Apple’s Alleged ARM Announcement – TMO Daily Observations 2020-06-09
Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss reports of Apple announcing new processors at WWDC later this month.
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Hello Gang:
Enjoyable discussion, although I was a bit thrown of by the title including the word, ‘alleged’. There is far too much chatter online for this to be a mere rumour. This is happening. Not only is this happening, Apple are giving the industry a moment to adapt. MS are already underway with making an ARM – compatible version of Windows, as are the emulator developers. @Macsee need not fear. Indeed, to describe the background noise around all of this as ‘chatter’ is an understatement; it would be a cacophony, were it discordant, however the noise is harmonious, directional. Permit me to pause, during my break, and opine.
As yours truly mentioned on one of JM’s PDs not long ago, we humans, as a species, tend towards the concrete or literal interpretation of concepts and ideas. Thematic abstraction is hard. When Apple mentioned that the iPad was the future of computing, many a critic cried out in pain and agony, whilst amongst the punditry there arose great wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the guardians of orthodoxy mounted their pulpits, wrent their garments, beat upon their heads and declared heresy, blasphemy called for ‘death to touchscreen computing!’
And when the world did not end…
We lowly users witnessed not only evolution in the actual device styled the iPad, but in its operating system, iPadOS, responding to many of the requests from dedicated power users of that device. In the meantime, Apple have continued to develop their ARM processors to amazing effect, so much so that in 2020 we saw that year’s mint of the iPad Pro, to use the technical term, put some serious ‘whoopass’ on a newly minted 13” MBP in both single and multi core performance, not simply by GeekBench performance indicators, but in real world use case https://youtu.be/aSpZcCd1l4I. the only advantages that Intel-powered MBP had over the iPad was in the apps that it could run (which is about to change), screen size (not display quality) and the size of its trackpad (don’t go there).
The move to ARM-based computing is more than simply a need for speed; it’s about the future and the possibilities of the expansion in capability and harmonisation, not to mention total control (did you know that Apple like to control the whole widget? I mean, who knew, right?) over the entire platform and its manufacture.
The iPad is a testbed of capability and possibility and vision. More than hardware, it’s an idea of harmonising touchscreen, keyboard, stylus, and voice into a single platform all served by AI, with an expanding capability that macOS was simply never conceived to host. These experiments, certainly the successful and efficacious ones, will find their way to across the Apple platform of hardware and services. It’s no longer a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’, provided that those devices are capable of incorporating those new capabilities within reasonable cost and a consistent user experience.
Mind you, the majority of the planet now use small, handheld touchscreen supercomputers with AI supplementation. I have illiterate patients riding in the backs of bicycle rickshaws powering through graphic apps, finding medications (by photo) and arranging to meet my staff either in clinic or a mutually agreeable location. Did I mention, they cannot read?
Touchscreen computing is the great equaliser that has closed the gap in functional literacy.
This is what Apple meant, at least in this reader’s opinion, by the iPad being the future of computing. At least, Apple computing, insofar as the unleashing of human talent and potential is concerned.
As for the device that we call the iPad, it is just getting started. With the introduction of the iPad Pro and iPadOS, and now the Magic Keyboard, it just learnt to stand and take its first steps. And for the world of portable computing, that is a scary fact, indeed.
Lack if Intel x86 microprocessors in Mac is a deal breaker for us. We love the Mac and hate Windows interface. But much more important than that is our workflow. And for that we need full Intel x86 compatibility.
For instance, when we use Microsoft Office for Mac (including track changes in documentes when collaborating for manuscripts, PhD dissertations, PowerPoint presentations with animations, video, special protein fonts, transitions, etc), Clarivate Analytics EndNote for bibliographic management or other applications like DNAStar Lasergene or Molecular Biology Insights Oligo, among many others.
I am not talking here only about Boot Camp or VMware Fusion to run Windows (which is also a must for us to electronically sign some documents for research project grant application, etc), but mainly for working on Mac with Mac native applications that are fully native with 90% of the world that use Windows in x86. We also need the power of Mac desktops, including Mac Pro on x86 for bioinformatics. If Apple switches Mac to ARM, we will be forced to switch to PC with Windows. A shame for all!