Developer Alexander Graf has successfully virtualized the Arm version of Windows on an M1 Mac, proving that the M1 chip is capable of running Microsoft's operating system (via The 8-Bit).
Currently, Macs with the M1 chip do not support Windows and there is no Boot Camp feature as there is on Intel Macs, but support for Windows is a feature that many users would like to see.
Using the open-source QEMU virtualizer, Graf was able to virtualize the Arm version of Windows on Apple's M1 chip, with no emulation. Since the M1 chip is a custom Arm SoC, it is no longer possible to install the x86 version of Windows or x86 Windows apps using Boot Camp, as was the case with previous Intel-based Macs. However, he said in a Tweet that when virtualized on an M1 Mac, "Windows ARM64 can run x86 applications really well. It's not as fast as Rosetta 2, but close."
Graf was able to run the Windows ARM64 Insider Preview by virtualizing it through the Hypervisor.framework. Apple says this allows users to interact with virtualization technologies without having to write kernel extensions (KEXTs).
Graf applied a custom patch to the QEMU virtualizer, which is said to be known for "achieving near-native performance" by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. This means that the Arm version of Windows can be virtualized on M1 Macs with excellent performance.
Although Graf's experiment is still at an early stage, he believes others could reproduce his results. "It's early days for this. It's definitely possible to reproduce my results - all patches are on the mailing list - but don't expect a stable, fully functional system yet," he said. Above all, Graf has demonstrated that Windows is able to run on M1 Macs.
Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi recently said that Windows coming to M1 Macs is "up to Microsoft." The M1 chip contains the core technologies needed to run Windows, but Microsoft has to decide whether to license its Arm version of Windows to Mac users.
Black Friday shopping has officially kicked off across the United States, and we've been collecting the best deals for Apple's iPads, Macs, AirPods, the HomePod, Apple Watch, and more in separate articles. In order to further streamline your Black Friday shopping this year, we've put together this quick list of our top picks of the overall best Apple-related bargains happening today.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Many Black Friday deals are known to sell out fast, so keep that in mind when browsing our posts and shopping online today. If you see something you're interested in, be sure to snag it quickly.
AirPods
Update: Amazon's AirPods Pro deal is currently out of stock. We'll update this article if it comes back.
What's the deal? AirPods for $109.99 and AirPods Pro for $169.99
The AirPods with Wired Charging Case is on sale for $109.99 at Amazon today, down from $159.00. We've seen this model go down to $99 before, but it appears that this will be the cheapest price for Black Friday.
The AirPods with Wireless Charging Case is on sale for $149.99, down from $199.00. Similar to the previous model, we've seen these AirPods slightly cheaper, but Amazon's sale still appears to be the steepest discount we'll get this year.
Lastly, Amazon earlier in the week dropped the AirPods Pro to just $169.99, down from $249.00, but stock has run out. Still, Amazon says that it's working to get more stock soon and you can place your order now to lock in this solid sale before it expires, and then the AirPods Pro will ship once more stock emerges.
Apple Watch
Update: Amazon's Series 3 deals are currently out of stock. We'll update this article if they come back.
You can get the 38mm GPS Apple Watch Series 3 for $119.99 on Amazon, down from a sale price of $179.00. If you're looking for a larger model, the 42mm GPS is on sale for $149.99, down from $209.00.
These are both great deals on the Apple Watch Series 3 that were previously introduced by Walmart earlier in the week and now matched by Amazon. Anyone hunting for the latest model should take a look at Amazon's deal on the 40mm GPS Apple Watch Series 6 in Product(Red) for $329.98, down from $399.00. That's the lowest price ever for a Series 6 model.
MacBook
What's the deal? Various deals on Apple's MacBook Pro and Air lineup, including the M1 MacBook Pro
B&H Photo is taking $100 off the M1-enabled 256GB 13-inch MacBook Pro, available for $1,199.00, down from $1,299.00. This is $50 lower than Amazon's current sale on the M1 MacBook Pro, and now the lowest price we've ever tracked. The 512GB model is available for $1,399.00, down from $1,499.00, another lowest-ever price.
The M1-enabled 256GB MacBook Air is available for $899.00, down from $999.00; while the 512GB model is on sale for $1,149.00, down from $1,249.00.
For more sales on older models of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, be sure to read our full post on Black Friday deals for the Mac.
iPad
What's the deal? Various deals on Apple's iPad lineup, centered around iPad Pro
This Black Friday is a great opportunity to save on the 2020 iPad Pro, with Amazon and B&H Photo taking up to $150 off 12.9-inch and 11-inch models, introducing new lowest-ever prices across the board. Prices start at $729.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch iPad Pro ($70 off), and there are markdowns on nearly every 11-inch model.
Similarly, sale prices for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro start at $899.00 ($100 off), and you'll find discounts across both Wi-Fi and cellular options. Besides Amazon, some of these offers can be found on B&H Photo, and to a more limited extent at Best Buy.
