Apple is rumoured to move away from Intel’s x86 CPUs in 2020 towards custom chip designs

Apple is rumoured to be moving away from Intel processors, creating custom chip designs for both the mobile and desktop markets. Provided that these rumours are accurate, this means that Apple will be abandoning x86, assuming that their upcoming processor designs are not utilising semi-custom IP from AMD (the second largest creator of x86 CPUs). 

Over the years Apple is no stranger from transitioning away from CPU architectures, starting off with 68K processors, then PowerPC processors and finally Intel x86 processors. 

In the mobile market, Apple has created some industry leasing SoC designs, leveraging their custom software to develop specialised hardware which perfectly matches their software needs. This unique approach allows Apple to create custom software and hardware features concurrently, allowing them to quickly adopt new features while also integrating unique design tweaks which can minimise power consumption or maximise performance. 

Contrasting this to other mobile devices, where chip makers have little say over the direction Android takes and how slowly new hardware features are adopted by the platform. Apple’s combined hardware/software development allows the company to innovate quickly. 

Apple has been reportedly integrating the features of iOS and Mac OS into a new software platform called Marzipan, blurring the lines between traditional Apple Desktops and the company’s mobile offerings. Further integration could help Apple to more seamlessly transition to custom chip designs on future desktop offerings, provided that they can develop chips that can compete with Intel on the desktop.