Apple Inc on Tuesday introduced a MacBook Air notebook and other computers with the first Apple-designed microprocessor, called the M1, a move that will tie its Macs and iPhones closer together technologically, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The new chip marks a shift away from Intel Corp INTC.O technology that has driven the electronic brains of Mac computers for nearly 15 years.
It is a boon for Apple computers, which are overshadowed by the company’s iPhone but still rack up tens of billions of dollars in sales per year. Apple hopes developers now will create families of apps that work on both computers and phones.
The MacBook Air will start at $999, the same as its predecessor, and have up to twice the battery life, Apple said. The M1 will also power the MacBook Pro notebook, which starts at $1299, and its $699 Mac Mini computer, which comes without a monitor.
The Mini is targeted at engineers and scientists because of artificial intelligence capabilities of the new chip that usually requires a graphics chip from Nvidia Corp or AMD.