Apple will soon begin producing SoC processors based on the ARM architecture. Eventually, this will mean the end of the production of Intel-based Macs, although not for at least two years. According to TrendForce, the first Mac SoC could cost much less than Intel chips.
Will this mean less expensive Macs in the future? I'm not so sure.
TrendForce believes the first Apple ARM-based SOCs could cost under $100, compared to the $200 to $300 for the Intel Core i3 processors on the market. The cost difference is significant.
Tom's Guide's Roland Moore-Colyer believes this could be enough to push down the price of future MacBook Pros.
As they rightly admit, that could be wishful thinking, however.
No doubt, developing chips in-house will help Apple cut costs, especially in the long-run, as production picks up steam. And as these things go, at least some of those savings could show up in the price of future Macs.
Like Moore-Colyer notes, however, those discounts are less likely to come to Apple's premium offerings like the MacBook Pro. Instead, you could see the most significant price drops happen on the MacBook Air and other non-Pro Macs.
As Moore-Colyer explains: "As such, slightly cheaper MacBooks would be a good way for Apple to respond to the increased competition it faces in the laptop arena."
Fuzzy math for now
Market forces are going to play a massive role in what Apple charges for Macs with ARM-based SoC processors. At least in the short term, however, the market's going to be in flux because Apple decided to produce Intel-based and ARM-based devices for at least two years. Only when ARM is the only game in town will we see whether the transition made Macs noticeably cheaper.
During the transition period, when Intel and ARM Macs co-exist, I expect Apple will keep the prices between both types of computers very similar as a way to support both. When there's only an ARM-based computer (welcome back, 12-inch MacBook), however, we could see a price break unless heightened popularity for the new machines mean no discount is necessary.
The Intel/ARM debate has only just gotten started and it will be interesting to see where things go from here. This fall, Apple's likely to introduce new Macs with both Intel and ARM processors. In the meantime, stay tuned.
Questions
Should Apple drop the prices on its Pro products if the switching to ARM allows? Let us know your thought below.
