Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can you cite an example of this ever happening before in the process node industry?

I don't follow the industry, so no, but you are saying that Intel cannot buy the components to build a 5nm fab and then make Apple 5nm SoCs using plans provided to them by Apple?
 
If you’re American and you’re cheering against Intel I think you need to think more about this situation, and how eventually, that will impact you.
You want your country to be competitive in the global landscape. It is sad that Apple (an American company) has to look to a foreign country for its chip making needs, when there’s Intel still around just down the road.

it’s bad for the American industry ultimately if Intel were to die.
I dunno. I feel like that's what American capitalism is all about. If competitors make better stuff for more money, then that's where to go
 
Last edited:
Seems like some folks don't understand how these companies can work as contracted manufacturers for each other..doesn't mean that intel is gonna steal apple's secrets but it could certainly mean more chip availability. This is not some zero sum "I only win if you lose" type situation.
The failure of Intel is not because they no longer can design great chips. It’s because they can no longer catch up on manufacturing chips on more and more advanced lithography. That’s exactly what a foundry need to succeed, and they don’t have it.
 
This would be interesting if Intel actually was competing with Apple, but this is like Goodyear saying they enjoy competing with Toyota. Goodyear makes a part, Toyota makes cars. Apple doesn't sell the part that Intel makes. Intel is trying to pretend their competition isn't AMD who is destroying them currently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
TSMC 5nm is currently used for low-power CPUs for mobile devices, and has limited frequency scaling. Not Intel's primary market.
From what I understand, frequency scaling is a function of the CPU micro-architecture.

Isn't it that with smaller nodes, it is easier to go to higher frequency with the same or lower power consumptions compared to larger nodes, since less power is needed to push the electrons?
 
I wish an interviewer would have the balls to flat-out ask him why they are attacking Apple in advertising, going as far as to hire Justin Long to push Intel notebooks over Macs. That's a very obvious dig and comes across as nothing more than Intel being mean-spirited.

Screw this, "We're just poking a little fun," bs. Apple was a big win for them 15 years ago, and just like Motorola and IBM, they couldn't keep up. I still remember going from 8 hours of usable battery life on my iBook G4 to less than 5 on my white MacBook.

It's quite simple. Regular people have heard of Intel but they haven't heard of M1 or Apple Silicone or whatever and it will take a lot of time for Apple to bring people up to speed. So Intel acting quick by using it's flagship brand name in CPU game to paint Apple's transition to in-house chip design as something inferior. They can try. Intel fears Apple because Apple is great at marketing and knows how to get the message across unlike AMD. That's why Intel doesn't care about competing with AMD cause only place where AMD is eating Intel's pie are desktop PCs. AMD is nowhere near close to snatch laptop or server cakes but Apple could expand it's market share in laptop market if things go right with their chips and more importantly operating system. Intel has responded to M1 by introducing the fastest (and hottest) single core performance to date in a laptop. That's good enough for apps that like to rely on single core punch such as Photoshop, Office and many other vanilla apps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: singhs.apps
How about intel making sure that their own roadmap is on track? I mean intel's problem is that they themselves are behind in their own roadmap. How can they "offer" their foundries, which are behind, to others demanding more advance processes?
 
Intel may be more than a bit worried that other manufacturers — Microsoft comes to mind — will see the big success of the M1 computers, and do the same thing themselves.
 
The "Rocket Lake" is actually kind of cool for gamers, where power consumption doesn't matter so much and single core performance is important. That thing clocks up to 5.3 GHz, whereas the latest Zen 3 Ryzens on TSMC 7nm top out at 4.x. 14nm's hot last hurray. ;)


TSMC 5nm is currently used for low-power CPUs for mobile devices, and has limited frequency scaling. Not Intel's primary market.

It makes no sense to say a process node has “limited frequency scaling.” That’s not a thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jdb8167
Makes sense. Windows will move to ARM and Intel wants to continue making chips for chips for Windows computers and not cede all that work to TSMC.
 
