Devices and processors.
WHAT CHANGED WITH APPLE SILICON
Apple moved its computers from Intel processors to its own designs, based on the same architecture as its phones.
WHAT THAT PROVIDED
Substantially better performance for the power consumed Long battery life Unified memory shared between processor and graphics
WHAT IT MEANT FOR SOFTWARE
Applications had to be rebuilt for the new architecture.
WHAT PROVIDED CONTINUITY
Translation technology running older applications, and universal binaries containing code for both architectures.
WHAT TO KNOW NOW
New development targets the current architecture; translation is a transition measure.
WHAT UNIFIED MEMORY AFFECTS
How memory is specified, since it is shared rather than separate.
WHAT THAT MEANS WHEN BUYING
Memory cannot be added later on most current machines.
WHAT TO SPECIFY AT PURCHASE
Enough memory and storage for the machine's life.
WHY
Neither can be upgraded afterwards.
WHAT MATTERS LOCALLY
Apple hardware is expensive here, and availability varies.
WHAT THAT DETERMINES
Whether iOS development is practical for you at all, since it requires this hardware.
