Intel has decided to outsource its i3 processors to TSMC, after considering such a move for months.
Intel has fallen on hard times in recent years, being eclipsed by its long-time rival AMD, as well as Apple’s switch to its own, ARM-based, custom silicon. The company has dealt with security flaws, production bugs and supply issues. Most recently, it was announced that Pat Gelsinger would replace Bob Swan as CEO.
One of the biggest indications of Intel’s troubles was its willingness to consider outsourcing its processor manufacturing. While Intel has outsourced non-CPU chips for some time, this step would have never been an option years ago.
It appears Intel has moved forward, with plans to outsource its i3 production to TSMC in 2021, before moving its high-end chips over in 2022, according to TrendForce.
While the company is planning to kick off mass production of Core i3 CPUs at TSMC’s 5nm node in 2H21, Intel’s mid-range and high-end CPUs are projected to enter mass production using TSMC’s 3nm node in 2H22.
TrendForce believes the move will allow Intel to reserve its own in-house production for its most profitable, high-end chips.
Qualcomm has announced it is acquiring Nuvia, a chip company formed by ex-Apple employees, for $1.4 billion.
Qualcomm is the maker of a popular line of processors used in phones and tablets. While Qualcomm’s chips are based on Arm designs, like Apple’s custom silicon, Apple consistently takes top marks in performance benchmarks. It appears Qualcomm’s planned acquisition of Nuvia may be an effort to change that.
Nuvia primarily designs chips for servers, but the company appears to have much wider ambitions. Nuvia’s website speaks of “an opportunity to reimagine silicon design to create a new class of processor that delivers the step-function performance and energy efficiency improvements needed to power the next era of computing.” These plans are likely at the heart of Qualcomm’s interest.
“5G, the convergence of computing and mobile architectures, and the expansion of mobile technologies into other industries are significant opportunities for Qualcomm,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO-Elect, Qualcomm Incorporated. “The NUVIA team are proven innovators, and like Qualcomm, have a strong heritage in creating leading technology and products. I am very excited to have them join our team. Together, we are very well positioned to redefine computing and enable our ecosystem of partners to drive innovation and deliver a new class of products and experiences for the 5G era.”
“Creating high performance, low-power processors and highly integrated, complex SoCs are part of our DNA,” said Jim Thompson, Chief Technology Officer of Qualcomm. “Adding NUVIA’s deep understanding of high-performance design and integrating NUVIA CPUs with Snapdragon – together with our industry-leading graphics and AI – will take computing performance to a new level and drive new capabilities for products that serve multiple industries.”
With Apple’s recent switch to its own custom silicon, the race is on to provide high performance processor solutions to the industry, solutions that go beyond what Intel can offer. Qualcomm acquisition of Nuvia is a big step in that direction.
Intel has announced VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger will replace Bob Swan as CEO, effective February 15.
Intel has been struggling in recent years, facing a host of problems. It has witnessed the rise of Arm-based chips, used in everything from phones to computers. AMD, a rival that historically has lagged behind Intel, has been resurgent, releasing chips that have challenged Intel’s core business. In addition to external threats, the company has faced internal problems, including the loss of leading chip engineers, “unfixable” security issues and ongoing production problems.
Intel’s troubles even lead the Third Point hedge fund to pen a letter to Intel, demanding changes to address the problems. Swan indicated a willingness to work with Third Point on potential solutions.
Intel has now announced a change in its top leadership, bringing Gelsinger onboard to replace Swan. Gelsinger is widely seen as one of the best choices to lead the company. He is a 30-year Intel veteran, giving him invaluable experience and insight into company culture. Most recently, he has served as CEO of VMware since 2012, leading that company to some of its greatest successes.
“Pat is a proven technology leader with a distinguished track record of innovation, talent development, and a deep knowledge of Intel. He will continue a values-based cultural leadership approach with a hyper focus on operational execution,” said Omar Ishrak, independent chairman of the Intel board. “After careful consideration, the board concluded that now is the right time to make this leadership change to draw on Pat’s technology and engineering expertise during this critical period of transformation at Intel. The board is confident that Pat, together with the rest of the leadership team, will ensure strong execution of Intel’s strategy to build on its product leadership and take advantage of the significant opportunities ahead as it continues to transform from a CPU to a multi-architecture XPU company.”
