Apple is experimenting with its own custom processor

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is an Apple update.

Apple's next MacBook could come equipped with its own custom processor, bypassing chip giant Intel, said Mark Gurman at Bloomberg. After 15 years partnering with Intel for its central processing units, or CPUs, Apple appears ready to switch to its own model "based off the A14 processor in the next iPhone," which uses technology from Arm Inc.

Arm-based chips use "less energy than Intel's offerings" and have generally been geared toward mobile devices rather than laptops and desktops. But "a slowdown in Intel's chip advancements" has been blamed for the decline in Mac upgrades. While the first Mac chips "won't be able to rival the performance Intel provides," Apple is working on designs that can pack in 12 or more "cores," or processing units, in place of the two-core Intel processors currently used in its entry-level models.

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