Apple Mac laptops to go ARM in 2020?

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple could roll out its first ARM-based Mac computers in 2020 or 2021. This is a move that's been rumored for several years now, Apple switched to Intel's x86 processors in 2006 and now the company wants to lock down its ecosystem by switching to its own, in-house ARM-based processors.

This will free Apple from Intel's processor roadmap but performance remains a concern. It's believed that Apple's laptops will be the first to go ARM. Kuo also notes that TSMC will benefit greatly from Apple's plans, not just for the computer market but also Apple's car efforts:

Kuo says that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Apple’s chip manufacturer, stands to benefit enormously from Apple’s plans. TSMC has the exclusive supplier of A-series chips since 2016 and will maintain that arrangement going forward. Kuo also anticipates that TSMC will manufacture chips intended for Apple’s car efforts, saying “we believe that Apple Car’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will support either Level 4 (high automation) or Level 5 (full automation).”

It will be interesting to see if Apple really switches to ARM. For basic consumer products it seems feasible, but at least at this moment, it's hard to imagine doing demanding workloads like video editing on ARM-based Macs.