x86 processors (Intel and AMD) ran desktops, laptops, and servers. Up until recently, the division was simple. In the modern world of consumer computing, there are only two that matter, though: ARM and x86 (sorry, RISC-V, you’re just not there yet). Adding two numbers, loading a value from memory, deciding which instruction to execute next, talking to external hardware devices-all of this is defined by the ISA. It defines the opcodes that execute on the very guts of the processor, and there have been quite a few of them throughout the history of computing. The instruction set is, at nearly the lowest level, the “language” that your processor speaks. This makes them pretty much the only consumer hardware company to regularly change their processor architecture, and certainly the largest to pull it off consistently. They moved from 68k to PowerPC in the mid-1990s, then from PowerPC to Intel in 2006-and now to ARM. This will be Apple’s third major Instruction Set Architecture (or ISA) transition in their history.

There’s a ton of uninformed garbage on the internet, as usual, so I’ll offer my attempt to clarify things! x86? ARM? Huh?

I know my way around some deep processor weeds, so this has been interesting to me. But a lot of people seem confused as to what this really means. And now it has really happened! Apple will use custom-built ARM processors to power their MacBooks, and, at some point, probably their iMacs and Mac Pro. This reinvention has read like something between an open question and a sure thing, ever since Apple’s modern phone processors started giving Intel’s x86 offerings a solid competitor. That’s why, for years now, people have been discussing the possibility of Apple moving to ARM processors for their desktops and laptops. Apple has often seemed stymied by Intel’s slower pace of innovation, compared to their large strides in mobile power. Meanwhile, Apple has used ARM processors for its mobile devices ever since the first iPhone. His views are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of iFixit.įor the past 15 years, Apple’s Macs have run on Intel processors, using the same x86 architecture as competing PCs. This is an edited version of his post about Apple’s transition to ARM, which we found interesting. Note: This is a guest post by Russell Graves, who writes about computers and his projects at Syonyk’s Project Blog.

Arm emulator for mac