Apple has a lofty goal of transitioning its entire computer lineup to an Apple-made processor in the future. It is a timeline that has officially kicked off with several different machines, including the MacBook Air, the all-new MacBook Pro, and the redesigned 24-inch iMac, among others. But apparently Apple’s not quite done with Intel just yet.
As MacRumors points out today in a report detailing the still existent relationship between Apple and Intel, the former of the two companies has at least one more machine coming down the pipe that will feature the latter company’s processor under the hood. And that’s apparently going to be one of the upcoming Mac Pro variants.
The report states that Apple has a couple of different Mac Pro models in the works. One of them is the redesigned model that will indeed boast Apple silicon under the hood. We first heard about that one back in February of this year, with a report telling us the new Mac Pro would look like “three to four Mac minis stacked on top of each other.”
That new, redesigned Mac Pro didn’t see the light of day in 2021, but it could very well launch in 2022.
However, this new report states that one of the Mac Pro models will continue to rely on an Intel-based processor. In that model, it will retain the current Mac Pro design, so no big change to the case itself. This report says that Apple will pick Intel’s Xeon Scalable processor, which offers up “advanced performance, security, efficiency, and built-in AI acceleration to handle IoT workloads and more powerful AI.”
So, why stick with Intel with a brand new machine in the midst of an Apple silicon revolution? As noted by MR, this could be a way to help extend the transition period for folks who don’t want to rely on Apple’s Rosetta 2 for apps that haven’t made the transition to Apple’s chips. This could be an olive branch, with otherwise updated hardware features and specs, but offering an Intel processor for the users who aren’t ready to make the leap.
Giving more time for developers, especially the gigantic ones who haven’t quite made the transition to Apple silicon just yet for their public app offerings, does indeed make sense. Even if Apple’s M-series processors have performed ridiculously well so far, and spiced things up with the M1 Pro and M1 Max in 2021, there are still Mac users out there who aren’t quite ready to make the change.
We’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out. If Apple does launch an updated Mac Pro with an Intel processor inside, would that be the model you go with?