With huge changes looming, should you avoid buying new Macs?

“It seems that Apple is paving the way to change the Mac’s processor architecture once again. But the last time the shift was focused exclusively to the desktops and laptops,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes for ZDNet. “This time around it will be far more wide-ranging, changing the entire face of Apple’s ecosystem.”
“The switch could kick off as early as 2020,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “Combine this with the equally credible reports that Apple is also planning to bring to developers the tools they need to be able to develop a single app and offer it for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, then you begin to see just how wide-ranging this change could be. This is far, far bigger than the shift that Apple made from PowerPC to Intel.”
“The move would unify the Apple ecosystem in a way that no other ecosystem of hardware and software currently on offer could match,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “If you’re someone who is all-in on the Apple ecosystem, and refreshes their hardware every year or so — or at least as far as Macs are concerned, whenever new stuff comes out — then this isn’t that big of a deal… The people who, as far as I see, should proceed with caution are those who make their hardware last as long as possible… It’s you folks who like to get every last cent of value out of their hardware who need to tread carefully.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Exciting times ahead! For those on long refresh cycles, proceed with caution. A wait-and-see approach will be of great benefit to you right now. We hope WWDC 2019 in June will offer up some useful information in this regard.
Think code convergence (more so than today) with UI modifications per device. A unified underlying codebase for Intel, Apple A-series, and, in Apple’s labs, likely other chips, too (just in case). This would allow for a single App Store for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users that features a mix of apps: Some that are touch-only, some that are Mac-only, and some that are universal (can run on both traditional notebooks and desktops as well as on multi-touch computers like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and – pretty please, Apple – Apple TV). Don’t be surprised to see Apple A-series-powered Macs, either. — MacDailyNews Take, January 9, 2014
SEE ALSO:
Intel execs believe that Apple’s ARM-based Macs could come as soon as 2020 – February 21, 2019
Apple’s Project Marzipan could mean big things for the future of the Macintosh – February 20, 2019
Apple iPad Pro’s A12X chip has no real rivals; it delivers performance unseen on Android tablets – November 1, 2018
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple A-series Macs coming in 2020 or 2021, Apple Car in 2023-2025 – October 17, 2018
MacBooks powered by Apple A-series chips are finally going to happen soon – September 18, 2018
Apple A-series-powered Mac idea boosted as ARM claims its chips can out-perform Intel – August 16, 2018
Did Apple just show its hand on future low-end, A-series-powered MacBooks? – July 13, 2018
How Apple might approach an ARM-based Mac – May 30, 2018
Pegatron said to assemble Apple’s upcoming ‘ARM-based MacBook’ codenamed ‘Star’ – May 29, 2018
Intel 10nm Cannon Lake delays push MacBook Pro with potential 32GB RAM into 2019 – April 27, 2018
Why the next Mac processor transition won’t be like the last two – April 4, 2018
Apple’s ‘Kalamata’ project will move Macs from Intel to Apple A-series processors – April 2, 2018
Apple plans on dumping Intel for its own chips in Macs as early as 2020 – April 2, 2018
Apple is working to unite iOS and macOS; will they standardize their chip platform next? – December 21, 2017
Why Apple would want to unify iOS and Mac apps in 2018 – December 20, 2017
Apple to provide tool for developers build cross-platform apps that run on iOS and macOS in 2018 – December 20, 2017
The once and future OS for Apple – December 8, 2017
Apple ships more microprocessors than Intel – October 2, 2017
Apple embarrasses Intel – June 14, 2017
Apple developing new chip for Macintosh in test of Intel independence – February 1, 2017
Apple’s A10 Fusion chip ‘blows away the competition,’ could easily power MacBook Air – Linley Group – October 21, 2016
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]