Apple to Intel: "Keep a Knocking But You Can't Come In...."
Using my first MacRumors comment to just say...

“I get to understand you been livin' in [14nm++++++++],

But walk right in, [Intel], sit right down.
I will keep on lovin' you; I play the clown.

But bend down low, [Intel], let me tell you what I know;
Let me tell you, baby! Let me tell ya -

Knock on [Intel]! Just won’t let ya in!”
 
From what I understand, frequency scaling is a function of the CPU micro-architecture.

Isn't it that with smaller nodes, it is easier to go to higher frequency with the same or lower power consumptions compared to larger nodes, since less power is needed to push the electrons?

Yep. Smaller nodes allow smaller transistors (which have less gate capacitance which makes them easier to charge and discharge), and less distance between transistors (which decreases wire capacitance and resistance).

Clock frequency is determined by how many transistors (and how much wire) you need in the longest path between any two state elements.
 
Last edited:
Actually - adjusted for inflation is that true?

I seem to recall the first Powerbooks were like £2,000 - back when that was many months salary rather than more likely now a few day’s pay. So in comparative terms they are cheaper I suppose. And bang for buck these AS devices looks like they offer a lot more value.
I think he means AAPL stock prices (jk)
 
Petty rivalries are only for marketing. Samsung and Apple worked together after all, even if Samsung dissed Apple products.
 
Is it normal for sinking ships to increase YoY revenue and generate billions in profits and free cash flow?


  • Full-year revenue set an all-time Intel record of $77.9 billion, up 8 percent YoY.
  • In 2020, Intel generated a record $35.4 billion cash from operations and $21.1 billion of free cash flow (FCF) and returned $19.8 billion to shareholders.
I'm sure in 2000 Sony was feeling very well about their music player offerings before the iPod came out, and Nokia was kicking butt in 2006, a year before the iPhone. It won't be the case in this situation, but there are plenty of examples of dominate companies reacting too slowly and quickly losing the lead.

Right now, this is just Apple. But, Microsoft is also playing around with ARM and I'm pretty sure the ads were more to try and keep Microsoft from throwing more money at Qualcomm and others in the ARM ecosystem.
 
The biggest backpedal ever. Now that they've realized they could potentially benefit from Apple Silicon they're changing their tune. Suck it Intel, your reign is over.
 
A trillion dollar company like Apple always has choices unlike Intel who seem to be on the way to oblivion.

Apple could feasibly manufacture their own chips to their own designs and for their own products. Conceivably could also manufacture chips for others and doing that would deflect from any claims on unfair competition or monopoly claims.

in meantime has enough free cash to buy TSMC or better still a new manufacturing hub in US which would get a free pass as US would consider it in national interest.

Thats is not how the Foundry Market works, read the reply cmaier gave you.

You may also be glad ( or not ) to know China sinked $120+ Billion already and hasn't got anywhere with Foundries. The moat around leading edge manufacturing is much bigger than most people understand.
 
Last edited:
When your response to CPU competition is that you’ll produce the chips from your competitor, it means that you don’t have anything better than them. And I’m not a fan of nowadays’ Apple (I hate iOS almost the same as Android), but I never liked it when CISC Intel CPUs seemed to win the CISC-RISC battle while being inferior. Time is showing that RISC is better.
 
This whole marketing thing with Justin Long was a misfire. I'm not sure why they felt the need to label themselves as the underdog in all of this. I mean it's not like Apple is going to start selling CPUs to PC makers.

Clearly they are feeling insecure about this, but as much as I love my Mac, Windows absolutely dominates in business and that's not going to change any time soon, because Enterprise customers aren't going to switch to MacOS. If anything, the lack of BootCamp support will see lower penetration of Macs into that environment.

Intel needs to just stick to it's knitting and just focus on making better x86 CPUs.
I think Intel is not afraid of MacOS, but of Windows ARM becoming successful. That would be the problem for them (Imagine all PC laptop vendors realize Windows ARM offers more performance per watt... think what consequences this could have for Intel...)
 
  • Like
Reactions: singhs.apps
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.