Apple's new chips for MacBook Pro and iMac will be super powerful, report claims

It's Apple's Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) day today, and the company is widely expected to announce the start of transition from Intel processors to its own, ARM architecture-based chips for laptops and desktop computers.

But while previous reports suggested a fairly timid transition, a new report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is far more exciting.

Kuo (via 9to5Mac) claims that Apple will launch an ARM-based, 13.3-inch MacBook Pro as early as the last quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021. He also expects Apple to launch a 24-inch iMac with an ARM-based processor in this timeframe.

Kuo's report has a notable difference from Bloomberg's report from April, which said Apple would introduce its ARM-based chips into laptops first, as it would be hard for them to rival the performance of Intel chips in the iMac and Mac Pro. Kuo, however, expects the ARM-based chips to offer a massive, 50-100% performance improvement over their Intel-based predecessors. Details are scarce, but if Apple could achieve that with the iMac, the company could transition to the new chips pretty quickly, and Kuo thinks all new Macs will run on Apple chips starting in 2021.

Kuo also expects Apple to launch a new-form MacBook to go into production in mid-2021, also with an ARM-based chip. Apple should also launch a MacBook with a mini-LED display in the first half of 2021.

There was also some potentially disappointing news for everyone who expected new hardware at this year's WWDC. Several leakers, including Jon Prosser and Max Weinbach, say Apple probably won't launch any hardware, and Bloomberg's analyst Mark Gurman seems to agree as well. It's unclear whether this was planned all along or if Apple scrapped the launch at the last minute.

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Don't get us wrong: If Apple announces ARM-based chips, there will be a lot of hardware talk at the event, but if these recent reports are true, there will be no fixed-date hardware launches.

Previous rumors suggested Apple would be launching a new iMac with a new design language similar to the iPad Pro. And Kuo did say in his latest report that a new iMac launch is imminent (to avoid confusion, Kuo was referring to an Intel-based iMac, which should be Apple's last new Mac before the company transitions to ARM chips).

As for software, there should be a ton of new stuff across all of Apple's platforms; check out our overview of possible new features here.

We'll find out who's right and who's wrong soon enough, as the WWDC – which is a special, virtual event this year – starts today (Monday) at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT. Here's how to tune in.