Do you think Apple will move to their own a chip for their next computer?
With the A12x being faster then most computer, what do you think will happen and why?
9 comments
They have already done it, it is called the T* series chips.
The first version, T1, did the secure enclave thing, and controlled Touch ID, thermal and power management and a few other things.
The second version, the T2, added storage management, an image signal processor, an audio controller, and encryption for the SSD.
The next version will probably do even more things.
It seems to me that the most likely scenario is the T* chip being used for more and more things and the amd64 chip to be used for less and less things until the amd64 chip is more a "hardware acceleration" chip, like GPUs, here to handle specific tasks to be offloaded from the (now ARM) CPU.
The shift from amd64 as the _central_ processing unit to the T* chip does not need to be a clear cut (ditching the intel cpu directly and using the T* chip for everything) but can (and is) being done progressively (the T chips becoming more and more capable).
The first version, T1, did the secure enclave thing, and controlled Touch ID, thermal and power management and a few other things.
The second version, the T2, added storage management, an image signal processor, an audio controller, and encryption for the SSD.
The next version will probably do even more things.
It seems to me that the most likely scenario is the T* chip being used for more and more things and the amd64 chip to be used for less and less things until the amd64 chip is more a "hardware acceleration" chip, like GPUs, here to handle specific tasks to be offloaded from the (now ARM) CPU.
The shift from amd64 as the _central_ processing unit to the T* chip does not need to be a clear cut (ditching the intel cpu directly and using the T* chip for everything) but can (and is) being done progressively (the T chips becoming more and more capable).
Quite a few people have been talking about the MacBook being a good target to test out their own chip on before moving the entire line away from Intel.
The iPad is poised to be their next "computer". As iPads get more powerful, they will just stop making Macs at some point.
Tim Cook is so focused on getting rid of the mac line. There is no way iOS can replace macOS anytime soon. So many features are needed to make iOS even appealing for everyday “computer” use. I am a developer, I need access to a full fledge unix system to do everyday work.
https://reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9w7hzq/it_seems_like_for...
https://reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9w7hzq/it_seems_like_for...
Developers can be given various (unappealing) options for everyday work. e.g. "Xcode on iCloud" or an ARM macOS VM on the iPad Pro that is sandboxed and restricted to the hilt with a 'developer App store' bolted on. The App store might include things like Xcode plugins, Unix tools, Homebrew etc. The VM might even even have mouse support :p
I think it wouldn't be a stretch to see at least their non-pro computers using an A-series chip eventually. I'm sure there's at least an internal build of Mac OS for Arm machines right?
Given their affinity for AMD graphics, I wonder if a desktop A-series processor could have a built in Vega GPU like the Intel chips? The i7-8809G has a Vega with 24 compute units which should be decent for light video or photo work. Notebook Check doesn't have much by way of directly comparable info for the Vega M GH and the A12X Bionic's GPU.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Vega-M-GH-vs-A12X-Bionic-GPU_8...
https://ark.intel.com/products/130409/Intel-Core-i7-8809G-Pr...
Given their affinity for AMD graphics, I wonder if a desktop A-series processor could have a built in Vega GPU like the Intel chips? The i7-8809G has a Vega with 24 compute units which should be decent for light video or photo work. Notebook Check doesn't have much by way of directly comparable info for the Vega M GH and the A12X Bionic's GPU.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Vega-M-GH-vs-A12X-Bionic-GPU_8...
https://ark.intel.com/products/130409/Intel-Core-i7-8809G-Pr...
I think on the desktop they’ll go with their own GPU and just release a driver for it for desktop OSX
Absolutely. And I hope it happens ASAP. The most interesting team at Apple is the chip decision. They have done things with their chips I never thought possible. A full power desktop chip of A12X variety with some SIMD and more cache could be a powerhouse and still less power hungry than its x86 cohorts.
Apple are good at architecture migrations. They have successfully pulled it off several times.
For App Store apps, Apple can easily add fat binary support for apps with ARM and x86 code in the same package. They control Xcode and can force resubmission of apps for a future version of MacOS.
The thing is, they need to be able to efficiently emulate x86 at current performance levels for regular software while those developers migrate to the new architecture. This might require new ARM instructions or changes to the graphics processors to assist with performance issues.
The end result is that they need to give their hardware and software folk time and allow developers enough time to get their applications ready. I'm guessing 12+ months from when the new tools become available.
Unless they have been working on it for a while, this suggests 2020 models might be capable.
I would also like to speculate that if they add a fabric interconnect to A13/A14 chips, they could have several sockets in each product resulting in massive performance for the high-end pro models with a very flexible power and thermal budget.
For App Store apps, Apple can easily add fat binary support for apps with ARM and x86 code in the same package. They control Xcode and can force resubmission of apps for a future version of MacOS.
The thing is, they need to be able to efficiently emulate x86 at current performance levels for regular software while those developers migrate to the new architecture. This might require new ARM instructions or changes to the graphics processors to assist with performance issues.
The end result is that they need to give their hardware and software folk time and allow developers enough time to get their applications ready. I'm guessing 12+ months from when the new tools become available.
Unless they have been working on it for a while, this suggests 2020 models might be capable.
I would also like to speculate that if they add a fabric interconnect to A13/A14 chips, they could have several sockets in each product resulting in massive performance for the high-end pro models with a very flexible power and thermal budget.