Samsung to Rival Apple Silicon by Developing Custom PC and Mobile Processors

[bradman83]

So I respect that everyone wants to make their own chips but fragmentation in the chip market is baaaaad news. Apple got away with it in their devices because they make the software and the hardware (where have I heard that being a good thing before?). No one else does except Google and they just started last year. And we've seen what a headache all the different chip variants have caused for Android stability and timely updates.

Unless someone comes up with another mechanism for software to be updated and tested on a variety of chipsets (this also includes software written by multitudes of devs of all walks of life, not just OS people), this is just going to cause problems on so many levels.

This really isn’t fragmentation, these chips will run the ARM ISA just like Qualcomm’s current chips that power Windows ARM laptops. It shouldn’t be any different than x86-64 Windows running chips by Intel and AMD and all of the various chipset combinations it has to support.

Android’s issues with fragmentation and update delays have more to do the fact that each manufacturer’s flavor of Android runs custom software overlays on top of stock Android, coupled with Google’s policy of having the OEM be responsible for deploying updates as opposed to the OS vendor as is the case with Windows. Plus there’s an obvious disincentive for OEMs to keep their existing handsets updated with the latest software when they could instead sell users a new version.

 

[Analog Kid]

Do they have one original idea that Apple didn’t perfect first?

Well, if this article is correct they're designing their own CPU rather than building on an existing architecture. Apple didn't do that, they built on the Arm architecture.

I find it hard to believe Samsung would do that though. That's a massive undertaking with little upside. They need to not only build the CPU but also an entire compiler and tool chain. Easier to do what Apple did and build on top of an already supported ISA such as Arm or RISC-V.

Apple has already supplied the proof that it's possible to make Arm more efficient than Qualcomm does, Samsung should put the effort into that. Once the world can match Apple, then maybe it's time to consider another level of innovation.

 

[c84216]

That was really insightful @bradman83. Thanks!

 

[nvmls]

Means nothing running skinned Android.

 

[robbietop]

Wanna know why Intel's dominance is over? This is why.
It's not just because the M-Series is superior in watt hours, but also because now all of Apple's competitors will develop their own chips, further reducing Intel's market.

 

[syklee26]

Do they have one original idea that Apple didn’t perfect first?

Since when building a processir became Apple’s original idea?

 

[steve123]

Do they have one original idea that Apple didn’t perfect first?

Samsung is a big company and they make a lot of things that Apple does not make. So, yes, of course. Samsung getting back into designing desktop and mobile processors will hopefully create a product with competitive performance and power efficiency which will drive more innovation. This is a good Thing.

The title of this thread uses the word "rival" and, given they just started, I think it is premature to say that Samsung will produce anything that rivals AS anytime soon.

 

[jntdroid]

Do they have one original idea that Apple didn’t perfect first?

Had you not included "first" at the end of your sentence, this might have some level of truth to it. But as it stands, the answer is, "yes, plenty."

 

[jntdroid]

The Samsung hate in this thread and across all the die hard Apple cheerleaders is embarrassing. Guess all you would rather have Apple be the only player and suck every penny out of you all, huh?

If competition didn't exist, none of you would have your precious iPhones. Just ask Steve Jobs what competition meant back in 1997....

Christ, the comments here are pathetic and cringe.

Anything about Samsung is low hanging fruit for the MR diehards... pun fully intended. Personally I think Samsung makes great devices overall, and clearly the general population (the world, not just the U.S.) agrees as they've been the primary competition for Apple in a lot of areas of the world.

 

[Dan From Canada]

Competition is a great thing.

 

[mac_hack_attack]

You can't just step into the ring with Ali because you think you box.

 

[Captain Trips]

Do they have one original idea that Apple didn’t perfect first?

I think the original idea was copying Apple? The idea that keeps on giving.

 

[Thehangmn]

Good for Samsung! I hope they don't cut corners and put lots of effort into it. but 2025 seems like an aggressive schedule for having a decent customized Arm processor. I would suspect this will get pushed out. Qualcomm is going to have their PC processors in 2024, so it looks like they'll have some competition. This is all good news for consumers.

 

[tdar]

Wanna know why Intel's dominance is over? This is why.
It's not just because the M-Series is superior in watt hours, but also because now all of Apple's competitors will develop their own chips, further reducing Intel's market.