Additionally, the 32GB Wi-Fi 10.2-inch iPad is on sale for $279.99 at Best Buy, down from $329.00. Best Buy has a few solid prices on the new iPad, including cellular models, and all prices are all-time-low sales.
The 64GB Wi-Fi iPad mini 5 is $334.99 on Amazon, down from $$399.00.
Powerbeats Pro
What's the deal? Powerbeats Pro down to the lowest price of $159.99 ($90 off)
Target and Best Buy are discounting the Powerbeats Pro to a notable low price of $159.99 this Black Friday. This $90 sale is the lowest we've ever seen for the workout-focused Bluetooth headphones, but it's only available in select colors.
Apple Gift Card
What's the deal? If you purchase a $100 Apple Gift Card, you can get a $20 Best Buy or Target gift card
Ever since Apple made the switch to the unified "Apple Gift Card," it effectively killed the popular 20 percent discount on iTunes gift cards. Don't expect straight discounts to return to the new Apple Gift Card in 2020, but you can expect the next best thing: credit at a retailer like Target or Best Buy.
At both of these stores next week, if you purchase a $100 Apple Gift Card, you'll receive a $20 gift card that can be used at each respective retailer. This is far from as good a deal as the straightforward cash discounts seen in the iTunes gift card era, but if you plan on making a lot of purchases at Target or Best Buy next week, you could at least put the $20 toward more holiday shopping.
To delve even deeper into Black Friday shopping, use the lists above to discover all of our Black Friday coverage in individual posts, spotlight posts, and in our full roundups. Lastly, be sure to keep an eye on the MacRumors homepage and Twitter feeds throughout the day (and of course for Cyber Monday) as more deals emerge.
The Christmas Special will feature a host of celebrity guests, including Tiffany Haddish, Billy Eichner, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Misty Copeland, and Mykal-Michelle Harris, as well as Carey's own nine-year-old twins. It will present a range of musical performances, dancing, and animation, driven by a "universally heartwarming story."
The one-off special will also contain a new soundtrack single titled "Oh Santa!" which will simultaneously arrive on Apple Music as an exclusive, before expanding to other music streaming platforms on December 11.
Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special will stream on Apple TV+ from Friday, December 4.
Following the launch of Macs powered by Apple silicon, numerous third-party apps have been updated to ensure they are optimized to run on Apple's custom processors. Even if an app hasn't been updated, Apple's non-Intel Macs can still run them, thanks to Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer. But how do you know which of your apps are running natively as Universal executables and which ones are using Rosetta emulation? Read on to find out.
Universal Apps Explained
When developers update their apps to run natively on Apple silicon, they use something called a Universal binary. Originally, Universal apps referred to executable files that run natively on both PowerPC or Intel Macs. At WWDC 2020 in June, however, Apple announced Universal 2, which allows apps to run on both Intel-based Macs and Apple silicon Macs.
If an app has yet to be updated to Universal 2, an Apple silicon Mac will still run it, but it will do so by converting the Intel x86-64 code using Rosetta 2 emulation software. Even when emulating x86 code under Rosetta 2, the Macs with Apple silicon generally run non-native apps faster than Intel-based Macs, but it's good to know which apps have been optimized for the advanced hardware inside your M1 Mac. Here's how.
How to Check for Universal Apps in macOS
Click the Apple symbol in the top-left corner of your Mac's menu bar and choose About This Mac.
In the "Overview" tab, click the System Report... button.
In the System Report window, select Software -> Applications in the sidebar. In the Applications list that loads, look under the Kind column to see whether an app is a Universal binary or a non-native Intel executable.
In addition to the System Report list, you can check individual apps too: right-click an app's icon in Finder, then select Get Info from the contextual menu and look at its Kind under "General."
In addition to the above, iMazing has released a free app [Direct Link] that scans your macOS apps and displays their supported CPU architecture, while repo offers a free menu bar app called Silicon Info that lets you quickly view the architecture of the currently running application.
Silicon Info menu bar app
You can also check if an app has been optimized for Apple silicon before you even install it, thanks to a website by Abdullah Diaa called Is Apple silicon ready? The site maintains an up-to-date database of apps indicating native M1 support, Rosetta 2 only, and those that don't work at all.
It's worth noting that Apple considers Rosetta 2 to be a temporary solution for developers while they remake their existing Intel-based programs to run on Arm-based Macs, meaning they will eventually need to create Universal apps that work natively on both Intel and Apple silicon machines.
Apple ended support for OG Rosetta three years after its release to smooth the transition from PowerPC chips to Intel processors, so if a developer doesn't update their app eventually, it may become unusable on Apple silicon machines in the future.
Apple's annual four-day shopping event is now underway in the United States and many other countries, offering customers an Apple Store gift card worth up to $150 with the purchase of qualifying products from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
As usual, the offer excludes many of Apple's newer products, including Macs with the M1 chip. In the United States, for example, customers can get a $50 gift card with the purchase of an iPhone SE, iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPad mini, any Apple TV, and select Beats headphones, with all but the iPhone SE having been released prior to this year.
