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

Apple Inc. onMonday said it will switch to its own chips for its Maccomputers, saying the first machines will ship this year andending a nearly 15-year reliance on Intel Corp to supplyprocessors for its flagship laptops and desktop.

CEO Tim Cook said it marked the beginningof a major new era for a product line that powered the company's risein the 1980s and its resurgence in the late 1990s.

"Silicon is at the heart of our hardware," Cook said duringa 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 thecompany's iPhone and iPads, which already use Apple-designedchips. Cook said that Apple expects the Mac transition to takeabout two years and that Apple still has some Intel-basedcomputers in its pipeline that it will support for "many years."

But the move will give software developers for Apple'slargest pool of third-party appsthose built for iPhones andiPadsnew access to its laptops and desktop for the firsttime. Apple software chief Craig Federighi said that for thoseofferings, "most apps will just work, with no changes from thedeveloper" on the new Macs. He also said the "vast majority" ofexisting apps for Intel-based machines can be modified to workin "just a few days."

Antitrust scrutiny

The news came at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. Theconference has gained new prominence since paid services soldthrough the App Store have become central to the company'srevenue growth as consumers have slowed the growth of iPhoneupgrades. Apple takes a 15 per centto 30 per centcut of the sales developersmake through the App Store, which is the only way to distributesoftware onto Apple's mobile devices.

Those fees, and Apple's strict app review process, have comeunder antitrust scrutiny in the United States and Europe, whereregulators last week unveiled a formal probe into the company.In what appeared to be an acknowledgement of some of itscritics, Apple said it would let users select non-Apple apps asdefault apps for tasks like email and web browsing on iPhonesand iPads.

But developers still gravitate toward Apple's platformbecause it is lucrative, with a user base that is willing tospend money on paid apps. The annual developer conference, beingheld online this year for the first time because of the novelcoronavirus, is where Apple often announces access to newhardware capabilities, such as special tools for artificialintelligence and augmented reality.

At the event, Apple announced a new system that lets usersshare digital car keys with friends and family members via thecompany's iMessage system. Itwill work with BMW 5 Seriesvehicles.

The system will work with phones running the current iOS 13operating system so that owners can start using it when the BMWvehicles arrive. Apple said more cars that work with the systemwill come to market next year.

Apple also updated its mapping application with informationabout electric vehicle charging stations, working with BMW andFord Motor Co. to show stations compatible with the user'svehicle.

Apple also added new privacy protections, saying it wouldlet users only share their approximate location with appdevelopers and that it would require those developers to seekpermission before sharing user data with other apps andwebsites. Apple also said it would require a privacy andsecurity label, akin to a food nutrition label, to be shown tousers before they download apps.