“I am thrilled to rejoin and lead Intel forward at this important time for the company, our industry and our nation,” said Gelsinger. “Having begun my career at Intel and learned at the feet of Grove, Noyce and Moore, it’s my privilege and honor to return in this leadership capacity. I have tremendous regard for the company’s rich history and powerful technologies that have created the world’s digital infrastructure. I believe Intel has significant potential to continue to reshape the future of technology and look forward to working with the incredibly talented global Intel team to accelerate innovation and create value for our customers and shareholders.”
Gelsinger has a big challenge ahead of him, as he tries to turn things around at the beleaguered chipmaker. It remains to be seen if he will be successful, although he certainly has the background and experience to have a fighting chance.
Third Point LLC, an activist hedge fund, is urging Intel to make changes to address its falling status in the chipmaking industry.
Once the undisputed leader in chipmaking, Intel’s processors were used in everything from mobile devices to PCs to servers. Unfortunately for the company, it failed to keep up with changes in the industry, especially with the rise of mobile processing.
Designed by Arm Holdings, ARM chips are known for their outstanding performance to power consumption ratio. ARM-based chips power iPhones, iPads, Android devices and, most recently, computers. In the case of Apple’s Mac platform, the ARM-based M1 offers superior performance to comparable Intel chips while using a fraction of the energy. The result are machines that run cooler and have much longer battery life.
Intel, in contrast, has struggled to offer that winning combination of performance and efficiency. The company struggled to move to 7nm processors, has had issues keeping up with demand and been plagued with “unfixable” security issues. The company has also lost some of its best engineers, including Jim Keller and Murthy Renduchintala.
To make matters worse, AMD has been chipping away at some of Intel’s stronghold markets, especially with its Ryzen line of chips. The Ryzen 3000 took aim at the desktop, the 4000 series made headway in the mobile market and the 5000 is challenging Intel in the gaming market. Meanwhile, the Threadripper Pro is challenging Intel’s server dominance.
Intel’s issues have reached the point where the company is even considering outsourcing its chip production.
Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb wrote to Intel’s chairman, Omar Ishrak, urging the company to take action to address its issues, according to Reuters.
“Without immediate change at Intel, we fear that America’s access to leading-edge semiconductor supply will erode, forcing the U.S. to rely more heavily on a geopolitically unstable East Asia to power everything from PCs to data centers to critical infrastructure and more,” Loeb wrote.
One of the suggested remedies was “separating its chip design from its semiconductor fabrication plant manufacturing operations, according to the sources. This could include a joint venture in manufacturing, according to the sources.”
It’s unclear if Intel will respond, although Third Point’s nearly $1 billion stake in Intel could make it hard to ignore. Either way, one thing is clear: Intel must figure out a way to turn its business around before it’s too late.
Microsoft is reportedly developing its own line of ARM-based chips for use in Azure servers and, possibly, Surface devices.
Apple upturned the industry when it announced at WWDC 2020 that it was transitioning its Mac line of computers to its custom silicon, based on ARM designs. Early tests show that Apple’s new M1 MacBooks are faster than even the fastest Intel-based MacBook.
When Apple first announced its plans, Jean-Louis Gassée said Microsoft would be forced to adopt ARM processors to keep up with Apple’s newfound performance.
“This leaves Microsoft with a choice: Either forget Windows on ARM and cede modern PCs to Apple, or forge ahead, fix app compatibility problems and offer an ARM-based alternative to Apple’s new Macs,” said Gassée. “It’s a false dilemma, of course. Microsoft will forge ahead…with repercussions for the rest of the Windows PC industry.”
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is moving ahead in that direction. Bloomberg’s sources said the company is working on its own line of ARM-based processors for its Azure servers. The company is also working on a processor that could be used in its Surface line of devices.
Mozilla has released the latest update to Firefox, bringing full compatibility with Apple’s M1 Macs, as well as significant performance improvements.
The M1 chip is Apple’s custom silicon, based on the same ARM designs Apple uses in its iPhone and iPad. While M1-based Macs can run software designed for Intel chips, and run it well, the best performance is obtained by recompiling an app so it runs natively on the M1.