Apple is also offering a $50 gift card with the purchase of 2020 models of the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt ports, but this applies only to the previous Intel-based models released earlier in the year. The offer for these Macs is also limited to physical Apple Store locations, subject to availability.
The gift card offer applies to purchases made at Apple Store locations, on Apple.com, in the Apple Store app, or by calling 1‑800‑MY‑APPLE.
The gift card values are as follows in the United States:
$150 for 16-inch MacBook Pro or 21.5-inch iMac
$100 for 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 11-inch iPad Pro, or HomePod
$50 for iPhone SE, iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPad mini, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD, and select Beats headphones
$50 for remaining inventory of Intel-based MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt ports, at Apple Stores only, subject to availability
$25 for Apple Watch Series 3, AirPods, or AirPods Pro
Apple could add Force Touch sensors to the OLED Touch Bar on a future MacBook Pro if a new patent application by the company ever comes to fruition.
The original Apple Watch was the first device to feature Force Touch, which sensed extra pressure when users pressed firmly on the display, allowing them to access additional content and controls depending on the context.
In 2015, Apple added the haptic feedback technology to the iPhone 6s in the form of 3D Touch, which featured Peek and Pop gestures, and brought Force Touch sensing technology to the MacBook Pro trackpad the same year.
Perhaps as a result of its lack of discoverability, Apple dropped support for Force Touch on Apple Watch with the release of watchOS 7, and 3D Touch went the same way on iPhone when it was replaced by Haptic Touch (aka long press) in the iPhone XR and subsequent models.
However, the new patent published by the US Patent & Trademark Office, spotted by Patently Apple, suggests Force Touch could have an expanded role in future on the Mac, with the development of a new pressure-sensitive Touch Bar.
Filed in 2019, the patent is short on finer details, but does offer visual examples of how force-sensing technology would be implemented in a MacBook Touch Bar, with Force Touch circuitry surrounding the touch-sensitive OLED strip.
The Touch Bar for MacBook Pro was introduced in October 2016, with a Touch ID sensor integrated into the power button. The control strip has replaced the top row of function keys on most MacBook Pro models ever since, and its usefulness continues to divide opinion.
Would you be interested in seeing Force Touch added to the Touch Bar, or is it time for Apple to drop the OLED strip altogether and bring back the function keys? Let us know in the comments.
Black Friday deals seem to start earlier and earlier every year, so there were already a wide variety of discounts available for Apple products on Thanksgiving Day. Many of the deals remain available even after Thanksgiving, but act fast, as inventory quickly fluctuates.
Thanksgiving Day Deals on Apple Products — Still Available:
Apple Watch Series 6 models start at $329.98 on Amazon, if you're okay with a 40mm/GPS/(PRODUCT)RED configuration. This is $69 off Apple's regular $399 pricing and the lowest price we've ever tracked for the Series 6 since its release in September. Amazon quotes early- to mid-December delivery depending on the model.
Note that Amazon lists some products as out of stock until a certain date, but orders can still be placed now. We cannot guarantee that Amazon will fulfill its estimated delivery timeframes, so keep that in mind when ordering gifts for the holidays.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
First-time subscribers to Apple News+ can receive an extended three-month free trial of the service from today through Monday in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK, the four countries where News+ is currently available.
Apple typically offers a one-month trial to News+, so this offer triples the length of free access. The extended trial can be initiated on the Apple News website in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK. After the trial period, Apple News+ automatically renews at its standard pricing, such as $9.99 per month in the United States.
Apple News+ is a subscription-based service in the Apple News app that lets you access hundreds of magazines and paywalled content from some news sites. The service launched in March 2019 following Apple's acquisition of Texture.
For a limited time, get Apple News+ free for 3 months.
You’ll get: • World-class journalism from sources you trust • Full magazine issues, cover to cover • The week’s best audio stories, hand-picked and expertly narrated, on your iPhone
Redeem now: https://t.co/bnsWcV2XXopic.twitter.com/C9MzXuHQQB
— Apple News (@AppleNews) November 26, 2020
Technology companies like Apple are contributing to e-waste by making their products difficult to repair, and charging expensive repair fees, according to a lengthy report published today by the UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee.
"We were told that Apple glues and solders parts together on their laptops, which makes repairing them very difficult," the Committee wrote in a summary of the report. "They also charge very high fees to repair their products. This trend, which goes against a long history of engineering in the UK, needs to stop."
In a statement provided to The Guardian, Apple said it was "surprised" and "disappointed" with the Environmental Audit Committee's report, with the company touting its "industry-leading commitments" to protect the environment:
We were surprised and disappointed with the Environmental Audit Committee's report, which does not reflect any of Apple's efforts to conserve resources and protect the planet we all share. There are more options for customers to trade in, recycle and get safe, quality repairs than ever before, and our latest Apple Watch, iPad, and iPhone lineup all use recycled material across key components. We will continue to work with parliament and the government to document Apple's industry-leading commitments and to support our common effort to leave a clean economy and a healthy planet for the next generation.
