Over four years ago, Apple announced that it would stop using Intel processors in its Macs and start using its own silicon. At the time, it sounded like a daunting task, but doable thanks to years of success using its own chips in the iPhone and iPad.
The fourth generation of M-series chips in the Mac was released in November. While on the surface it doesn’t sound like a big deal, it actually has a deeper meaning. The transition from Intel chips to Apple silicon is finally complete – there are no longer any major disruptions that could make customers second-guess an investment. For the first time since Apple’s silicon transition began, the Mac lineup now feels like it’s complete as we head into 2025.
Production rhythm
Apple released its very first Apple silicon Macs, the M1 MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac mini in November 2020 during the height of the pandemic. The pandemic affected production, which in turn affected Apple’s chip release cycle.
When the pandemic ended, Apple and its chipmaker, TSMC, worked to get back on track, and yes, later on, we finally start to see a regular cycle with the M chips. Implementation of new production techniques affects that cycle, but it is not so disruptive. We now have a better sense of when a new generation of chips will arrive, giving customers who can make informed purchasing decisions.
The M4 comes at the right time
When the M1 was released, it offered incredible performance gains over the Intel chips it replaced. But Mac users tend to hold on to their Macs as long as possible – there’s a strong desire to get the most out of that significant investment. If someone had bought a new Intel Mac a year or two before the M1’s release, it wasn’t easy to convince them to upgrade so quickly, especially when Intel apps ran perfectly thanks to Rosetta 2 (see below). Even the new design and performance gains from the M2 or M3 may not have been convincing enough.
But with the release of the M4, the time and performance gap between it and the last set of Intel CPUs used in Macs is now so large that it can no longer be ignored. Below are benchmarks for the M4, M1, and the Intel 3.8GHz Core i7, which was one of the last Intel chips (and one of the fastest in a Mac) in the 2020 27-inch iMac.
The M4 doesn’t offer twice the performance of the Core i7, but it’s close. It’s a noticeable difference no matter what you do on your Mac. Even if you think your Intel Mac is fast enough, it’s hard not to feel like you’re missing out.
It’s not just about performance. Apple chips are much more efficient than Intel chips, saving battery life on MacBooks and generating less (if any) fan noise on desktop Macs. All of which removes any doubt about Apple’s silicon’s ability to replace Intel chips.
Thanks for the memory
With the M4, Apple decided to set the basic unified memory configuration to 16 GB. It was a change that was a long time coming – 8GB is doable, but 16GB makes a noticeable difference.
The RAM increase is an important factor in Apple’s silicon transition because it is no longer a barrier to adoption for someone still using an Intel Mac. It makes the Mac run more efficiently and helps support current and future Apple Intelligence features. And by not raising prices, Apple essentially dropped prices by $200 across its entry-level models.
Designs are back in style
When Apple introduced the M1 in November 2020, it did not change the design of the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or Mac mini. But when Apple introduced the M1 iMac a few months later, an all-new iMac design was also revealed, creating anticipation for more new designs across the Mac lineup. When the new designs eventually arrived, they not only breathed new life into each model, but they were also exciting and showed true innovation for the first time in years.
The Mac mini was the last consumer Mac to get a major redesign, and with the M4, Apple’s silicon transition cycle is complete.
Foundry
The new Mac designs aren’t directly related to the Intel-to-Apple silicon transition, but they do show the possibilities that Apple’s chips open up. By controlling the entire stack, Apple can design chips and cases that push boundaries, and the current lineup is the best Apple has made in years.
There’s an app for that
A major concern during the Intel-to-Apple silicon transition was software compatibility. Apple solved this problem, for the most part, with Rosetta 2, Apple’s software that allowed apps written for Intel to run on Apple silicon. Rosetta2 worked well for the vast majority of apps.
Now that we’re over four years since the start of the transition, developers have had plenty of time to update their apps so they can run natively on Apple silicon and no longer need Rosetta. You can find apps that don’t run on Apple silicon, but often the developers of those apps have left the Mac. And you’ll probably find a replacement that’s better anyway.
The M5 is coming
Finally, the upcoming M5 chip actually plays a role in the M4 and the idea that the transition is complete. With the expected release in late 2025, it confirms a regular release cycle for Apple and Mac. That should provide a performance boost of 15 to 25 percent over the M4 – the typical generation-to-generation improvement we’ve seen since the M1. It could also be the first M-series chip where the Mac feels “settled”, where everything about each model is in place and works right for today’s customers.
Now that the transition is complete, Apple can focus on major upgrades in the future, such as OLED screens and cellular connectivity in the MacBook. Apple didn’t just switch chips, the completion of the transition is why these upgrades can happen in the first place.