Daily Archives: 2020-06-22

This is Apple’s roadmap for moving the first Macs away from Intel

Source: Ars Technica

Article note: The annual rumor came true this time, Apple is going for a third (m68k -> PPC -> x86 -> ARM, though only two with the warmed-over NextStep platform) architecture change. If anyone knows how to do it, it should be them.
  • ARM Macs get a whole Apple SoC, with lots of components. [credit: Apple ]

After 15 years, Apple will again transition the Mac to a new architecture. The company announced at its developer conference today that it will introduce Macs featuring Apple-designed, ARM-based processors similar to those already used in the iPhone and iPad.

Tim Cook pegged this switch as one of the four biggest transitions the Mac has ever had. Alongside the move to PowerPC, the move to Intel, and the transition to Mac OS X, ARM will be one of the biggest Mac changes ever. Apple is promising "a whole new level of performance" with a "Family of Mac SoCs.

Longtime Apple users have been through all this before, with the transition from PowerPC to Intel and now for Intel x86 to ARM. All the big platform transition hits are coming back. The transition to ARM from x86 means that some Mac apps will be native and some won't. For apps that support both x86 and ARM, Apple is introducing the "Universal 2" binary that will package both codebases together. For apps that haven't made the transition to ARM yet, the Rosetta emulator is back as "Rosetta 2" and will now let x86 apps run on your ARM Mac, albeit with reduced performance.

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Apple announces macOS 11, “Big Sur,“ with an emphasis on design

Source: Ars Technica

Article note: This feels like a Windows 8 moment, that is a very "mobile inspired" whitespace-heavy, touch friendly, context sensitive shell presenting itself as a desktop OS.
Apple announces macOS 11, “Big Sur,“ with an emphasis on design

Enlarge (credit: Apple)

It's WWDC, and today Apple is announcing the next big version of macOS "Big Sur," which, after 15 versions of "OS 10.x," is actually version 11! Big Sur, like the previous versions, is named after a region in California.

Apple says Big Sur comes with an "entirely new interface" with "refinements in buttons and controls" and a new unified icon yet. Finder and most other apps feature a more transparent, top-to-bottom sidebar with an all-white (or all-dark) main section to the right. Toolbars have been redesigned, with the big gray window topper of previous versions getting the boot.

Control Center has arrived on the Mac, too. Clicking on the toolbar by the time will bring it up, just like the notification panel. Inside, you'll find sliders for the volume and display brightness, along with other power controls and media playback. You can drag controls into the status bar for quick access. Widgets have been reworked with a gallery display view, and you can easily drag them into the side widget bar.

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