Apple MacBooks with custom ARM processors may not show up until 2021

Apple A12 Bionic

You'll likely have to wait longer than previously expected to buy Apple’s MacBooks with a 100% Apple-made (and ARM-supplied) silicon inside, according to the foremost Apple analyst. 

It may be 2020 or even 2021 before we see the first ARM-based Apple computers released, says TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, reports 9to5Mac.

All reports up until this point regarding what’s known as Apple’s ‘Kalamata Initiative,’ the firm’s big project to get its computers onto its processor platform, stuck rather closely to a 2020 debut for the end products.

In the prediction, Kuo notes that Apple stands to profit even more from its Mac sales without the need to purchase processors from Intel, something it’s done for more than a decade now. So, the incentive for Apple to complete this project is massive.

This analyst projection follows reports from Bloomberg and The Oregonian, both of which seeming to corroborate the same information.

For those concerned about a loss in performance from a computing brand said to pride itself on power and portability, we have seen even the Apple A10X produce numbers close to that of the latest Intel processors in tests like Geekbench 4 – and Apple is now up to the A12 Bionic in the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. The iPad Pro 2018 it supposed to feature an even more powerful A12X Bionic chip.

However, one major piece that we can’t wait to see unfold is how Apple will handle supporting the swathe of productivity apps currently built for Intel processors using the x86 instruction set on its ARM-based processors. Microsoft and Qualcomm have had a rough time of that, so godspeed, Apple.

  • These are the best Macs we’ve tested to date
Joe Osborne

Joe Osborne is the Senior Technology Editor at Insider Inc. His role is to leads the technology coverage team for the Business Insider Shopping team, facilitating expert reviews, comprehensive buying guides, snap deals news and more. Previously, Joe was TechRadar's US computing editor, leading reviews of everything from gaming PCs to internal components and accessories. In his spare time, Joe is a renowned Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master – and arguably the nicest man in tech.