Apple elaborated on many of its environmental efforts in a letter that it submitted to the Committee in September, including increased use of recycled materials in its products and running its operations on 100 percent renewable energy.
The Committee said the current business model for electronics is "reliant on continuous consumption, a throwaway culture and short-lived products," and called on technology companies to "take the lead in creating sustainable and environmentally-friendly business models that do not rely on exploitation of nature."
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
TikTok owner ByteDance has been granted a seven-day extension on an order from the Trump Administration to sell the short-form video sharing platform (via Reuters).
The administration had previously granted ByteDance a 15-day extension of the order issued in August, which was set to expire Friday. President Trump on August 14 directed ByteDance to divest the app within 90 days.
According to a court filing on Wednesday, however, the Chinese company now has a new deadline of December 4 to sell TikTok to a domestic U.S. company.
ByteDance has also reportedly offered the U.S. government a new proposal aimed at addressing its concerns, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters.
ByteDance remains in protracted talks with Walmart and Oracle on a deal that would divest it of the social media app and create a new U.S.-based company called TikTok Global.
In September, a federal judge granted TikTok a preliminary injunction that temporarily halted an order from the Trump Administration that would have banned new downloads of the app in the United States because of the risks posed by their data collection practices and Chinese ownership.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple has asked Foxconn to move some of its iPad and MacBook assembly from China to Vietnam in an effort to minimize the impact of ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, according to sources cited by Reuters.
Foxconn is building assembly lines for Apple's iPad tablet and MacBook laptop at its plant in Vietnam's northeastern Bac Giang province, to come online in the first half of 2021, the person said, declining to be identified as the plan was private.
The lines will also take some production from China, the person said, without elaborating how much production would shift.
"The move was requested by Apple," the person said. "It wants to diversify production following the trade war."
Apple has been seeking to add geographic diversity to its supply chain for some time now, and Apple suppliers already assemble the company's AirPods and AirPods Pro in Vietnam.
Apple is also reportedly seeking to expand iPhone production in Vietnam, although a report in August suggested the company was holding off until workers' conditions improve at supplier Luxshare-ICT's facilities.
Major Apple manufacturing contractors Foxconn, Pegatron, and Compal Electronics are all said to be expanding production in Vietnam as companies seek to reduce reliance on China and diversify supply chains to prevent concentration risks.
Vietnam is emerging as a major manufacturing and assembly hub for large technology companies, and Samsung manufactures as many as half of its smartphones there already.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple's rumored high-end iPad Pro models to be released next year will be 5G-enabled with mmWave support, according to sources cited by industry publication DigiTimes.
Multiple rumors have suggested Apple is planning to release a high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display next year, with the possibility that there will be an 11-inch mini-LED model too, but details beyond that have been scant.
According to today's report, however, Apple's success in developing its own in-house mmWave AiP (antenna in package) modules for next year's iPhone lineup has increased the likelihood that next-generation models in Apple's iPad range will also benefit.
The self-sufficiency in design and development of AiP modules also means that Apple's next-generation high-end iPad products to be released in 2021 may also come with mmWave technology, said the sources.
While not specified, it is almost certain that these models would be iPad Pros given 5G is a high-end feature with higher production costs.
mmWave or millimeter wave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas. iPhone 12 models in the U.S. exclusively support mmWave, while next year's iPhone series could see a wider rollout of the technology.
According to DigiTimes' sources, Apple's latest push on the development of AiP modules indicates that it is moving one step further towards develop RF front-end (RF-FEM) modules in-house, with the ultimate goal of supplying its own modem devices.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that production will begin on mini-LED displays for the iPad Pro in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a launch expected in the first half of 2021. DigiTimes has also reported that a mini-LED iPad Pro will launch in early 2021, as has Korea's ETNews.
Black Friday sales have begun on a variety of products, including the Apple Watch. There are quite a few deals across the Apple Watch lineup this year, including one of the lowest price we've ever seen the Apple Watch Series 3.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Need Help Deciding?
Read our buyer's guides comparing your various options.
Amazon is offering the 38mm GPS Apple Watch Series 3 for just $119.99, down from $179.00. You can also get the 42mm GPS model from Amazon, down from $209.00. Both of these sales represent the lowest prices we've ever seen for the Apple Watch Series 3, and the 2017 model of the Apple Watch makes a solid holiday gift for someone looking to get into Apple's wearable family.
42mm GPS - $149.99 at Amazon. down from $209.00, but currently showing January availability
As a note, stock is very limited for these models and retailers appear to be running out fast. Make your purchases soon if you're interested.
