I'm trying to shorten my reading backlog. This came in:
https://blog.cloudflare.com/arm-takes-wing/
It shows how current ARM technology is almost as fast as the
next Intel cream-of-the-crop and how it outperforms it in a lot of cases.
Keep in mind that the above comparison is server oriented. However, things like compression (zlib) are very close to what happens in audio processing, when performance is what you're testing.
Also, keep in mind these are not Apple's ARM chips. But I see no reason to think Apple's offerings are less. On the contrary.
And sample processing would be a task that is much, much faster when carried out on these 64 core ARM chips, as they aren't hindered by backwards compatibility and have been multi-threaded from the beginning. That means the software libraries for them are a lot faster too.
I sure as hell don't know how the developers of plugins and other audio software feel and where they stand when it comes to development on ARM. That could be a pain point. But, in general, the devs that already are developing for ARM, like some Linux developers, are VERY pleased with the platform.
So let's hope the current problems with OSX stem from devs having their interests elsewhere, like in studying ARM instructions sets...