APPLE HAS BIG PLANS for its impressive new ARM M1 chip. Its first incarnation was as a hybrid with four high-performance cores, and four low-power cores. The next versions are in development, which will push the high-performance cores to eight, 12, and even 16, the last one destined for the MacBook Pro.
© APPLE CORP, NVIDIA
These are due next spring. Beyond that is Mac Pro territory. Rumor has it that Apple is developing a full 32-core ARM chip for its workstation, which currently runs 28-core Xeon W chips. Apple isn’t just ditching Intel either: The AMD GPUs are due to be replaced by Apple’s GPU design, which we first saw integrated into the M1 chip. We can expect everything from 16-core mobile models, up to 28-core bad boys, all due next year (give or take). Meanwhile, Apple is also developing its own 5G modems; it looks as if Apple is serious about being largely self-sufficient in silicon by 2022. If those high-end chips can threaten x86 Intel/AMD desktop designs things could get interesting.
–CL