A single chip oriented at embedded systems can’t be said to have “solved all the problems Apple had” — and after years of falling behind, they really needed to get past the performance issue & its ensuing heat/reliability/cost problems. Customer loyalty only stretches so far and only the Intel option reliably closed the gap across product lines.

Putting the team to work on the future made sense: they’re incredibly profitable, the software has matured in key ways making it easier to port, and they’re moving after years of hitting high targets annually.