Apparently
Apple is planning something big and it’s pretty clear from a report
by a Dutch intern. The report sheds some light on the fact that Apple
just took about 12 weeks to shift or port the operating system kernel
of Mac OS X from Intel to ARM. The significance
of ARM will be clearer if you can consider the news that
Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system will be featuring in a
few ARM based tablet devices, due to be released soon.
What’s
behind the idea?
Taking
into account Apple’s new idea which ported Mac OS X kernel to
ARM, we can safely assume that certain Apple computers is going to
have some major updates, in the Operating system of course. We can
expect upcoming Apple laptops to have a change in the operating
system. Instead of running in iOS, which the iPad and iPhones
use, ARM based Apple laptops might come featuring the Mac
OS X operating system – the Apple desktop operating system.
One
other fact about ARM is that they don’t require too much
power, unlike Intel. This means, if the ARM based Mac OS X
powered Apple laptops really comes into life, they will be
having a great battery life. With the build of a MacBook and low
power requirements of the ARM, the new Apple Mac OS X
Laptop concept can be given a smaller, slimmer battery, which
would considerably reduce the weight of the device as well.
Mac
OS X in ARM – The beginning:
It
was in 2010 that Apple’s Platform Technologies group started
working on the Mac OS X kernel – Darwin, so as to
make it run in ARM architecture. Reportedly, within 12 weeks
they managed to port Darwin to an ARMv5 compatible
processor and made the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system
run in it. But this idea does have competition obviously as Intel is
working on increasing the demands for its architecture by improving
the horsepower to impress users. However, ARM architecture will
also be getting improvements in the horsepower with its low power
consumption feature in tact.
Microsoft’s
change of plans by making Windows 8 compatible with Intel and ARM
platforms is
basically intended to stabilize the shrinking market of Microsoft
desktop PCs in the West and the East. But Apple doesn't face
such problems as Apple computers are apparently the best there is in
the business, selling millions of units. Yet they are porting
to ARM and
considering the use of Mac OS X in
their laptops. Apple has always been two steps ahead of the other
competing firms and this is exactly why Apple is still at the top.
Hopefully, more details on Apple’s plan to run Mac OS X in laptops
would be unveiled soon.
