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An In-house chipmaking factory/Lab? They should call it the iLab!

it's not a chipmaking factory. what they are doing in there is post-silicon device verification. when you design one of these chips, the timing parameters for the process are good to a junction temperature of, say, 85C and down to 0C. if you make it colder or hotter than this, it can and will malfunction. so what they are doing here is checking to make sure the packaged silicon matches the timing parameters that were used when the chips were taped out by heating and cooling the die. usually there is some margin designed in, and the process varies as well, so you end up with fast silicon, slow silicon and typical silicon. they change the temperature, voltage and clock rates to explore that whole space and characterize the silicon that TSMC gives to them.

usually they also need to verify the whole system at hot and cold temperatures as well. but here, since they had a heater/cooler applied to the chip only, they must be interested in how the SoC device itself reacts to temperature changes.
 
Apple is too comfortablable with pre screened questions, I miss the tech submits where Steve Jobs took questions from hosts and the responses were not scripted and no bs

This is one of the many priceless things we lost when we lost Steve. There was nothing like someone asking him a question, and the way he paused...looked at the ground for a moment...and then gave a truly thoughtful response like no other CEO managed to pull off so consistently. Even when he was clearly spinning something in his favor.

Of course there was less of this as time went on but he never stopped being one of the most straightforward CEOs ever.
 
This is one of the many priceless things we lost when we lost Steve. There was nothing like someone asking him a question, and the way he paused...looked at the ground for a moment...and then gave a truly thoughtful response like no other CEO managed to pull off so consistently. Even when he was clearly spinning something in his favor.

Of course there was less of this as time went on but he never stopped being one of the most straightforward CEOs ever.
I was thinking that exactly earlier too about how he takes a moment to think about his response to the question, and like you said look at the ground. And he admitted when Apple got things wrong, rarely but he did and that’s something Apple has lost, the passion for its products, and vision. Now it’s just yearly updates and money
 
The question about Apple and AI is tiring.
  • Apple devices are extensively _used_ to create the cool GPT apps we are seeing.
  • ML is used extensively throughout Apple software - typing prediction, Siri suggestions, etc.
I think too many just expect Siri to magically be running LLMs. That's coming, but carefully.

Apple is always famously late to the party for a reason. Being first carries little meaning in the grand scheme.

Doing it right or better matters much more.
 
The question about Apple and AI is tiring.
  • Apple devices are extensively _used_ to create the cool GPT apps we are seeing.
  • ML is used extensively throughout Apple software - typing prediction, Siri suggestions, etc.
I think too many just expect Siri to magically be running LLMs. That's coming, but carefully.
Right, also - LLMs might be a magical pixie dust to sprinkle on a company to make VCs more interested, but sprinkling it on doesn't solve every problem. Machine Learning is a big field and LLMs are just the corner of it getting attention.

Apple has little use for a trillion parameter net to answer trivia questions. They aren't going to lose the search engine market for not having a LLM because they aren't a player in the search engine market.

They'll do what we saw with iOS 17, e.g. use cutting-edge ML techniques to solve a very specific problem like personalized text prediction/correction.

Same with the talk of modems. We have no real view that they have failed. But that treats them as a modem manufacturer, and not as a company trying to competitively differentiate against other cellular products.
Apple is always famously late to the party for a reason. Being first carries little meaning in the grand scheme.

Doing it right or better matters much more.
They absolutely love to step in and buy an innovative, product-oriented group for their IP and team. I'm pretty sure they bought Siri not just because of their technology, but because the company behind it actually shipped it as a usable product.
 
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Not especially hard-hitting.
Almost strikes me as an advertisement. Did Apple pay CNBC for this piece?
This is a Media Feature, which is essentially a glorified Press Release. If it was paid there would a Youtube Banner on top left of the video. Paid Media Features are common but they not so common with top brands. As both CNBC and Apple set to gain from this.
 
What's mind-boggling to me is that Apple basically created ARM back in the Newton days, kept it alive in the iPod days, and popularized it with the iPhone and now it's allowed to power all the rival chips. I think Apple should have just bought them out.
No, ARM was invented in Cambridge, UK in the 1980s. The first commercial computer with an ARM chip was the AcordnArchimedes.
 
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What's mind-boggling to me is that Apple basically created ARM back in the Newton days, kept it alive in the iPod days, and popularized it with the iPhone and now it's allowed to power all the rival chips. I think Apple should have just bought them out.

Sorry this is a myth that I believed myself until watching this incredible video about ARM. Love this Apple team (notably JS), but man the story of ARM is really so incredible. I mean... Sophie Wilson wrapping up her new ARM system code as the team delays the BBC at the bottom of stairs. Note to Netflix: Consider this for a movie. Enjoy:

 
I love watching the comments degrade after about a dozen or so. Just the worst in cynism and pettiness. Go to bed, guys.
Mental health in society will be a more prevalent subject for years to come. Cynicism and some brain diseases have shown a correlation, albeit early in the number of papers published. I hope and strive not to be one of those future statistics.
 
Big fan of the Snyder cut, eh?
When you're the first tech journalist with access into Apple labs, you just roll cameras all day and make a long piece of it. It becomes your calling card for a few quarters. It's not art but neither is the overly dark, meandering and lifeless Snyder cut. His shorter version sucks too.
 
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Sorry this is a myth that I believed myself until watching this incredible video about ARM. Love this Apple team (notably JS), but man the story of ARM is really so incredible. I mean... Sophie Wilson wrapping up her new ARM system code as the team delays the BBC at the bottom of stairs. Note to Netflix: Consider this for a movie. Enjoy:

Acorn!

Truth!!!
 
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I always thought it started with Acorn Computers (Acorn RISC Machine, later Advanced RISC Machine).

It did start at Acorn Computers, but the ”modern” ARM ISA is based off enhancements made by Apple’s team, which is why it was broke off into a separate company… Acorn continued working with the original design for their computers, and ARM Ltd. was formed to design and build chips for the Newton originally, and then to other 3rd party OEMs.
 
Just an old back slap post, but I remember back in 2016 when I spotted the future ARM chips which woudl eventually be known as Apple Silicon M range being tested in the chip lap and I wasn't even given a tour! ;)

 
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This is why Apple needs to get away from the super scripted product reveal events. Ternus is a much more engaging and passionate speaker when he's speaking from his head and not a script where he's receiving direction and multiple takes..
for the amount of production that goes on these events they can’t have someone presenting it **** up.

they’ll never return to the live event format
 
that’s something Apple has lost, the passion for its products, and vision. Now it’s just yearly updates and money

I strongly disagree. The upcoming headset has the potential of transforming the industry. When you're a little scrappy underdog, you behave differently than the juggernaut. That money is what allows Apple to spend tens of billions on R&D to ensure that the next AXX processor is the fastest and most power efficient processor that can go in a phone. I hear a genuine love of the products from the people interviewed here.
 
The way they just laughed at the idea that they are behind in AI is super intriguing for what they have in store...
 
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