Apple has reportedly added support for its popular ARM chip to the kernel of macOS Sierra 10.12. ARM chips are used in Apple’s popular iOS devices. A late September report from Techtastic says Kernel release notes for macOS 10.12 indicate support for a new ARM HURRICANE chip family.
This is likely a custom ARM chip from Apple as the A7 was dubbed Cyclone, the A8 was Typhoon, and the A9 was Twister. It may even be the A10 Fusion processor found in the iPhone 7.
Techtastic notes Apple could already be preparing to create a laptop powered by an ARM processor.
… it is striking that developers no longer send the final binaries when submitting an app, but a bit code. This bit code is then used by Apple to convert the application to the specific platform. Which means that Apple can easily make the transition to a different instruction set, for example, switching from x86 to ARM without all apps need to be resubmitted. It is probably also one of the reasons why legacy applications have recently been removed from the App Store.
Apple has long been rumored to be considering production of an ARM notebook. An initial release could be restricted to lower-end devices, such as a MacBook Air-type model. Apple will unveil a new lineup of Macs on Thursday, during an event to be held at their Cupertino campus, but those new models are all expected to be powered by Intel chips.
Apple’s event, to be held at the company’s Cupertino campus, on Thursday, October 27, at 10:AM Pacific/1PM Eastern time. MacTrast will provide liveblog coverage of the event as it happens, and Apple will be live streaming the event.
