Apple switches to own chips for Macs; adds features, privacy controls

“Silicon is at the heart of our hardware,” Cook said during a virtual keynote address recorded at the company’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters for its annual developer conference. 

“Having a world class silicon design team is a game changer.”

The silicon switch brings the Mac into line with the company’s iPhone and iPads, which already use Apple-designed chips. Cook said that Apple expects the Mac transition to take about two years and that Apple still has some Intel-based computers in its pipeline that it will support for “many years.”

But the move will give software developers for Apple’s largest pool of third-party apps — those built for iPhones and iPads — new access to its laptops and desktop for the first time. Apple software chief Craig Federighi said that for those offerings, “most apps will just work, with no changes from the developer” on the new Macs. He also said the “vast majority” of existing apps for Intel-based machines can be modified to work in “just a few days.”

Antitrust scrutiny

The news came at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. The conference has gained new prominence since paid services sold through the App Store have become central to the company’s revenue growth as consumers have slowed the growth of iPhone upgrades. Apple takes a 15 per cent to 30 per cent cut of the sales developers make through the App Store, which is the only way to distribute software onto Apple’s mobile devices.

Those fees, and Apple’s strict app review process, have come under antitrust scrutiny in the United States and Europe, where regulators last week unveiled a formal probe into the company. In what appeared to be an acknowledgement of some of its critics, Apple said it would let users select non-Apple apps as default apps for tasks like email and web browsing on iPhones and iPads.

But developers still gravitate toward Apple’s platform because it is lucrative, with a user base that is willing to spend money on paid apps. The annual developer conference, being held online this year for the first time because of the novel coronavirus, is where Apple often announces access to new hardware capabilities, such as special tools for artificial intelligence and augmented reality.

At the event, Apple announced a new system that lets users share digital car keys with friends and family members via the company’s iMessage system. It will work with BMW 5 Series vehicles.

The system will work with phones running the current iOS 13 operating system so that owners can start using it when the…