As Apple phases out Intel chips from its lineup in a two-year plan, Mac systems with Apple's own custom silicon based on Arm will appear. But when will that begin in earnest? A week from today.

I can't say I'm 100 percent sure, but I'm 99.99 percent sure. Because Apple has announced that it will hold its third fall event (via MacRumors) next Tuesday, November 10, to announce "one more thing."

The last two events, in September and October, featured announcements of the iPhone 12, a new iPad Air, a HomePod mini speaker, Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, and some software.

Apple has already announced its intention to "ship the first Macs with Apple silicon by the end of the year," and we can ignore the idea that next week's event is dedicated to a revamped Apple TV set-top box. We can disregard the idea that next week's event is dedicated to a revamp of the Apple TV set-top box.

For one thing, moving from Intel to Arm-based custom processors is a bold gamble; Apple switched from IBM's PowerPC hardware to Intel's x86 processors about 15 years ago, and the move to Arm has caused all sorts of problems, primarily performance related issues of all kinds. That said, Apple CEO Tim Cook flaunts supreme confidence. [With its powerful features and industry-leading performance, Apple's silicon will make the Mac more powerful and capable than ever...I've never been more excited about the future of the Mac," Cook said in June.

By moving to Arm, Apple will provide a common architecture for many of its product lines, and there are certain advantages to going that route. But will it work as well for MacBooks and other Mac systems as Apple's custom hardware design has benefited iPad and iPhone devices? We are about to find out.

Another interesting factor is a more recent development. Apple's decision to move away from x86 hardware and move to Arm-based designs was made before Nvidia announced that it had agreed to buy Arm. The relationship between Apple and Nvidia is somewhat strained, and has been for a long time. And now Apple is about to go all in on IP (intellectual property) that may soon belong to Nvidia.

None of this, of course, directly affects PC gaming. But it is interesting nonetheless. And depending on how things work out, there could be a push for more Arm designs on Windows, as has already happened to some extent.