Apple's Fall hat trick will conclude with a November event titled "One more thing." It's a fitting name for an unusual third event and an even better match for the expected content. It's no secret what fans are in store for; Tim Cook already stated the first Macs with Apple Silicon will ship before the end of the year and we're (thankfully) almost ready to close the book on 2020. November 10th is the day we'll learn most of what we want to know about those devices. Superfans and technophiles are excited--as they should be--but the true meaning is likely less clear for the average consumer. So if you're out of the loop, let's get you up to speed.

What is Apple Silicon?

Apple Silicon is the marketing friendly term Apple has started using to refer to their System on a Chip (SoC) that will be powering the next wave of Apple computers. As the name implies, an SoC is a single physical chip that performs many different discrete functions for the device it powers—from general processing with CPU cores and graphics processing with GPU cores to more specific functions like enhancing AI applications with what Apple calls its Neural Engine. You get all of that and more with a single, tiny chip; technology is truly magic.

It's not easy to design high performance SoCs but Apple has been doing this in-house for a decade now. They launched their first custom chip, the A4, in the original iPad. Following that, it made its way into the rest of Apple's iOS-running mobile device portfolio. Just about every year after, Apple would revise the chip, increment the number, and roll it out to all of their devices.

As Apple matured their chip-making, they introduced high-powered X variants for iPads, starting with the A5X. Those variants offer better performance for the more demanding workloads of iPad users. In addition to the A-series chips, Apple has several other lines of custom silicon for their array of products: S-series chips for Apple Watch; W-series and H-series chips for AirPods and other wireless devices; T-series chips for Macs; and the U-series chips Apple is aggressively sneaking into their newer devices. Apple has become extremely competent at designing and shipping custom chips at scale.

When Apple says they're bringing Apple Silicon to Macs, it means they're replacing the Intel chips that have been powering their laptops and desktop machines with their own internally designed solution.

Why would Apple do this?

Lots of reasons! And those reasons fall on a spectrum, with "good for Apple" on one end and "good for customers" on the other end. Realistically, anything good for customers ends up being good for Apple but let's keep this simple and ignore that detail.

It's good for Apple

The biggest reason Apple is doing this is control. From the moment Apple started using Intel chips the performance ceiling of Macs was at the mercy of what Intel could achieve. Intel sells chips to an entire industry, and for much of the last decade they've been the leader, so their goal is to make general solutions that satisfy the needs of the many. As Apple's products matured, general solutions have become less desirable. On top of that, big year-over-year performance gains have waned for Intel, which have impacted both Mac performance and release dates.

When you can't release a product that performs significantly better than the previous model on a timeline that's out of your control, you may start to wonder whether that business arrangement is working for you. If you're also producing your own continually maturing and growing line of chips in-house, you may also wonder if you can just do it yourself. This is more or less what happened with Apple.

Integrating a high performing A-series-like chip into the Mac gives Apple full control over the performance and feature set of the Mac, from hardware to software. Vertical integration has always been Apple's goal, as well as a constant strength for their family of products.

It's good for consumers

Apple Silicon Macs will likely feature noticeably better battery life, more compact designs, and lower overall operating temperatures than the Intel-based machines they're replacing. Apple has always obsessed over making their devices better, faster, more enjoyable to use, and more portable (generally by making them thinner and lighter). Apple Silicon will allow them to make significant leaps in this direction as they move forward.

It probably also means much better performance (but maybe not immediately). Apple's current A-series chips, particularly the more powerful ones in iPads, outperform a large selection of Intel's low-, mid-, and upper mid-range chips. The upper range is still out of reach, however. While the chips heading for Macs will no doubt be different and more performant than any other A-series chip, I don't expect the first gen of Apple Silicon Macs to dominate competitors like iPhone performance in the smartphone world. I do expect Apple will get there before long, though; they've shown a level of mastery with their chip design that is startling.

From the software side, having the same type of chip powering all the devices you sell opens up new opportunities Apple couldn't take advantage of before. Apps that run on iOS will be able to run seamlessly on Apple Silicon Macs. While there will be a host of Intel compatible (x86) apps that will no longer work (or at least no longer work well) on these new machines, being able to fall back on the breadth of apps available on the App Store is a huge advantage to kickstart what could be a disruptive transition.

Customers may also save some money. Apple isn't exactly the kind of brand that is focused on passing savings onto customers. However, there is a possibility they will reduce the price of some of their machines because the cost of Intel hardware no longer needs to be recouped. Additionally, buying cross-device compatible software once will save customers money on apps as more developers adopt that approach.

What should you do?

If most of what you've read so far has been new to you, I recommend you wait before buying anything new. This is a big change and there will likely be growing pains. It's not Apple's first major architecture transition (it's their third) so they do have experience doing this kind of thing. As is the case with anything new, you should assume there will be unexpected road bumps. For example, if you use Macs for productive work, you may find important software in your workflow isn't usable (for various reasons) on the new devices.

If none of that bothers you, however, you should be optimistic. The obvious long term benefits are almost all positive. Those are just the pros someone without any insider info, like myself, can glean. Apple wouldn't make a transition like this unless it also opens up new doors for the hardware it affects. In 3 - 5 years, when the transition is comfortably behind us, I expect we'll see Macs evolve in ways we couldn't have imagined. Say what you will about Apple and their products but they do have a history of innovating. That's what I'm most excited for—Apple spreading their wings with the very products many have claimed they've forgotten about.