A new report released on Sunday claims that Apple Inc. is looking to power its Mac devices with chips developed by ARM Holdings, plc.
It has been rumored that Apple is working on prototypes for several ARM-based devices, such as iMac, Mac mini and a 12-inch Notebook, with four to eight 64-bit ARM Quad-core processors, according to The International Business Times.
The report came from MacBidouille, a French technology news website.
MacBidouille also said the ARM-powered Macs would include a "large format" Magic Trackpad that will be built into the keyboard, Apple Insider reported.
Apple is said to be "reluctant" to make the change too early.
The report added that the new products are far ahead in development and could also be ready for an announcement, The International Business Times reported. The French website is not usually a source for rumors related to Apple, but a report from MacRumors said the company has long been said to be developing Macs with ARM chips, but many have doubted that the company would be able to accomplish this goal.
Reports from 2011 claimed that Apple was going to ditch chips from Intel Corp., if the company couldn't fix the slash power consumption on its processors, while other rumors said Apple was going to switch from Intel to ARM chips "as soon as possible". The company has also been rumored as far back as 2011 to be creating a MacBook Air powered by ARM (A5) processors.
Apple has made platform changes before, announcing in 2005 that it was leaving PowerPC architecture in favor of Intel chips, CNET reported.
The company was also reported in 2012 to be looking for ways to replace Intel chips in its Mac computers with a version of the iPhone and iPad's chips, according to The International Business Times. Another report at the time stated, however, that Apple would face several obstacles in using different chips.
Apple is currently making improvements to the performance of its ARM processors in other products, such as the A7 chip in the iPhone and iPad.
