Former Apple Exec Thinks ARM-based Macs Could Happen In 2016

As ARM processors are becoming more powerful, more powerful than our computers back in the day, it is not surprising to hear rumors or ideas that eventually our regular computers could see their chipsets replaced by ARM chipsets instead. In fact this is a rumor that has persistently followed Apple throughout the years.

Well it seems that the idea of Apple eventually transitioning to ARM is not a stretch of the imagination, at least not for former Apple exec, Jean-Louis Gassée who recently revealed (via Cult of Mac) his thoughts on the matter. According to Gassée, he believes that in 2016, we could finally see Apple release Macs that run on ARM processors.

Interestingly enough Gassée has been skeptical of such a transition in the past, but for some reason has decided to change his stance. One of the reasonings he gave was Apple’s need to control every aspect of its technology, so if Apple were to be able to control an additional aspect (presumably by using their own A-series of ARM chipsets), it would definitely be in line with the company’s philosophy.

According to Gassée, “Apple’s drive to own “all layers of the stack” continues unabated years after Steve’s passing. As a recent example, Apple created its own Swift programming language that complements its Xcode IDE and Clang/LLVM compiler infrastructure.” He also argues that ARM processors will cost less and be more power-efficient than Intel’s processors, thus making it more compelling for Apple to turn to ARM for their Mac computers.

Gassée believes that by 2016, we could eventually see a desktop-class A10 chipset, and based on that, would it be a complete stretch of the imagination to think that OS X and iOS could eventually merge? Either way these are just the opinions of a former Apple exec, but what do you guys think?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Computers
Tags: ARM, iOS, OS X