Apple has been using Intel CPUs for a long time, with its partnership with AMD only showing up on the GPU side. Well, if a new leak is to be believed, it might point to the Cupertino based giant switching to team red for their Mac/Macbook lineup in the light of their recent winnings. We’ve seen how AMD has absolutely swept away the competition in the last couple of years with their Ryzen processors. So, is it time that Apple also gives in to AMD’s upcoming Ryzen 4000 offerings?
The leak points to Apple switching to AMD Ryzen CPUs from Intel on their Macs. Twitter user _rogame found the following lines of code hidden deep inside the macOS Catalina 10.15.4 beta release:
Inside the code you can see the codenames of many AMD-specific APUs, including “VANGOGH”, team red’s rumored 2020 offering. Since AMD unveiled their 8 core mobile chip for ultrabooks, all eyes have been on their next move. It is certainly possible that Apple may move to AMD for their high-end offerings on mobile form factors, like the Ryzen 7 4800U.
Last year Apple caught a lot of heat for the i9 model of the Macbook Pro. It could be that Apple is looking for a more power-efficient replacement on their higher-end models, and the Ryzen APUs will surely help in that department. After all, Intel did respond to AMD by slashing prices across their range of 9th gen CPUs, which only attests to the strength that their competition has gathered.
Another possibility is the rumored upcoming Apple gaming Mac. Since the leak doesn’t exactly point specifically to Macbooks, it could be that Apple might look to AMD for their high-end Mac designed for gamers. Since the company has been using team red’s GPUs for so long, it’ll make sense to pair both the CPU and the GPU with the same company’s offerings. It could also help in saving costs, considering how the rumored price of the new Mac is absurdly high.
Regardless of what ends up happening, it seems that 2020 will be a big year for Apple in general, with them launching exciting products.