Apple Watch SE
For a step up, Apple also offers the Apple Watch SE, which offers many of the latest features but at a value price. Sport band GPS models are discounted by $20 at Amazon, priced at $259.00 for 40mm and $289.00 for 44mm.
Cellular models of the Apple Watch SE are also on sale, with most models similarly discounted by $20 to $309.00 for 40mm and $339.00 for 44mm. There is, however, one 44mm model in silver with a Deep Navy Sport Loop available for $309.99, a $49 savings.
40mm GPS - $259.00, down from $279.00, but currently showing January availability
If you're looking for the most advanced Apple Watch, Amazon also has a few notable deals on those. The 40mm GPS Apple Watch Series 6 (PRODUCT)RED is $329.98 this week, a $69 discount from the regular price $399.00. Other 40mm models are priced at $379.
For the 44mm GPS models, Amazon is currently showing all of them at $379.99 after a coupon is automatically applied at checkout, down from $429.00. Across the board, these are the best prices available online so far this week.
You can save even more (up to $120) if you're interested in a cellular model, with 40mm stainless steel Milanese Loop models priced at $699.00 and stainless steel sport band models priced at $659.00. Discounts and availability on 44mm cellular models are more limited, with with a few models available for $479.99 after a $29.01 checkout discount.
Most of these sales are the best deals we've tracked to date on the Apple Watch Series 6, which sports ways to measure your heart rhythm and blood oxygen levels. In terms of deep discounts, the Apple Watch Series 6 and Series 3 are the only notable models getting marked down at the major retailers this Black Friday.
Black Friday has kicked off this week, and one of the first major sales for the AirPods Pro is available right now on Walmart. You can find this deal below, along with a few other solid discounts on the regular AirPods.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
AirPods Pro
Update: Wal-Mart and Amazon are now out of stock of the AirPods Pro for $169, and it's unclear if this sale will return today. You can still get the AirPods Pro for $199.99 at B&H, which is $50 off the normal price.
You can get the Bluetooth headphones for $169.00, down from an original price of $249.00, representing savings of $80 and the lowest price we've ever seen for the AirPods Pro.
Walmart offers free two-day delivery, and some products support in-store pickup. Besides the AirPods Pro, quite a few Black Friday deals have appeared at Walmart tonight since the retailer has officially kicked off its online sales at 7 p.m. ET. For a review of the best deals coming from Walmart this Black Friday, check out our spotlight post on the retailer.
In terms of AirPods Pro sales for Black Friday, this Walmart and Amazon sale looks to be the best around this week. We've tracked quite a few markdowns on the ANC headphones to around $199.99, which has been its typical discount price in the past few weeks, but nothing nearly as good as this $169.00 price.
In November 2020, Apple updated its popular 13-inch MacBook Pro lineup with the first Apple silicon chip for the Mac, the M1.
The base 13-inch MacBook Pro was refreshed with the Arm-based Apple chip, bringing significant speed and efficiency improvements, yet Apple continues to sell the higher-end 13-inch MacBook Pro with Intel inside for several hundred dollars more.
So is it still worth plunking down for the 13-inch Intel MacBook Pro, or does it make more sense to take the leap to Apple silicon now? Our guide helps answer the question of how to decide which of these two 13-inch MacBook Pro models is best for you.
Comparing the M1 MacBook Pro and the Intel MacBook Pro (13-inch)
The M1 MacBook Pro and the Intel MacBook Pro share some features such as the same 13.3-inch Retina display and are identical in terms and form factor, but the differences outweigh the similarities.
Wide stereo sound and support for Dolby Atmos playback
3.5 mm headphone jack
Magic Keyboard
Force Touch Trackpad
Bluetooth 5.0
Available in Silver and Space Gray
Apple's breakdown highlights the fact that the two machines share largely the same chassis design, but there are significant differences under the hood and in terms of the number of Thunderbolt ports on offer.
Differences
13-inch M1 MacBook Pro
Eight-Core Apple M1 chip with eight-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine
Up to 16GB unified memory
Up to 2TB storage
Up to 20 hours battery life
Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
802.11ax Wi-Fi 6
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Integrated 58.2-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz
13-inch Intel MacBook Pro
Up to four-core Intel Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Plus Graphics
Up to 32GB memory
Up to 4TB storage
Up to 10 hours battery life
Three-mic array with directional beamforming
802.11ac Wi-Fi
Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports
Integrated 58.0-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
One external 6K display with 6016-by-3384 resolution at 60Hz, or Up to two external 4K displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz
Keep reading for a closer look at each of these specifications, and learn exactly how Apple's first MacBook Pro with Apple silicon processor stacks up against its more expensive Intel brother.
Design
The 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro replaces Apple's entry-level Intel MacBook Pro and is virtually identical in all but the innards. That means the M1 MacBook Pro and the high-end Intel MacBook Pro that Apple still sells both share the same uniform, slab-like design, Magic Keyboard, and Touch Bar with Touch ID.
