Apple has been producing its own chips for a while now. The A4 chip debuted in the 2010 iPad, iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod Touch and the 2nd-generation Apple TV. But five years ago, the company pivoted the Mac to the M-series chips. The MacBook Air, Mac mini and MacBook Pro were the first computers to receive the M1 in 2020. And now, Apple Silicon has officially turned five.
Apple has made major architecture changes before. But the shift to Apple Silicon and the M-series chips was a major step. For the first time, Apple was making computers with silicon it designed. Before that, the Apple I and Apple II used the MOS Technology 6502 CPU. Eventually, Apple moved the Mac to the PowerPC architecture before making the monumental shift to Intel back in 2006.
At the time, Steve Jobs said one of the big motivators was the ability to get more processing power without creating excessive heat.
After a series of acquisitions that has resulted in Apple building a family of different chips, Apple unveiled Apple Silicon during WWDC 2020. The company boasted that the M1 had “industry-leading performance per watt and higher performance GPUs”.
At the time, I doubt Apple realised how important those GPUs would be. They are the key processing tool required by AI applications. So while Apple software has languished in the AI race, its hardware has paved the way for when its AI ambitions finally match its ability.
Apple products are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale between five and less seven years ago. The M1-powered MacBook Airs still on the market soI think it’s unlikely the MacBook Air will be decelared vintage in the near future.
Over the years Apple has increased control of its supply chain and how it builds its products to reduce dependence on suppliers it could not control. While it may have been able to influence Intel’s product roadmap significantly, it can now dictate terms. Apple can now couple the design of its chips more tightly with its software. This enables it to extract the most power while maintaining the best possible power efficiency.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.