Don’t buy a MacBook yet!
If you were thinking of buying a MacBook, maybe consider waiting. Apple has some big plans in store for the near future that will make your shiny new MacBook obsolete.
Since 2007, Apple has had an all intel-based lineup of macs. This means that the processor inside was manufactured by Intel, and, up until 5 years ago, it has been great for Apple. However, in recent years, Intel’s processors have been very unsatisfying.
The 2018 MacBook pro-15-inch core I9 was supposed to be a workhorse of a laptop, but Intel produced processors that got too hot for Apple’s 15-inch MacBook to cool them properly. Therefore, the Macbooks were underpowered and very noisy due to the fans spinning at high speeds to cool the processor.
That brings us to 2020. This year, Apple announced that they will start the transition to their own processors, and, by 2022, all of their computers will have Apple processors nicknamed “Apple Silicon.” This switch was due in part to Intel failing to satisfy Apple’s requirements, as well as to Apple wanting to control the whole Mac creation process; if Apple is able to make the CPU themselves, they can save money.
Whether or not they will pass those saving on to the consumer is to be determined. This change is quite important because the new processors will be based on a different architecture. I speak in-depth about the better performance it will have and the smaller transistors present, but all you have to know is that the processor will work completely differently than Intel processors.
This means that the whole operating system, as well as every program, has to be translated from x86 (the language Intel’s processors use) to Apple Silicon’s “Arm-based language”.
Don’t be alarmed though, this does not mean that you will not be able to play games or download Microsoft word on the new MacBooks. Apple has implemented a translator called Rosetta 2 to translate apps that are made for x86 processors so as to make them compatible with Apple Silicon, which will make all apps work properly with the new Processors.
This translator has proven to be very good at what it does, as it can translate apps as you use them in real-time. This brings me back to my main point: When Apple will release these new computers with Apple Silicon, developers will slowly stop making and updating apps for x86-based macs. As time goes on, there will be less and less support for macs using Intel processors because the vast majority of people are going to be using Apple Silicon-based macs.
To summarize, if you want to buy a mac that will last a long time and that will be fully supported, just wait a few more months to get a mac with Apple Silicon.
By Alex Chneerov
