5 Jun 2023 – Cupertino, CA 

At this year’s WWDC, Apple’s annual developer conference, the company announced the completion of their transition to their ground-breaking Apple silicon powered Macintosh range. They will no longer be selling Intel® chip-based computers.  

This is an important milestone and something we thought it was important to discuss with our AVA users. We think you’ll be excited to find out what this means for you, what the advantages are for your business, and why now might be the perfect time to upgrade your Mac®. 

Introduction of Apple® Silicon 

Since the introduction of Apple® silicon to Macs, Apple® has revolutionised its Mac® line-up. Departing from the long-standing partnership with Intel®, Apple’s transition to its in-house-designed chips has sparked excitement among tech enthusiasts and professionals alike. 

The standout features of Apple® silicon include its impressive performance and energy efficiency, increased battery life, and optimised app compatibility. The custom-designed ARM architecture enables seamless integration between hardware and software, resulting in lightning-fast performance. The original base M1 chip showcased remarkable benchmarks, surpassing most Intel® models and the more recent M2 chips improves the ground-breaking performance of Apple® silicon still further. 

The series includes the base M1/M2 chips, the Pro, Max, and Ultra silicon chip variations. Each of these uses the same powerful processing and graphics cores, but these vary in number, allowing software applications, such as AVA, to process between 6 and 24 tasks simultaneously. 

Everything we’ve seen of the new silicon hardware confirms that Apple® continues to push the boundaries of technology. We believe this innovation is game-changing and is a testament to Apple’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology to its loyal user base. AVA shares this vision of progress and is keen to ensure you future-proof your hardware and software investments for years to come. 

What does this mean for me as an AVA user? 

We’ve made benchmark tests that compare some basic tasks in AVA and the results are impressive. 

On some of these simple processes, where you may find you have to wait several minutes if working on a large file using Intel®, on an Apple® silicon Mac® we have seen the same tasks carried out up to twenty times faster. The graph above gives an overview of the time it takes to complete typical tasks on different machines. If you’re repeating steps like this many times a day, these gains will lead directly to an immediate and multiple fold increase in productivity and could save you potentially hours a day! 

When should I upgrade my Mac®? 

If you are using your Mac® professionally, we would recommend upgrading it after 2 to 3 years maximum. In most countries, this recommendation coincides with the period over which computers are fully ‘written off’ or depreciated for accounting purposes. 

Why? 

As demonstrated by the performance improvements described above, by upgrading from Intel® to Apple silicon, you can easily make the greatest jump in computing performance in the 21st century with resulting improvements to productivity which will very quickly pay for your new machine. 

With each new operating system, Apple® unfortunately withdraws support for older Macs. This allows them to focus their support on newer features for end users and development tools for software makers. As advancements are made in hardware, software inevitably progresses too. This keeps your system running well and safeguards against security vulnerabilities, while giving you access to new features and tools to make your work easier.  

Apple® only provides security updates for the latest three releases. AVA 5.8, being released this summer, will support the last 3 macOS® versions too – requiring Big Sur or later. Continuing to work on an unsupported Operating System would not only prevent access to new AVA features but would also potentially put the security of your workflow at risk. 

Have a look at the table below to see if your Mac® is supported by the current macOS® Ventura, or the new macOS® Sonoma, due to be released later this year. 

Older hardware will get left behind, so it’s important you don’t get left behind with it. Although Apple’s hardware can continue to work for many years, you may be surprised to find out your Mac® is considered vintage or even obsolete. A ‘vintage’ Mac® is one that hasn’t been distributed by Apple® for more than 5 years. They become ‘obsolete’ after 7 years, when replacement parts become unavailable even to Apple® Service Providers, making repairs almost impossible. 

As we know that all our users and their requirements are different, we’ve put together a list of the current Macs which would be suitable for a number of different uses. However, if you would like to get free tailored advice specific to your workflow, please get in touch with AVA Technical Support. 

Recommendations  

* Prices as of June 2023, EUR prices may vary by region. 

Standard	Pro	Advanced
iMac® 24”      Apple® M1 chip with 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 8-core GPU and 16-core   16 GB RAM  256GB SSD storage	Mac mini®      Apple® M2 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core   16GB RAM  512 GB SSD storage   *Doesn’t include peripherals (display, keyboard, and mouse)	Mac Studio®      Apple® M2 Max with 12-core CPU, 30-core GPU, 16-core   32GB RAM  512 GB SSD storage   *Doesn’t include peripherals (display, keyboard, and mouse)
An all-in-one solution, perfect for a designer to get started using AVA.	If you’re a colour critical AVA user, and perhaps already have your own Eizo monitor, this upgrade would be perfect for you.	A high-powered machine for those intensive AVA workflows. Are you using large files, an engraver, or work on multiple files simultaneously? You might want to consider this machine.
GBP 1799	GBP 1399	GBP 2099
USD 1699	USD 1299	USD 1999
EUR 2009	EUR 1549	EUR 2399