Otherwise, the only thing that externally differentiates the two models is the number of Thunderbolt 3 ports (more on that later). There's also a negligible weight difference between the two models: 3.0 pounds (1.4kg) for the M1 vs 3.1 pounds (1.4kg) for the Intel, so whichever model you go for, both are very similar in terms of portability.
Connectivity Options
Like the entry-level Intel machine it replaces, the M1 MacBook Pro sports two Thunderbolt USB-C ports that share a single Thunderbolt 3 bus, both being on the left side of the machine, whereas the high-end Intel MacBook Pro boasts four Thunderbolt ports (two on each side).
If you are a power user who owns several Thunderbolt 3 accessories, having four ports may be very important to you, although this may be less of a dilemma given the availability of Thunderbolt 3 hubs on the market. Most users will probably get by fine with just two ports, especially if they plan to have their Mac docked on a work desk the majority of the time.
The M1 MacBook Pro can only connect to one external 6K display at 60Hz, including Apple's Pro Display XDR. By comparison, the Intel-based entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro that it replaces only supports up to two 4K displays or up to one 5K display at 60Hz.
One other point of note is that in addition to the USB-C ports on the M1 MacBook Pro being Thunderbolt 3, they also meet the USB4 specification. The important thing to remember is that USB4 is less a technical advance over existing Thunderbolt 3 ports, and more an attempt to unify the confusing array of definitions related to USB3 and its generational variants, along with the profusion of other protocols that can connect via USB-C, including HDMI and DisplayPort.
It also represents Intel's transition from a paid licensing scheme for its proprietary Thunderbolt protocol to an openly licensed industry standard, which is why Apple has been able to develop its own custom Thunderbolt 3 controller for the M1. Like Thunderbolt 3, USB4 is able to allocate different levels of bandwidth to video and data transfers (up to 40Gb/s) when required simultaneously, but despite the name change, there is little practicable difference for the end-user.
There is a caveat when it comes to connectivity on the M1 MacBook Pro, however. For whatever reason, the Apple silicon machine isn't compatible with external GPUs, including the Blackmagic eGPU that Apple has promoted alongside other Macs and that is available through the online store. That means the M1 MacBook has to rely on its own built-in GPU cores to supply graphics power, which could be a deal-breaker for some.
Performance
The two high-end 13-inch MacBook Pro models continue to use 10th-generation Intel Core chips: Both standard configurations use a 2.0GHz quad-core processor, which can be customized to a 2.3GHz quad-core Core i7 processor. Both Intel models feature Intel Iris Plus graphics.
Meanwhile, the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro is one of the first Macs to be updated with an Apple-designed Arm-based chip rather than an Intel chip like prior MacBook Pro models. The M1 is Apple's first System on a Chip designed for the Mac, which means it has the processor, GPU, I/O, security features, and RAM all on one chip. By comparison, these components in the high-end Intel MacBook Pro are segregated on the logic board, which gives the M1 chip a number of performance advantages.
One of the features of the M1 is a unified memory architecture, or UMA, which unifies high-bandwidth, low-latency memory into a single pool. This means that the technologies in the M1 chip can access the same data without copying it between multiple memory pools, delivering dramatic performance improvement across the entire system.
The M1 also features an 8-core CPU and an integrated 8-core GPU. The CPU has four high-efficiency cores and four high-performance cores. When doing simple tasks like browsing the web or reading email the MacBook Pro engages the high-efficiency cores to preserve battery life, but for more system-intensive tasks like photo and video editing, the high-performance cores are used. Compared to the high-performance cores, the high-efficiency cores use a tenth of the power while still delivering the performance that Mac users need for everyday tasks.
Apple says the M1 chip's CPU is up to 2.8x faster than the Intel chip in the entry-level MacBook Pro it replaces, and GPU speeds are up to 5x faster than Intel's integrated graphics in the former model. That said, Apple hasn't provided any performance comparisons with the existing high-end Intel MacBook Pro models it still sells, but recent Geekbench benchmarks are telling: The M1 chip has a 3.2GHz frequency and earns single-core scores that exceed 1700, and multi-core scores around 7500, which makes it faster than even 2019's high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro models, which come with 10th-generation Intel Core i7 or i9 chips.
In summary, the M1 chip in the entry-level MacBook Pro offers single-core performance that is better than any other available Mac, and outperforms the Intel-based MacBook Pro models that it is sold alongside (although it may not exceed them all in GPU performance). Even when emulating x86 under Rosetta 2, the M1 MacBook Pro is still faster than all previously released Macs. Additionally, none of these scores take into account the new advanced Neural Engine in the M1 MacBook Pro that benefits apps that use machine learning for video, photo, and audio editing, such as Pixelmator, Logic Pro, and Final Cut Pro.
Microphones and Speakers
Both M1 and Intel 13-inch machines feature the same stereo speakers with high dynamic range, wide stereo sound, and support for Dolby Atmos playback. However, whereas the Intel model has a three-mic array with directional beamforming, Apple describes the mic array in the M1 model as "studio-quality" with a high signal-to-noise ratio, which could tip the balance for you if you make a lot of video calls.
Battery Life
The M1 MacBook Pro is advertised as having twice the battery life as the Intel model. (Yes, you read that right.) Apple breaks it down like this: The Intel machine offers up to 10 hours of web browsing or up to 10 hours of Apple TV movie playback, while the Apple silicon machine offers up to 17 hours of web browsing or up to 20 hours of Apple TV movie playback.
Thanks to the M1 chip's phenomenal computational efficiency, Apple has managed to eke out twice as much usage on a single charge from what is basically the same 58-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery.
Software Compatibility
Apps designed for the iPhone and the iPad will run on Apple silicon natively, so you'll be able to use a lot of your favorite iOS apps on the M1 MacBook Pro desktop, albeit with varying degrees of control compatibility. This will depend on the extent to which third-party developers work to furnish Mac input controls like keyboard and mouse in their iOS apps, but the going assumption is that most future Catalyst apps will accommodate both touch and Mac input.
None of the above goes for the Intel MacBook Pro, which only runs x86-64 code for Intel's architecture. The same can't be said for the M1 MacBook Pro, which can run both iOS and x86-64 software, thanks to Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer. In some cases, apps built with x86-64 actually run faster in Rosetta 2 than they do on Intel Macs.
Still, it's worth noting that Apple considers Rosetta 2 to be a temporary solution for developers while they remake their existing Intel-based programs to run on Arm-based Macs, meaning they will eventually need to create native apps for Apple silicon machines. Notably, Apple ended support for OG Rosetta three years after its release to smooth the transition from PowerPC chips to Intel processors, so if a developer doesn't update their app eventually, it may become unusable on Apple's M1 machines in the future.
When it comes to software compatibility, the last thing to note is that Boot Camp is not compatible with Apple silicon, so you can't dual-boot natively into Microsoft Windows on an M1 MacBook Pro. Apple has been clear that macOS virtualization software will be the only way to run Windows and PC software on a machine powered by Apple silicon, and we're still waiting for the major virtualization programs to update their software to work with Apple's new chips and for Microsoft to allow Windows for Arm to be licensed for virtual machines.
Other Mac Options
The 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro is among the most powerful Apple computers with the M1 chip. Currently, the only other two M1-powered Macs are the 13-inch MacBook Air, the Mac mini, and 24-inch iMac.
The larger 16-inch MacBook Pro has not yet transitioned to Apple silicon – Apple continues to sell its Intel-based high-end 16-inch MacBook Pros. Meanwhile, the more expensive iMac, iMac Pro, and Mac Pro are also Intel-based machines, but offer their own distinct advantages and disadvantages with regards to connectivity and portability when compared to MacBook Pro.
Final Thoughts
For the vast majority of buyers, the M1 MacBook Pro is the one to get. If you want the best performance, battery life, and microphone quality in a Mac notebook – and you can live with two Thunderbolt 3 ports – then it's really no contest and the M1 MacBook Pro is certainly the better (and less expensive) option. Apple's latest macOS Big Sur may work on both Intel and M1-powered machines, but it's optimized for Apple silicon, so you're also future-proofing your system by buying into Apple's system architecture for many years to come. The 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro starts from $1,299.
That said, there may be a few customers who would be better off sticking with Intel for now. If you are a pro user that relies on legacy software or runs Windows via Boot Camp on your Mac or in virtual machines, it is better to buy an Intel-based MacBook Pro until there are more high-end Apple silicon options and the technology has had more time to gain software support.
Earlier this week, Apple's Chief Security Offier Thomas Moyer and others were charged in an expanding investigation involving the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office over exchanging bribes for concealed gun permits, reported the Morgan Hill Times.
According to the investigation, Santa Clara County Undersheriff Rick Sung held back four concealed carry weapons permits for Apple's security team unless the company agreed to donate 200 iPads worth $75,000 to the Sheriff's Office. Rather than reporting the bribe request, Moyer was apparently set to facilitate the tech donation until the last moment when an investigation into the situation was started.
Attorneys for Moyer and [insurance broker Harpreet Chadha] maintain their clients’ innocence, saying they were collateral damage in an ongoing political rivalry between [District Attorney Jeff] Rosen and Sheriff [Laurie] Smith.
“Tom Moyer is innocent of the charges filed against him,” his attorney Ed Swanson said. “He did nothing wrong and has acted with the highest integrity throughout his career. We have no doubt that he will be acquitted at trial.”
Facebook has also been linked to the bribery scheme, with officials at AS Solution, the company that provides executive protection for Facebook, pleading guilty.
For Apple's part, the company is standing by Moyer, providing a statement to Ars Technica indicating that it has investigated the situation and "found no wrongdoing."
