eight to 28 cores, that were included in the 2019 Mac Pro redesign.
The three other Intel-powered Mac models still listed for sale by Apple are the 21.5-inch iMac (with a seventh-gen Intel Core i5); the 27-inch iMac (with 10th-gen Intel chips); and the 2018 Mac Mini (with an eighth-gen Intel Core i5).
Apple continues to offer those Macs despite having already brought its M1 chip to other versions of the desktops. The 2020 Mac Mini is powered by the M1, as is the redesigned 2021 iMac, which features a 24-inch display and was announced in April.
Other M1-powered Macs include the MacBook Air and 13.3-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple is now one year into its two-year shift away from using Intel processors in the Mac, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Monday during Apple’s event to announce the new MacBook Pro models and processors.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a recent interview with CRN that he’s not fazed by Apple weaning its reliance on Intel CPUs in favor of homegrown chips—and that he is now looking to “enable the ecosystem to compete with Apple.”
Apple’s new M1 Pro processor features up to a 10-core CPU and up to a 16-core GPU, while the M1 Max offers a 10-core CPU and up to a 32-core GPU.
The 16.2-inch MacBook Pro will offer up to 2X faster CPU speeds than the previous 16-inch model with Intel Core i9, Apple said. Meanwhile, CPU performance on the 14.2-inch MacBook Pro will improve by up to 3.7X versus the previous 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i7, according to Apple.
Pre-orders for Apple’s new MacBook Pro models start today, with shipping for the notebooks to begin on Oct. 26, Apple said.RELATED TOPICS:
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