Apple expected to debut ARM-based Mac at One More Thing event November 11

Fresh off new iPhones and iPad models, the world’s most valuable company has promised one more thing before the end of the year.

Apple has announced what should be its last big product unveiling event of the year, where it’s expected to debut the new processors that power some of its Mac computers.

It will be Apple’s third consecutive month of product unveils, all of which have been “virtual events” streamed on its website in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In September, the company announced a new Watch and iPad Air while October’s event was headlined by the new iPhone 12 models.

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Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event will take place on Wednesday morning next week.

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The “One More Thing” event (a reference to co-founder Steve Jobs and his frequently used introduction to big announcements at the end of past Apple events) will take place at 5am November 11 AEDT (that’s Wednesday morning next week).

Earlier this year at June’s WorldWide Developers’ Conference (WWDC), Apple announced it would move away from using Intel’s chips in some of its Mac computers, with Macs featuring Apple designed chips to be unveiled by the end of the year (most likely at next week’s event).

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Apple desktops like the very expensive Mac Pro will likely retain Intel chips for at least the next couple years. Picture: Brittany Hosea-Small/AFP

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It’s believed the decision to dump Intel’s chips in some computers was due to Apple growing increasingly frustrated about a lack of year-on-year progress from the chipmaker, which has struggled in recent years amid increasing competition from a resurgent AMD.

AMD recently released smaller and more powerful chips in a form Intel doesn’t expect to be able to match until 2022.

But unlike Intel and AMD, Apple’s custom chips are based on the ARM architecture.

ARM allows for longer battery life and thinner designs, so it’s likely the first Apple chips will be in the MacBook laptop line, while Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro desktop computers will retain Intel’s chips for the next few years.

A computer available for developers used the same processor as the iPad Pro.

The switch to ARM means some existing programs won’t run on Apple’s new laptops, but it will also make it easier for developers to port apps from iOS and iPadOS to macOS (and potentially vice versa).

One thing to watch for next week will be whether Apple introduces a brand new chip or whether it modifies an existing one, such as the A14 in the iPhone 12 and new iPad Air or the A12Z in the iPad Pro, which was used in the Mac Mini device made available for developers to begin porting their programs to run on ARM earlier this year in anticipation of the switch.

The new iPad Air introduced Apple’s A14 processor, which is a potential candidate to power a new MacBook as well.

The iPad Pro and new iPad Air both continued to blur the lines between laptop and tablet and both form factors are becoming nearly identical in terms of power and capability, outside of the more niche applications that still require a traditional “computer”.

Next week’s event could also reveal the previously predicted AirPods Studio headphones and AirTags locator devices.

Apple will stream the unveiling on its website and we’ll have all the announcements on the day.