Apple Highlights New M1 Chip, Shift Away From Intel At 'One More Thing' Event

Apple Inc.'s AAPL "One More Thing" on Tuesday showed off upgrades to the line of Mac computers using the Apple-owned M1 chip.

The move to the silicon chips from Apple will shift the company from using chips from Intel Corporation INTC. It's the start of a breakup between the two large technology companies as Apple says it will take several years to complete the process.

The MacBook Air: Apple said the MacBook Air is the world’s best selling 13-inch notebook computer and the most popular Mac.

Apple will use the M1 chip on the new MacBook Air for the first time ever. The performance will be the best per watt in the industry and is two times the “PC chip,” Apple said referring to Intel.

The new M1 chip powering the MacBook Air will make graphics five times faster than the prior Air, which is the biggest jump for the Air lineup ever.

Graphics on the MacBook Air with M1 are three times faster than the best selling windows PC.

The new MacBook Air will have 15-hour battery life for web browsing and 18 hours for video playbook, which are two times the previous version of the Air.

Related Link: Apple Hi Speed iPhone Event Live Blog

The Mac Mini: The M1 chip comes to the Mac Mini to provide three times faster CPU than the previous version. The chip will also provide six times faster graphics.

The Mac Mini is one-tenth the size of comparable priced desktop computers. The Mac Mini is five times faster than the competitors in its price range.

The MacBook Pro: Loved by students and professionals, the MacBook Pro is the best selling laptop in its class.

The new M1 chip upgrade will provide 2.8 times faster CPU than the previous version. The computer will also be three times faster the best-selling comparable Windows computer.

The MacBook Pro comes with 17-hour web browsing and 20-hour video playback battery life. This is an increase of 10 hours from the previous version.

Prices and Availability: The MacBook Air will start at $999. The Mac Mini will start at 699. The MacBook Pro will start at $1,299.

The price of the Mac Mini drops $100 from the previous version.

All three Apple computers are available to order today and will be available next week.

The OS Big Sur is available beginning Thursday.

Shift to Silicon Chips: The company calls this the strongest Mac lineup they’ve ever had. Apple said the journey will take several years to complete the transition to silicon chips.

CEO Tim Cook called today a “huge day for Mac. Huge day for Apple.”

Cook reminded investors that they are making “bold changes,” but will be able to run more software than ever with the transition to Silicon.

“We view the chip announcement as the first step of many more on the horizon in our opinion as Cupertino takes the reigns of its architecture,” said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.

The analyst sees Apple focusing on speed, power and efficiency with its own chips.

Apple's stock traded around $117.19 at publication time.