Microsoft just made headlines with its announcement that Microsoft 365 has been updated to run on the M1 natively, and now Firefox has made the jump as well. The company outlined the benefits in its release notes:
Native support for macOS devices built with Apple Silicon CPUs brings dramatic performance improvements over the non-native build that was shipped in Firefox 83: Firefox launches over 2.5 times faster and web apps are now twice as responsive (per the SpeedoMeter 2.0 test). If you are on a new Apple device, follow these steps to upgrade to the latest Firefox.
As one of the most privacy-focused browsers on the market, it’s good to see Firefox updated for Apple’s new chip.
Microsoft has updated Microsoft 365, bringing compatibility with Apples M1-equipped Macs.
The M1 is Apple’s custom silicon, based on the same ARM chips it has been using for years in the iPhone and iPad. Apple announced the transition at WWDC 2020, and unveiled the first models in November. Early testing indicates the M1 Macs are easily outpacing their Intel counterparts.
One of the most important applications on the Mac is Microsoft’s productivity suite. Fortunately for M1 Mac users, 365 is now ready for the new machines.
“We are excited to announce that starting today we are releasing new versions of many of our Microsoft 365 for Mac apps that run natively on Macs with M1,” writes Bill Doll, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Microsoft 365. “This means that now our core flagship Office apps—Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote—will run faster and take full advantage of the performance improvements on new Macs, making you even more productive on the latest MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. The new Office apps are Universal, so they will continue to run great on Macs with Intel processors. The apps are not only speedy, but they also look fantastic as they have been redesigned to match the new look of macOS Big Sur. Here is a peek at Outlook on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.”
This is good news for Mac users and Microsoft, and is hopefully just the first of the major apps making the jump to the M1.
Apple may have just released its first M1 Macs, based on its custom silicon, but the company is setting its sights on nothing less than the performance crown.
Apple made headlines when it announced it was transitioning away from Intel to its own custom silicon, based on the same kind of ARM chips it has used in iPhones and iPads for years. The company was hoping custom silicon would improve its products’ battery life, as well as overall speed and performance. The transition comes at a time when Intel has experienced increasing issues meeting demand and innovating, especially in the high-performance, low-profile designs Apple is known for.
The M1 Macs were unveiled at Apple’s One More Thing event in November, and the initial results didn’t disappoint. The MacBook Air, considered an entry-level laptop, easily bested the fastest MacBook Pros based on Intel’s chips.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is just getting started in the performance game, with plans to unveil a 32-core version of its custom silicon. To put that in perspective, the MacBook Air is running an eight-core processor that has four high-performance and four energy-efficient cores. That means, theoretically, the new processors could be several times faster than a machine that already beats the fastest Intel chips Apple is using in its high-end laptops.
Jean-Louis Gassée, the founder of Be, Inc., made the case in July that Apple’s custom silicon would have profound impacts on the industry and Intel, far beyond the 10% of Intel’s business that Apple represents:
Specifically, what are Dell, HP, Asus, and others going to do if Apple offers materially better laptops and desktops and Microsoft continues to improve Windows on ARM Surface devices? In order to compete, PC manufacturers will have to follow suit, they’ll ‘go AR’ because, all defensive rhetoric aside, Apple and Microsoft will have made the x86 architecture feel like what it actually is: old.
Given that Apple is expected to begin rolling out its 32-core processors in desktop Macs starting in 2021, with the Mac Pro possibly debuting in 2022, Gassée’s prediction may be coming true sooner rather than later.
Qualcomm has announced the next iteration of its Snapdragon line of processors, the flagship Snapdragon 888.
Qualcomm is one of the leading makers of mobile chips, used in Android smartphones and tablets. Based on ARM designs, Snapdragon is used in some of the premier devices on the market.
The new Snapdragon 888 makes significant improvement on previous generations, especially in performance, AI and connectivity.
“Qualcomm’s history of breakthrough technology inventions has paved the way for our continued leadership in the premium-tier mobile segment,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager of mobile, compute and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The new flagship Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platform will enable OEMs to further differentiate their devices and allows users to experience the latest cutting-edge mobile technologies.”
