Apple, at its virtual World Wide Developers Conference last month, announced a big change: the company is getting out of using Intel chips in its MacBooks. Instead of using the Intel chip, as it has since 2005, and will instead make its own, which it calls “Apple Silicon.”

“From the beginning, the Mac has always embraced big changes to stay at the forefront of personal computing. Today we’re announcing our transition to Apple silicon, making this a historic day for the Mac,” Tim Cook said in the official announcement in June.

“With its powerful features and industry-leading performance, Apple silicon will make the Mac stronger and more capable than ever. I’ve never been more excited about the future of the Mac.”

Cook, without being specific about models, had said at WWDC that the first MacBooks with Apple Silicon would arrive later this year, and now there are some indications of what that rollout might look like.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities says an Apple Silicon-based MacBook Pro will arrive later in 2020.

“We predict that Apple will launch new MacBook models including the new 13.3-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the Apple Silicon in 4Q20, the new MacBook Air equipped with the Apple Silicon in 4Q20 or 1Q21, and new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models equipped with the Apple Silicon and all-new form factor design in late 2Q21 or 3Q21,” Kuo wrote in a note Friday, as cited by CNBC.

Kuo added that if things went well for Apple, MacBook shipments next year could jump to as high as eighteen-twenty million units. That would require Apple releasing a MacBook Air with the Apple Silicon chips with a lower price point and if “the demand for the all-new form factor design 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models is better than that of legacy models.”

The two firms that release quarterly data about worldwide PC shipments, IDC and Gartner Research, both said this week that PC shipments have posted gains year-over-year, after both reported declines in the first quarter due to coronavirus.

Both firms had Apple fourth in terms of worldwide PC sales, behind Lenovo, HP and Dell. Gartner said that Apple sold 4.368 million MacBooks in the second quarter, for a worldwide market share of 6.7 percent. IDC said Apple sold 5.59 million, for a market share of 7.7 percent.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters