When Apple took the wraps off its latest Macs this week, the most interesting thing about the new machines had been well-trailed in advance. They are powered by chips made by Apple itself, a departure after 15 years of relying on Intel.
Where Apple did surprise, though — and even shock — was in the claims it made for its custom-designed silicon. A MacBook Pro running the new M1 chip, for instance, is said to be able to handle 20 hours of video playback on a single charge, twice as long as an equivalent Intel-powered machine.
Those claims have yet to be subjected to independent testing, and moving to a new chip architecture is no small undertaking given the need for a completely new library of software.