Apple reached a major milestone this week as the company completed five years of Apple silicon on the Mac. Greg Joswiak marked the moment in a post on X and said the shift unlocked better performance, longer battery life, and fresh designs. You saw that change first with the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, which arrived in November 2020.
Apple began this transition after years of rumors and early hints during WWDC 2020. The company spent a decade building custom chips for the iPhone and iPad, so the move felt natural. As Joswiak explained in his post, Apple silicon pushed the Mac forward in ways many users did not expect.
Apple Silicon Reshaped the Mac
Apple delivered a strong performance per watt across its Mac lineup. This improvement allowed the company to remove the fan inside the MacBook Air and still keep the machine cool. It also helped Apple redesign the MacBook Pro and offer better battery life without trade-offs.
Apple released the first silicon models in late 2020. The 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini led the shift away from Intel. Each model showed how much control Apple gained by owning both hardware and software.
The Transition Nears Its End
Apple confirmed that macOS Tahoe will be the final macOS version to support Intel-based Macs. This signals a clean break from the past and a future built entirely on Apple silicon.
The five-year journey shows how fast the Mac changed. Now users rely on stronger performance, cooler machines, and tighter integration across devices.
