Apple's most ambitious chip plan yet
Latest update time：2021-09-01 04:05
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Apple plans to launch Mac computers with its own processors next year, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg further pointed out that Apple is currently researching three Mac processors, which are chips they developed based on the A14 processor used in the next-generation iPhone. People familiar with the matter said that the first Mac processor will be much faster than the processors in the iPhone and iPad. In the Bloomberg report, they called this Apple's most ambitious computer chip plan.
We know that in the past decade or so, Apple has not only launched its A series chips for mobile phones, but also launched A series derivative chips for iPad, H series Bluetooth chips for airpods, and W series chips for Apple Watch. In addition, there are T series chips for security and modem chips under development. As for other types of chips such as power management chips, that goes without saying.
After this new series of chips came out, all of Apple's hardware used self-developed chips.
The not-so-secret "Kalamata" plan
From Bloomberg's report, we can see that Apple calls its Mac computer chip project based on the Arm architecture "Kalamata". Kalamata is the tenth largest city in Greece, perhaps derived from the Greek "kala ommata", which means "beautiful eyes". This is actually not the first time that Apple's Mac chip plan has been exposed.
According to Bloomberg, Apple developed and tested a Mac chip based on the iPad Pro A12X processor as early as 2018. The test results were reportedly very good, and because Arm has been pushing the design of high-performance chips, Apple engineers are confident in the plan.
People familiar with the matter said that Apple will use TSMC's 5nm production line to manufacture new Mac chips. This is the same process that Apple will use in the next generation of iPhones and iPad Pro chips. And its first Mac processors will have eight high-performance cores (code-named Firestorm) and at least four energy-saving cores (internally called Icestorm). At the same time, Apple is exploring Mac processors with more than 12 cores in order to gain further development.
The news indicates that Apple has begun designing the second-generation Mac processor, which will follow the A15 chip architecture developed for the 2021 iPhone. This suggests that Apple wants to put its Mac, iPhone, and iPad on the same processor development cycle.
According to Apple's plan, their Mac chips will be tested first on a brand new Macbook series, because their processor performance is currently not comparable to the Intel processors they currently use in MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro desktop computers.
Bloomberg said that despite using the same chip design as the iPhone and iPad, Apple's Mac, which uses its own Arm processor, will still run the macOS operating system instead of the iOS software of the iPhone and iPad. Apple is also exploring the development of a tool to ensure that applications developed for older Macs based on Intel processors can still run on new machines. But this is not an easy task. Microsoft has tried to migrate the Windows system to computers based on Arm processors before, but it was not successful.
The company also has a technology called Catalyst that allows software developers to create apps for the iPad that run on Mac computers.
"The transition away from Intel is very complex and requires close collaboration between Apple's software, hardware and component procurement teams. Given the current global supply chain situation, this transition may be delayed," the person familiar with the matter stressed.
What is Apple planning?
In the history of Apple's Mac development,
there have been three CPU architecture shifts:
The first was in 1984, when Apple replaced the 8-bit 6502 processor of Apple II with Motorola's 68k processor architecture with the release of Macintosh 128k. The second platform migration was in 1994, when Apple abandoned the Motorola 68k processor and switched to PowerPC processor. The third was in 2005, when Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, announced the discontinuation of IBM's Power PC architecture and the switch to Intel's X86 architecture at the WWDC conference that year. Now is the fourth time.
According to Jobs, the reason they chose to migrate the computer's hardware platform was mainly because they were disappointed with IBM's development progress on PowerPC technology.
Relevant information shows that in June 2003, when Steve Jobs launched the Mac equipped with the PowerPC G5 processor, he promised that the clock frequency of the PowerPC processor would be increased to 3 GHz within twelve months. In fact, even two years later, Apple and IBM still failed to put the 3 GHz PowerPC processor on the market. Rumors in the market believed that this embarrassing situation was caused by the low yield rate of IBM's POWER4-derived chipset. In addition, the PowerPC processor equipped in the Mac notebook computer generated huge heat during operation, which was also widely criticized by the industry at the same time.
Now Intel is facing the same dilemma as IBM did back then. Due to the impact of manufacturing process upgrades, the gap between Intel and TSMC and even Samsung is widening, which affects the frequency of their processor upgrades. This may also be one of the reasons that prompted Apple to turn to Arm processors.
From the Bloomberg report, we can see that for Apple, developing its own computer processors has many advantages.
First of all, this will also reduce Apple's dependence on Intel.
The recent news about Intel processor shortages must be fresh in everyone's memory. If Apple chooses Arm processors, it can seek help from TSMC or even Samsung.
Secondly, self-developed processors can better control the performance of their devices and differentiate them from competitors.
Now Apple MacBook is more differentiated than other Intel chip products through software. But if they can add more differentiated competition in hardware, it may help them open up a new battlefield.
Third, if Mac, iPhone and iPad run the same basic technology, it will make it easier for Apple to unify its application ecosystem and update its computers more frequently.
Such a consistent system experience will be of great interest to both developers and consumers, and it will also become Apple's competitive advantage.
Fourth, this will also bring huge cost advantages to Apple.
According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, if Apple uses its own Arm CPU, it can save 40-60% of the processor cost, but still get the expected performance and increase battery life. Kuo further pointed out that after reducing costs, Apple will have the opportunity to launch a MacBook Air priced below $1,000. This will help Apple, based on its excellent ecosystem, to shake up the market with lower-priced products.
Intel will bear the brunt
Judging from revenue alone, even if all of Apple's Mac products switch to Arm processors, the impact on Intel's performance will only be 5%. But for this semiconductor giant, the fear is that the power of example is infinite.
Looking back at the current personal PC market, Intel is the absolute winner, which has helped them to grab huge profits for quite a long time. In the past two years, in addition to AMD's attempt to compete with Intel in the PC market through the new X86 architecture, Qualcomm has also launched a new Arm series of processors, hoping to get a share of the PC market. However, the latter has not been successful, mainly because the Arm processor's system experience and application ecology cannot shake the dominance of Wintel.
But considering Apple's brilliant record in the past three architecture transfers, if they can really succeed here, Qualcomm and their partners will have a lot of confidence. Huawei, which is now making computers and also making a lot of chips, has further ideas on this? This may have a profound impact on Intel's future.
Over the past decade, the battle between Arm and Intel has never stopped. Arm has penetrated into the server chip field with its great success in the embedded field. In the past two years, driven by Ampere computing, Marvell, Huawei, Feiteng and Amazon, it seems to have begun to show new light. If Apple chips can succeed in PCs this time, it will help them win again. On the other hand, Intel, even though they spent a lot of money on mobile chips, ultimately could not avoid the fate of a disastrous defeat.
From Apple's active chip plan, we can also see that in the 1980s, due to the rapid increase in chip performance requirements and the sharp rise in production line investment costs,
IDM manufacturers were forced to
gradually turn to the Fabless and Fab division of labor model. However, in the second decade of the 21st century, the prosperity of IP manufacturers and wafer fabs such as Arm and TSMC has enabled system manufacturers to customize their own chips at a relatively low cost to create more differentiated products and carve out a path in the fiercely competitive market.
For some chip manufacturers, it is time to think about how to survive in the current competitive environment.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
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