At the 31st annual WWDC, Apple announced that it would be replacing the Intel processors currently used, with newly developed Apple ARM silicon processing chips. This transition is suppose to begin before the end of the year and within two years every new Mac will have Apple’s own chip installed.
The last time Apple made such an impactful move was in 2007 when they switched from PowerPC to the Intel x86 based chips. PowerPC Macs lost all support within 5 years of the announcement. When you change a computers processing system, you are completely changing how the machine operates down to the hard code. This means developers must adapt to a new language to ensure their apps will be compatible with the latest tech available.
“That doesn’t mean much to you as a consumer, but for developers, this isn’t like Apple switching between Intel and AMD processors, or Nvidia and AMD graphics. The Intel and Apple chips run fundamentally incompatible code, so most apps are going to need to be re-built for the new Macs” – MacWorld
Developers for companies such as Adobe, Ableton, and Serato will now have to focus on creating apps compatible with the new ARM chips. Developer teams don’t suddenly double because a new processor has hit the market, instead you can bet the teams will put forth majority of their resources into the new technology, slowly but surely abandoning old Mac compatibility. Don’t expect Macs with the current Intel x86 chips to continue receiving updates after 5 years.
If you buy a new Mac before they switch over to the new chips, you will be shooting yourself in the foot. Most consumers want to own a computer for more than 5 years. Every Mac with an Intel processor is now an “old mac”; even the new 16″ Macbook Pro that costs as much as a car will be probably be a brick with outdated apps come 2025. If you absolutely need a new Mac, get a used one, because the new new ones are going to make them all ancient very soon.
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