Apple Adds ARM Support to macOS Sierra Kernel

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Posted September 30, 2016 at 7:45pm by Shalom Levytam

Apple has added support for an ARM chip to macOS Sierra 10.12, reports Techtastic.

In the Kernel release notes for macOS 10.12, Apple indicates that a new ARM HURRICANE chip family is now supported by the kernel. This is likely a custom ARM chip from Apple as the A7 was dubbed Cyclone, the A8 was Typhoon, and the A9 was Twister. It may even be the A10 Fusion processor found in the iPhone 7.

The site notes that Apple may have already been taking steps to prepare for a laptop with an ARM processor.

It is striking that developers no longer send the final binaries when submitting an app, but a bit code. This bit code is then used by Apple to convert the application to the specific platform. Which means that Apple can easily make the transition to a different instruction set, for example, switching from x86 to ARM without all apps need to be resubmitted. It is probably also one of the reasons why legacy applications have recently been removed from the App Store.

An ARM MacBook has been rumored for quite some time. It's believed that A-series chips would be limited to lower-end devices initially, perhaps a future version of the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air would be a possible candidate.

Apple is set to unveil a slew of updates to its Mac lineup next month. Please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.

[via Techtastic]

Apple Adds ARM Support to macOS Sierra Kernel

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Keir - October 24, 2016 at 8:10am

All x86 chips are RISC at their core. I suspect there's a lot of confusion here.

José Alcayaga - December 22, 2016 at 6:36pm

As I know, x86 are CISC based, not RISC ;)

tomtubbs - October 23, 2016 at 9:53pm

Wasn't there a rumour that the Mac Mini could get turned into a Mac on a stick - would possibly work on ARM Too

Alec Joy - October 23, 2016 at 5:50pm

OSX and iOS are based on the same Kernel, here's the same line of code in the 10.7 source code in the Apple Developer documentation.

José Alcayaga - December 22, 2016 at 7:51pm

Yes, When Steve Jobs presented the iPhone, he said tha the iPhone would run Mac OS X, and it doesn't run Mac OS X, it run iOS, that it's based on Mac OS X kernel (XNU)

selvamax - October 1, 2016 at 1:55am

Mac going again to PowerPC

mifk - October 23, 2016 at 11:12am

Nope, ARM is not PowerPC.

davidlt - October 1, 2016 at 12:09am

It's not about macOS, it's for iOS. They are running the same kernel and most other stuff, just different interface to the user. The header lists: 339 #define CPUFAMILY_UNKNOWN 0 340 #define CPUFAMILY_POWERPC_G3 0xcee41549 341 #define CPUFAMILY_POWERPC_G4 0x77c184ae 342 #define CPUFAMILY_POWERPC_G5 0xed76d8aa 343 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_6_13 0xaa33392b 344 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_PENRYN 0x78ea4fbc 345 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_NEHALEM 0x6b5a4cd2 346 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_WESTMERE 0x573b5eec 347 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_SANDYBRIDGE 0x5490b78c 348 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_IVYBRIDGE 0x1f65e835 349 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_HASWELL 0x10b282dc 350 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_BROADWELL 0x582ed09c 351 #define CPUFAMILY_INTEL_SKYLAKE 0x37fc219f 352 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_9 0xe73283ae 353 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_11 0x8ff620d8 354 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_XSCALE 0x53b005f5 355 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_12 0xbd1b0ae9 356 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_13 0x0cc90e64 357 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_14 0x96077ef1 358 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_15 0xa8511bca 359 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_SWIFT 0x1e2d6381 360 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_CYCLONE 0x37a09642 361 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_TYPHOON 0x2c91a47e 362 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_TWISTER 0x92fb37c8 363 #define CPUFAMILY_ARM_HURRICANE 0x67ceee93

Great! - October 1, 2016 at 12:02am

Yes! Dual OS, dual screen laptop coming soon! Top half laptop screen, bottom half iPad and Mac. Detach and connect to larger screens possible.