Apple is reportedly targeting 2021 for Macs with its own chips

A new report is making the rounds that claims sources close to Apple are saying that the company is on track to launch Mac computers running Apple-made CPUs and GPUs in 2021. The report originated with Bloomberg and cites sources close to Apple claiming to know what it is working on. According to the sources, the chips that Apple is working on are codenamed Kalamata.

Apple is tipped to be at work on three different systems-on-a-chip for Macs. All of them are reportedly based on the A14 chip the company developed for its next-generation flagship iPhones. The chips that will land for Macs, to begin with, will include an eight-core high-performance chip and SoC with a quartet of energy-efficient cores under codenames Firestorm and Icestorm, respectively. The report also indicates that Apple is looking into chips with more cores for future products.

With Apple working on multiple chips for the Mac computer line, it would appear that the company is thinking about rolling out its chips across its entire Mac line, not one device alone. One unclear thing is if Apple intends to replace the Macs in its current line with machines running its chips. Replacing them would seem like a likely thing for the company to do if it wants to break its reliance on Intel.

The report does claim that the chips Apple is working on for its Mac line is going to be "much faster" than the chips used in the iPhone or iPad even though the Mac chips are based on the smartphone processors. Apple's fastest processors, to begin with, aren't expected to be able to keep pace with the fastest Intel chips used in the MacBook Pro and Mac Pro lines currently. Apple's chips will reportedly use the 5nm process and be constructed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Speculation suggests that Apple's own chips will first turn up in its lower-end devices such as the MacBook Air or Mac mini. Rumors earlier this year suggested Apple would launch Macs with AMD hardware inside.