When it comes to performance, the Snapdragon 888 is based on 5nm process technology, giving up to 25% better overall CPU performance and top speeds up to 2.84 GHz. The 888 also includes an integrated 5G modem, unlike the previous generation that had to be paired with a discreet modem.
Qualcomm touts the Snapdragon 888’s AI abilities as “the biggest architectural leap forward in AI. The completely re-designed 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine with the new Qualcomm® Hexagon 780 processor enables premium experiences that blend AI with professional cameras, personal voice assistants, elite gaming, lightning-fast connectivity and more.” Meanwhile, “the integrated 3rd generation Snapdragon X60 5G Modem-RF System enables support for 5G sub-6 carrier aggregation and mmWave to deliver the world’s fastest commercially available 5G speeds, up to 7.5 Gbps.”
The Snapdragon 888 should help smartphone manufacturers push the envelope of what’s possible, and usher in a new generation of mobile devices.
Microsoft has released the latest beta of Excel, including support for Apple’s custom silicon chips.
At WWDC Apple announced it was moving away from Intel’s chips in favor of its own for its Mac platform. Next week’s “One More Thing” event is widely believed to be when Apple will release the first of the new machines.
Apple’s custom silicon is based on ARM chips—the same designs used in the iPad and iPhone. Apple is including a compatibility layer, Rosetta 2, that will allow Intel-based apps to run on the new chips. However, applications must be recompiled for the new architecture to be considered native and provide maximum performance.
As one of the most important Mac software developers, Microsoft is already working to ensure Office is compatible with the new machines. In particular, according to release notes, the SQL Server ODBC data connection is now compatible with Apple’s new chips.
The built-in SQL Server ODBC data connection provider will now support the new Apple Silicon devices as well as the TLS v1.2 communication protocol. This feature provides support for SQL Server ODBC data connections to work properly on new devices that have Apple Silicon processors, as well as support for SQL Servers that require secure connections via the TLS v1.2 protocol.
This is good news for users wanting to upgrade and hit the ground running as soon as the new machines are available.
Apple has announced a “One More Thing” event, scheduled for November 10, where the company is expected to unveil its new Macs.
“One more thing” was a favorite phrase Steve Jobs used to announce some of the company’s biggest products. Even after this death, the company has continued to use the catchphrase in some of its biggest announcements. The MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, FaceTime, Apple Watch, Apple Music and the iPhone X were all unveiled as “one more thing.”
At WWDC, the company announced it was transitioning the Mac platform to its own custom silicon and away from Intel’s chips. Apple has a long history of using its own silicon, based on ARM’s designs, in its iPhone and iPad line of devices. In recent years, those devices have rivaled the performance of traditional computers, but without the heat and energy consumption.
When Apple announced the transition, it said the first new Macs would be available before the end of the year. So it’s a good bet the company’s “One More Thing” event will finally unveil the new computers. Many experts expect a revived 12-inch MacBook or a new 13-inch MacBook Pro to be the first device released. Either way, the world will finally know next week.
Intel has had a rough couple of years, leading the company to consider what would have once been unthinkable: outsourcing its chipmaking.
The company has had issues with its 10nm and 7nm processes, has been struggling to keep up with demand, and has been plagued with security issues, some of which have been labeled “unfixable.”
As a result, Intel has seen its dominating lead chipped away by AMD. To make matters worse, it is losing once of its most high-profile customers, with Apple’s announcement that it will be switching the Mac to the same ARM-based chips that power the iPhone and iPad. Even Microsoft is moving ahead with plans to fully support Windows on ARM.
These problems have led the company to open the door to the possibility it might outsource chip manufacturing, something executives would never had considered during the company’s hedey.
CEO Bob Swan joined CNBC’s “Squawk Alley,” where he was asked how much of an impact the decision would have on margins.
First, as we play a larger and larger role in the success of our customers, with the investments we’ve been making, with that comes a responsibility,” Swan replied. “And that responsibility for us is to provide a predictable cadence of leadership products for our customers.”
So for us, we have a wonderful product roadmap for ’20, ’21 and ’22. And when we look into ’23, we have a decision to make, about whether to build that next generation of product on Intel’s manufacturing footprint, on third-party manufacturing footprint, or on a mix of both. And we’ve been designing our product to have the inherent flexibility to make those decisions over time.
