Apple opened its sprawling ecosystem of mobile offerings to Mac desktop users for the first time, as it enabled consumers to run its mobile apps on PCs equipped with a new M1 chipset and MacOS Big Sur platform.

During a launch event, SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi (pictured) said users gain “access to the biggest collection of apps ever for the Mac” with “more games to play, more content to watch, and more apps for everything you want to do“.

He explained the move was enabled by the company’s use of its proprietary M1 chipset for Mac, which “scales up the architecture” developers are already accustomed to using for iPhone and iPad “so they can optimise their code across the whole family”.

PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore told Mobile World Live the feature will be a “big draw” for consumers, adding “it’s all about offering a seamless experience of accessing the same services and apps across all devices”.

Ben Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, wrote on Twitter the move gives Mac “the largest app ecosystem of any traditional PC form factor”.

Silicon
M1, Apple’s first custom chipset for Mac, is built using a 5nm process and offers up to three-and-a-half-times faster CPU performance; six-times faster GPU; and two-times longer battery life than previous-generation Macs.

The MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini will be the first to use it, with all three available from next week.