“We expect all of our employees to conduct themselves with integrity," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. "After learning of the allegations, we conducted a thorough internal investigation and found no wrongdoing."
Moyer, Chadha, and the two officials from the Sheriff's Office are scheduled to be arraigned on January 11.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Reliable leaker known as "L0vetodream" has today suggested on Twitter that redesigned MacBooks coming in the second half of 2021 will include models with both Apple Silicon chips and Intel processors.
The brief Tweet came in response to a MacRumors article from earlier today, which outlined a report from Ming-Chi Kuo claiming that Apple plans to release redesigned MacBook models with Apple Silicon in the second half of 2021.
L0vetodream simply says that the MacBook redesigns expected in the second half of 2021 will not be only for Apple Silicon models, implying that the redesigns will also come to new Intel-based MacBooks.
Apple just released its first Apple Silicon Macs, which include the MacBook Air and lower-end configurations of the 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini. While the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini still have a few shortcomings relative to their more expensive Intel counterparts, they are demonstrating better performance in a number of core benchmarks, even matching or outperforming higher-end machines like the 16-inch MacBook Pro in some tasks.
As a result, L0vetodream's claim is a bit curious given that these rumored redesigned MacBooks are still more than six months away, which gives Apple time to improve the performance of Apple Silicon even further.
In announcing the transition to Apple Silicon chips for the Mac at WWDC in June, Apple said that the transition to Apple Silicon would take about two years and that new Macs with Intel processors were still in the pipeline.
We've already seen a few of those with updated 27-inch iMac models in August, and so many have assumed based on the competitive performance of Apple's M1 chip that most of Apple's Macs will be quickly moving solely to Apple Silicon, with only specialized models like the Mac Pro and iMac Pro perhaps taking the full two years to make the transition.
Microsoft's executive vice president of gaming, Phil Spencer, has discussed Xbox's approach to Apple Arcade, App Store fees, and game streaming on iOS via Safari in a new interview with The Verge.
Earlier this year, Microsoft elected to withhold the launch of its Xbox games streaming service on iOS after it became clear that the project was no longer viable due to Apple's App Store restrictions. Eventually, Microsoft resolved to bypass Apple's restrictions by developing a browser-based solution.
When asked about the state of dialogue between Microsoft and Apple when it comes to game streaming, Spencer assured that Apple "remains open to the user experience we would like people to see." He explained that using a browser-based solution is simpler than a dedicated app in the long-term and it offers access to more devices:
But we have this avenue of a browser that works for us that we will go and build out, which gives us access, frankly, to a lot of devices.
If the device is capable of running a capable web browser, we're going to be able to bring games to it, which is pretty cool. You'll be able to bring all of your saved games and your friends and everything comes with you. It's just Xbox on this new screen with the games. Apple does remain open in the conversations that we have on this topic.
Moreover, Spencer expressed understanding for Apple's position on App Store restrictions and attributes it to Apple Arcade as a competing subscription service:
I can understand their perspective from their position. I don't say I agree with it, but they have a competitive product in Apple Arcade that is competitive with Xbox Game Pass. I'm sure they like having Apple Arcade as the only game content subscription on their phone. We want access to at-scale compute devices that we think should have open access to services customers want.
Spencer drew a specific comparison between Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade in terms of motivations, suggesting that both platforms have the same objective of prioritizing a player's engagement time, rather than catalog size.
I will say, and this is a healthy thing for Game Pass — it's true, it sounds like, of Apple Arcade as well — the number one metric that we see that drives success of Game Pass is hours played. It's not catalog size.
He also conveyed a willingness to cooperate with Apple on wider issues such as safety and security:
We're willing to work with them on safety and other things that people have come up with. We run a platform that takes safety and security very carefully. It is very important to us on Xbox, so that topic is not something that's foreign to us.
Spencer was directly asked if he believes Apple purposefully limits the capabilities of Safari in order to push developers to use its App Store and system of fees, but he said that "we have not seen that to date, just like we haven't on Chrome."
Interestingly, Spencer remarked that he believes comparisons between Apple's App Store fees and Xbox's fee structure are unfair due to the nature of their different devices:
If I can put Game Pass on iOS… if you just look at the scale, there are a billion mobile phones on the planet. Those are general compute platforms. A game console does one thing really; it plays video games. It's sold, for us, at a loss. Then you make money back by selling content and services on top. The model is just very, very different from something [on] the scale of Windows, or iOS, or Android.
I think there are 200 million game consoles that are sold in a generation across all of our platforms. That's less than a year of phone sales. It's just not even close.
Microsoft is still developing its browser-based Game Pass streaming solution for iOS and it has recently added device-to-device streaming from an Xbox to iOS and iPadOS devices over Wi-Fi.
The extensive interview also covered a range of other topics, such as the experience of working for Microsoft over the years, Xbox's process for naming its products, and the gaming community, as well as creating a safe environment for gamers.
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Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