So in the next couple of months, we’ll be looking at what’s the right decision for 2023 products, and we’ll be evaluating a series of criteria.
Schedule predictability—very important for our customers. Second, product performance—process matters, but so do a lot of other things, like software. And third, how do we retain some of the essential benefits of designing and making stuff for ourselves, in the event we take things outside with the relationships that we have with our third-party foundry partners. So we’re going through that assessment now.
If Swan’s statement is any indication, the next couple of months will have long-last impacts on Intel’s future, as well as the future of the semiconductor industry in the US.
AMD is in talks to buy chipmaker Xilinx, with a deal possible as early as next week.
Xilinx is a chipmaker based in San Jose, California, specializing in the programmable chips used in wireless networks. The acquisition, will help AMD better compete with Intel in the datacenter market.
As Bloomberg points out, Xilinx has historically made chips for the telecommunications industry. In recent years, however, it has been branching out to the datacenter market. This market is a high-profit market that has caught the attention of AMD and Nvidia, a factor in the latter’s acquisition of Mellanox Technologies and potentially Arm.
Given Intel’s recent supply chain issues, not to mention bugs that have delayed the move to 7nm chips and Zombieland flaws that some experts have deemed “unfixable,” more options would likely be welcomed within the industry.
Microsoft is promoting Windows on ARM, just months after Apple announced the Mac would move to ARM-based processors.
At Apple’s WWDC conference, the company announced it was abandoning Intel’s processors in favor of custom silicon based on ARM. The move has been widely seen as an industry-changing move, one that will force Microsoft and PC makers to follow suit.
In fact, former Apple executive and Be, Inc. founder, Jean-Louis Gassée predicted that Microsoft would follow Apple’s lead fairly quickly. A failure to do so would mean giving up the high-performance market to Apple.
“This leaves Microsoft with a choice: Either forget Windows on ARM and cede modern PCs to Apple, or forge ahead, fix app compatibility problems and offer an ARM-based alternative to Apple’s new Macs,” wrote Gassée. “It’s a false dilemma, of course. Microsoft will forge ahead…with repercussions for the rest of the Windows PC industry.
“Specifically, what are Dell, HP, Asus, and others going to do if Apple offers materially better laptops and desktops and Microsoft continues to improve Windows on ARM Surface devices? In order to compete, PC manufacturers will have to follow suit, they’ll ‘go ARM’ because, all defensive rhetoric aside, Apple and Microsoft will have made the x86 architecture feel like what it actually is: old.”
Microsoft is doing exactly as Gassée predicted, touting the benefits of Windows on ARM, including 64-bit emulation, which will allow the platform to run x64 apps. This will help ease the transition, much as Apple’s Rosetta layers will allow ARM-based Macs to run older, Intel-based software.
“We are excited about the momentum we are seeing from app partners embracing Windows 10 on ARM, taking advantage of the power and performance benefits of Qualcomm Snapdragon processors,” writes Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer, Windows + Devices in a company blog post. “We heard your feedback and are making Microsoft Edge faster while using less battery, and announced that we will soon release a native Microsoft Teams client optimized for Windows 10 on ARM. We will also expand support for running x64 apps, with x64 emulation starting to roll out to the Windows Insider Program in November. Because developers asked, Visual Studio code has also been updated and optimized for Windows 10 on ARM. For organizations, we’re committed to helping them ensure their apps work with Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps on ARM64 devices with App Assure. We are working closely with Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Surface to bring these Windows 10 on ARM innovations and products to our shared customers.”
It looks like the tide is beginning to turn against Intel, and the company largely has itself to blame. The company has struggled in recent years, with supply issues and defects, as well as ongoing security problems in their chipsets that some experts have labeled “unfixable.”
SoftBank is considering selling off Arm Holdings, or taking the chip designer public.
Arm designs the chips used in a wide array of phones and tablets, including Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Apple recently announced it would transition the Mac from Intel to its own custom silicon, based on ARM chips.
