With Apple Silicon, the Mac Is Now Capable of Market Dominance

But will Tim Cook be bold enough to go for it?

⭐ Robert Jameson
Debugger
Published in
5 min readDec 2, 2020

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Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Apple makes some bold claims about the capabilities of its M1 processor — the new “Apple Silicon” system on a chip that powers its latest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

World’s fastest CPU core in low-power silicon

World’s best CPU performance per watt

World’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer

…a quantum leap in performance at a fraction of the power.

Apple claims the MacBook Air, for example, has an “up to 3.5x faster CPU” and “up to 5x faster graphics” than its Intel-powered predecessor, despite no longer requiring a fan.

Obviously the use of the phrase, “up to,” gives Apple some wiggle room for making the performance leap sound bigger than it actually is.

Nevertheless, early benchmark results suggest the performance improvements are substantial and real, if slightly less dramatic than Apple’s marketing might imply.

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⭐ Robert Jameson
Debugger

Tech Writer. Philosopher. Economist. Basic Income Advocate.