In the lead up to WWDC 2020, which is currently underway virtually this week, Apple was rumoured to be announcing its switch to ARM-based chips for a select number of its Mac devices.

The rumours turned out to be true, with Apple CEO Tim Cook confirming as such during his keynote for WWDC 2020 last night.

To that end, he revealed Apple’s own ARM-based processor, which will be used to power its future MacBooks and iMacs, as the company pivots away from Intel-manufactured silicon.

As for when Apple will be showcasing its first Mac device with the new internal components, the firm is planning to do so later this year, although a precise date is unknown.

As is what guise the new device would take, with both the MacBook Pro and iMac lineups getting subtle refreshes in the latter half of each year. There is of course scope for the 12″ MacBook or the MacBook Air too, but hopefully Apple has more than one device to bring to market sporting its own chips.

While the exact nature of the device is unknown, Apple has confirmed that its switch to ARM-based chips will take an estimated two years to complete for its entire range of commercial computing hardware. As such, there will be plenty more announcements between now and the year’s end.

It also remains to be seen what the switch in silicon will mean for performance of its devices compared to the Intel ones. If the difference is considerable here, Apple may indeed find more customers upgrading than they anticipated, but we’ll need to wait for official benchmarks before that call is made.

Either way, Apple appears to bringing more and more elements in-house as it looks to become less dependent on other manufacturers for key components.