While Arm Holdings was originally a joint venture between Apple, Acorn and VLSI Technology, the company eventually went public before being acquired by SoftBank in 2016 for $32 billion. SoftBank has had its own share of troubles lately, exemplified by the WeWork debacle. As a result, according to CNET, the company is looking at a sale or IPO of Arm.
At this point, nothing is certain, and SoftBank may not even proceed with any plans. Should it move forward with a sale, however, Apple would certainly have the resources and the motivation to buy the company, as its entire hardware lineup is about to be tied with Arm’s future.
Jean-Louis Gassée, former Apple executive, has postulated that Apple’s move to custom silicon will force Microsoft to move to ARM.
Jean-Louis Gassée worked at Apple from 1981 to 1990, taking over as head of Mac development following Steve Jobs’ ouster. After his own departure from Apple, Gassée founded Be, Inc., the creator of BeOS. With his background, Gassée has a unique insight into the industry.
Gassée ultimately believes that Apple’s decision to abandon Intel chips in favor of its own custom silicon will have profound impacts on the industry at large. Specifically, he believes Microsoft will be forced to follow suit, and adopt ARM processors to keep up.
After first pointing out the same advantages we have highlighted at WPN—such as heat dissipation, better battery life and faster performance—Gassée predicts Apple’s new Macs could have as much as a 25% throughput advantage over Intel machines when they debut. This will force Microsoft to make a decision to either adapt or cede the high-performance market to Apple.
“This leaves Microsoft with a choice: Either forget Windows on ARM and cede modern PCs to Apple, or forge ahead, fix app compatibility problems and offer an ARM-based alternative to Apple’s new Macs,” writes Gassée. “It’s a false dilemma, of course. Microsoft will forge ahead…with repercussions for the rest of the Windows PC industry.
“Specifically, what are Dell, HP, Asus, and others going to do if Apple offers materially better laptops and desktops and Microsoft continues to improve Windows on ARM Surface devices? In order to compete, PC manufacturers will have to follow suit, they’ll ‘go AR’ because, all defensive rhetoric aside, Apple and Microsoft will have made the x86 architecture feel like what it actually is: old.”
Gassée’s take is a fascinating read, and one Intel and the PC community should take seriously. If his predictions are true, it looks like Apple may be upending the computer industry once again.
TSMC has reported its earnings and things are looking good for the semiconductor manufacturer.
TSMC is currently benefiting from multiple industry trends. The global pandemic has increased demand for datacenters as companies are turning to the cloud to continue running.
Similarly, US officials have placed greater emphasis on in-country semiconductor manufacturing, as the pandemic showed the dangers of relying solely on overseas manufacturing. Capitalizing on that, TSMC announced its plans to build a semiconductor factory in Arizona
While not immediately benefiting TSMC, another factor that should help it in the long run is Apple’s decision to move Macs from Intel chips to custom silicon. TSMC already makes the custom silicon in Apple’s iPhones and iPads. It stands to reason TSMC will likely handle the chip manufacturing for Apple’s Macs as well.
As a result of these various factors, according to Bloomberg, TSMC “reported sales of NT$120.88 billion ($4.1 billion) for June on Friday. That likely means TSMC’s revenue grew about 29% to NT$310.7 billion last quarter, based on previously reported figures, beating the NT$308.8 billion analysts expect on average.”
It’s likely TSMC will continue to rise, both in the short and long-term. These various factors will also help offset lost business from Huawei, as the US has greatly restricted TSMC’s second-largest customer.
Apple plans to continue using Thunderbolt, despite moving away from Intel to their own custom processors.
At WWDC 2020, Apple unveiled its plans to replace Intel with its own ARM-based silicon that it has been using in the iPhone and iPad for years. The iPad Pro, in particular, is a good example of the promise a Mac based on those chips would offer. Even though it is faster than the majority of PC laptops on the market, the iPad delivers that performance without a single fan and still provides a full day of battery life.
One big question has been whether Apple would continue supporting Thunderbolt on the new machines, which are slated to begin rolling out by the end of the year. The interface was originally developed by Intel, with the help of Apple. In fact, Intel just announced new details about the upcoming Thunderbolt 4.
