The cores in the M1 and the chip itself are thoroughly Apple designs, and work hand-in-glove with macOS using techniques like out-of-order execution and hints to optimise performance.
PowerPC
Processors haven’t just increased in speed and packed more transistors into a smaller space. Features such as the Neural Engine in the M1 show Apple is moving in a different direction.
Look forward to Universal Apps, which will show how well Apple Silicon Macs perform. There’s a lot of history buried in them too.
WWDC provided more pieces for the jigsaw of the Mac’s future, but there’s one significant piece still missing.
A new tool to report the architecture including 64-bit compatibility of any app, code bundle, or command tool. Free of course.
New iMacs were very welcome, but Apple is telling us about its future plans. Will these new versions only sell for the next year? What will replace them?
Apple’s doomed, they keep saying. macOS is going down the pan. But is it? And why is Apple recruiting so many staff?
How can we continue running a PowerPC-only legacy app?
It is also easy to lose touch with the real world when writing about computers, even Macs.
If you ever used a PowerBook G4 on naked flesh, you will already have experienced the thermal limit to processor speed.
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