Mac developers are currently in the midst of a major hardware architecture transition. But for some app makers, this is the third time that they have done this.
After years of rumors, Apple announced the transition to first-party Apple Silicon chips in 2020. Then the first Macs with a proprietary M1 processor launched in November and apps started taking advantage of the new speed.
Although the transition is expected to take two years in total, Apple offered a system and devices to make the process easier on both consumers and developers. Existing apps that work with macOS Big Sur can at least in theory simply run as normal on M1.
How to Check if Your Mac Is Using an Intel or Apple Silicon Processor
In 2020, Apple started selling Macs with its own Apple Silicon chips. But from the outside, the Macs look the same as the old ones. How can you tell if the Mac you’re using runs on an Intel or Apple Silicon processor?
Because Apple made such a smooth transition between Intel Macs and M1 chip Macs (Apple Silicon), it’s actually quite hard to tell the two apart. The 2018 MacBook Air and the 2020 MacBook Air with M1 look the same.
So the only way to know if you’re using an Intel Mac or an Apple Silicon Mac is by using the About This Mac feature.