It appears there is no cause for concern among Mac users heavily invested in Thunderbolt peripherals. In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple doubled down on its commitment to the interface:
“Over a decade ago, Apple partnered with Intel to design and develop Thunderbolt, and today our customers enjoy the speed and flexibility it brings to every Mac. We remain committed to the future of Thunderbolt and will support it in Macs with Apple silicon.”
This is good news for Mac users, as well as Intel. Ongoing support by Apple will help drive adoption, while Mac users will be able to continue using the devices they already own.
As we previously reported, Tim Cook announced what many had predicted: The Mac is officially moving to Apple’s custom silicon.
Apple has been rumored to be moving working on moving the Mac to ARM processors for years, especially as Intel has struggled to keep up with industry developments. In many ways, Apple’s current situation mirrors the situation it found itself in with its last line of chips, the PowerPC semiconductors.
Apple’s Semiconductor History
Used by the AIM alliance (Apple, IBM and Motorola), PowerPC was a RISC-based architecture that had a number of advantages over Intel and other x86 lines. Ultimately, however, Motorola and IBM fell behind Intel, in terms of development and processor speed. Regardless of how much more advanced the PowerPC chips may have been, Intel’s sheer processing speed eventually surpassed it.
To make matters worse, IBM was never able to solve the issues with heat. This was especially evident with the PowerPC G5 line of chips. While extremely powerful for desktop computing, it could never be used in a laptop, consuming too much power and producing too much heat.
After several years of falling behind, at the mercy of IBM and Motorola, Apple jumped ship to Intel. Once again, however, Apple is in the same boat. Intel has been struggling to keep up with demand and the move to 10nm processors, leaving room for its old rival, AMD, to make significant headway.
To make matters even worse, Apple has had issues with some recent MacBook Pro models not being able to sustain high-speed operations because of the heat generated by the Intel processors. Instead, the machines have had to throttle their performance, in some cases making top-end models run slower than low-end and mid-level MacBook Pros.
ARM Chips To the Rescue
The game-changing element for Apple is the rise of ARM chips, which the company uses in its iPhones and iPads. Arm Holding, the creator of ARM processors, was originally a joint venture between Apple and Acorn, before ultimately being acquired by SoftBank.
Unlike Intel or AMD, Arm doesn’t manufacture its own chips. Instead, it designs and licenses them for its customers to manufacture on their own. The company offers different license level, some of which allow customers to modify the designs to better suit their needs.
Apple, however, has the broadest license of all, essentially allowing it to do whatever it wants with Arm’s designs. The results are industry-leading chips that provide unrivaled performance. Case in point is Apple’s recent iPhone SE. Despite having an under-clocked A13 Bionic chip, it significantly outperforms flagship Android phones.
What’s more, Apple’s manufacturing process has been able to keep up with the demand for iPhones and iPads, which far exceed its Mac base. As a result, the writing has been on the wall for some time that Apple would eventually switch to its own custom silicon, taking its fate back into its own hands once again.
Performance and Power
One of the biggest benefits of moving to its own silicon is the ability to deliver Macs that offer better performance while consuming less power. For example, the current generation iPad Pro delivers better performance than most PC laptops on the market, and does so without a single fan to help manage heat.
Macs with Apple Silicon
In the large case of a MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro, the performance possibilities are thrilling. During the demo, Craig Federighi showed one of the new Macs running Final Cut Pro. Not only could he edit and add effects while the video was playing, but Final Cut could run three simultaneous 4K streams.
Final Cut Pro
Developers and Compatibility
While any processor change is a monumental undertaking, Apple has a history of pulling it off, with this being the third such transition.
Xcode Recompile
Federighi highlighted the work the company has done to help ease the process for developers, with many of them able to update their apps with just a few days of work. Microsoft and Adobe have already ported their software to run on the new architecture.
Microsoft Word
In addition, the company will make it possible to ship Universal apps that contain binaries for both Intel and Apple’s CPUs. Apple has labeled this Universal 2, and improved version of the Universal apps that contained PowerPC and Intel binaries during that migration.
In addition, macOS will include Rosetta 2, a translation layer that will run Intel-based software that hasn’t been updated yet. Again, Apple first introduced Rosetta during the Intel migration, allowing the Intel-based Macs to run older PowerPC-based software.
