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Last month Apple announced the first ever Mac computers with Apple-made processors. These units have now started to ship, and the early reviews are extremely positive. These new Macs are boasting better than ever speed, responsiveness and and battery life, and it’s all thanks to Apple’s latest “M1” chip. 

In previous Intel based Macs, the processor, graphics processing, RAM, and storage (hard drive or solid state drive) were all separate components. In some older model Macs, these were discrete and independently replaceable parts, and on more recent models all of these components were all permanently attached to the logic board of the computer, meaning they couldn’t be removed or replaced. In both situations, all of these components for were separate from one another, and were working together to run the Mac. 

The simplest explanation of how an M1 Mac works, would be to think of the M1 chip as a replacement for the Intel chip. Otherwise everything else works the same.. Right? 

Wrong. 

This new M1 technology is a “system on a chip”. In these systems, the central processor, RAM, solid state storage, and graphics processing are all housed on the M1. This means these new chips aren’t just replacements for the previous intel versions. They are replacements for the entire structure of the computer!

The close integration of all of these previously separate components is what allows for the new M1 Macs to outperform their Intel -based predecessors. The speed and efficiency that’s gained from everything living together on one chip, results in instant-fast response times, and unbelievable battery life for us!