Apple Mac computers to get radically faster with arrival of new chips as early as 2021, report claims

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Apple is rumoured to be working on vastly improved chips that will radically speed up its Macs and could arrive as soon as next year, according to a new report.

Last month, Apple revealed its first computers that use processors that it designed itself, showing off both the M1 chip and three computers that use it during a virtual launch event. Those three computers – a MacBook Air and Pro, as well as a Mac Mini – are all considerably faster than their predecessors, performing many tasks two or three times as quickly.

But Apple is yet to update its higher end computers, which currently run on Intel chips, and are in some cases slower than the newer and much cheaper models. The company said that it would fully transition to its own Apple Silicon chips by mid-2022, but has given no details on what those other, higher-end computers might look like.

Now a new report claims that those computers could have similarly drastic redesigns. While the first computers and their M1 only has four processing cores, the new ones could have as many as 32 high-performance cores, the report from Bloomberg claimed.

The M1 found in the newest computers is somewhat similar to the chips used in Apple’s latest phones and iPads, focusing on efficiency and budget rather than all-out power.

Apple’s first chips intended for the MacBook Pro and iMac will do away with some of those constraints though, the report claims. It could have 16 power cores and four efficiency cores, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Higher-end desktop computers could then come later in 2021, with a new and smaller Mac Pro planned by 2022, Bloomberg reported. Those could have the 32 high-performance cores packed into their processor.

Those higher-end computers will also have improved graphics processors, the report claimed. At the moment, the GPU relies on either seven or eight cores to do its work, but the company is said to be testing graphics processors with as many as 32 cores.

Steve Troughton-Smith, an Apple developer who has gained a reputation for finding unannounced features in the company’s software, noted that based on the rumoured specifications, the new generation of computers “sounds monstrous”.