The new version of Rosetta is a significant upgrade, however. Whereas the original Rosetta translated an app at runtime, Rosetta 2 will translate the time of install. This will significantly improve performance of these older apps. Meantime, a just-in-time (JIT) compiler is still available if needed, such as when working with plugins.
In addition, Andreas Wendker demoed Parallels running Linux. This is an important factor, as it shows that virtualization is alive and well on Apple’s silicon.
Parallels on Apple Silicon
He also demoed Shadow of the Tomb Raider running in Rosetta translation mode. Despite running at 1080p, the game was flawlessly smooth.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
As an added bonus, the new ARM-based Macs will be able to run iOS and iPadOS without modification, thanks to the shared architecture.
Mac Running iOS Apps
Custom Silicon—A new Era of Mac Computing
Without a doubt, Apple’s move to its own custom silicon has been a long time coming. The move will help usher in a new era of Mac computing, with Apple firmly in charge of its own processor development.
As a company that has built its experiencing on tight control of the hardware and software, this is a move that will help usher in a new wave of Mac innovation.
Apple is preparing to announce its decision to move to ARM chips for its Macs at the upcoming WWDC.
Apple has long been rumored to be moving to ARM chips like the ones it uses in the iPhone and iPad. The company has been relying on Intel to power its line of computers since 2006, when it switched from the PowerPC architecture.
ARM chips are based on designs by Arm Holdings. Unlike Intel or AMD, Arm does not manufacture its own chips, but licenses the designs to other companies. Companies can even customize elements of the chipsets to better suit their needs.
Arm was originally founded as a joint venture between Apple and Acorn and, not surprisingly, Apple has the Architecture License, the broadest license available. This gives Apple the ability to modify Arm designs however they see fit to best work with their products.
Analysts have been expecting Apple to move Macs to ARM chips for multiple reasons. First, Intel has been struggling to keep up with demand for its processors and is starting to fall behind rival AMD in performance. Given the premium it charges for its Macs, any inability to deliver the fastest machines possible is far worse for Apple than many of its rivals. In contrast, current iPad Pros are faster than the vast majority of PC laptops on the market and, even more impressive, they deliver that performance without any fans thanks to the power-efficient nature of ARM chips.
The second factor motivating the change is Apple’s penchant for controlling the “whole widget.” In other words, Apple is at its best when it controls both the software and the hardware that runs it. This approach is one of the reasons the iPhone and iPads consistently outperform Android competitors by a wide margin.
A move to ARM for the Mac lineup would likely result in machines that are faster than current models, get better battery life and run cooler, while still running the more powerful macOS.
According to Bloomberg, internal testing at Apple has “shown sizable improvements over Intel-powered versions, specifically in graphics performance and apps using artificial intelligence, the people said. Apple’s processors are also more power-efficient than Intel’s, which may mean thinner and lighter Mac laptops in the future.”
Needless to say, however, a complete architecture change is no small feat. It’s previously been reported that Apple was going to release ARM-powered Macs in 2021. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to make the announcement at the upcoming WWDC to give developers plenty of time to prepare their applications to run on the new chipset.
This is very similar to how Apple handled the move to Intel in 2005 and 2006. Given that Apple has orchestrated two other major architecture changes in the Mac’s history, it’s a safe bet Apple will do everything necessary to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Google is working on its own ARM-based chips to power its Pixel line of smartphones and help it better compete with Apple.
ARM licenses its processor designs to companies for use in their products. Apple’s iPhones have long had a performance advantage over similar flagship Android phones, thanks to Apple’s customized A-series line of ARM chips. Apple also has an advantage of tight integration between their hardware and software. As a result, year after year, model after model, Apple’s iPhones and iPads continue to dominate the competition when it comes to speed and performance.
According to an Axios, however, Google is preparing to follow in Apple’s footsteps with its own line of chips for Pixel and Chromebook devices. Axios reports that “the chip, code-named Whitechapel, was designed in cooperation with Samsung, whose state-of-the-art 5-nanometer technology would be used to manufacture the chips, according to a source familiar with Google’s effort.”
If the report is true, it would be a big blow to Qualcomm, Google’s current chip supplier. The move would, however, finally give Apple’s devices some real competition for the performance crown.