Whether Intels dominates is over dependent on which business you are talking about. They never had a dominant position in the phone and tablet cpu markets. And they are still the dominant player in the Windows device market. (The latest of markets in the world) In the small market of Servers they are still the dominant manufacturer even though AMD has developed a product that totally smacks the crap out of Intel. People have been buying their products for 30 years now and they have a hard time of giving it up. Intel has also developed a relationship with the largest PC makers that is such that almost none of them even bother to feature a AMD processor in their products. It’s so close that I believe that they should be investigated for unfair trade practices. So don’t expect Intel to just die and go away. They are a long time away from that.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

In a rare instance of defending Samsung, they have been making SOCs for quite a while. They’ve been more hamstrung than Apple outside of the mobile space due to the lack of real Windows support for anything not x86. Even now it’s not exactly a great situation, but it’s better. When Apple controls the entire platform, it’s easier to go from PowerPC to x86 to ARM.

 

[Jpclyons]

Samsung plans to rival Apple silicon by developing its own custom processors for future smartphones and personal computers in an effort to develop more advanced chips.

According to Business Korea, Samsung has already formed an internal team dedicated to CPU core development and has recruited Rahul Tuli, a former AMD developer, to lead the group.

Samsung has traditionally relied on British chip company Arm for its Exynos advanced processors, but developing the chips in-house would allow it to take full control of the design and optimization process, similar to Apple's transition away from Intel.

The first application processor (AP) is said to be dubbed Galaxy Chip, and could be available in 2025. However, this chip will likely have a CPU based on Arm technology, since Samsung has only just initiated development of its own CPU core.

"Samsung Electronics will be able to boost completion level of its Galaxy Chip if it successfully develops a CPU core," Korean outlet Pulse News quoted an unnamed industry official as saying. "It will be able to load its own CPU in 2027 if development is carried out as planned."

This isn't the first time that Samsung has developed its own CPU. The company has been building its own development team and investing in technology since the early 2010s to build its own design capabilities.

However, Samsung folded the project because its CPU cores were deemed inferior to those of competitors such as Qualcomm in terms of power efficiency, heat generation, and multi-core efficiency. In 2019, the company officially scrapped the project and laid off more than 300 developers at the Samsung Austin Research Center (SARC).

Since 2020, Apple has been working to transition away from Intel chips, instead using its own Apple silicon chips. Apple's custom chips are Arm-based and are similar to the A-series chips used in iPhones and iPads, and Apple unveiled the first Apple silicon Macs in November 2020.

Apple's chips bring a whole new level of performance with more powerful Macs that are also more energy-efficient. With Apple designing its own chips for iOS devices and Macs, there is a common architecture across all Apple product lines, which also makes it easier for developers to write and optimize software that runs on all Apple products.

Apple has almost completed its transition away from Intel to Apple silicon, with one Intel Mac computer still waiting to be updated: The Mac Pro. Apple is said to be testing a new Mac Pro with Apple silicon, with a view to releasing it in the summer.

Article Link: Samsung to Rival Apple Silicon by Developing Custom PC and Mobile Processors

Most people (not techies) - “what’s the cheapest laptop/phone I can buy?”

 

[bigboy29]

Here, fixed the title:

Samsung to attempt to Rival Apple Silicon...​

 

[bodonnell202]

Samsung manufactured the first iterations of Apple silicon, so this isn't surprising.

Yes, using ARM designs only, no custom cores. Samsung tried making their first custom cores in 2016 with the Mongoose. They ultimately produced 4 generations of custom cores with the last released in 2019. These Exynos chips consistently had worse performance and higher power usage than Qualcomm Snapdragon chips available at the time, so they have a long way to go if they are going to genuinely compete with Apple.

 

[sunman42]

To be fair, nearly all of Apple's best creations have been either bought or stolen or other ideas as well.

To be fair, the OP wrote "perfected." There were several MP3 players before the iPod. There were so-called smart phones from Nokia before the iPhone. And Xerox half-heartedly marketed a point-and-click user interface on a stupefyingly expensive business computer system before the Lisa and Mac. No comparison with the Apple products, as shipped. Here endeth the lesson.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Just as long as they stay away from software

 

[tdar]

I think the important thing for Apple fans to understand is that this has nothing to do with Apple. The target here is QUALCOMM. They are looking to give the other android makers a chance to have a better CPU. Ask Microsoft how it feels to have your product locked into only a Qualcomm cpu. Their answer would be that it sucks.

 

[jz0309]

Good luck Samsung, you’ll need it

 

[ian87w]

Dejavu? Samsung did design their own CPUs prior to adopting ARM's versions. They had the Mongoose CPUs. But those Exynos chips were getting further and further behind of Qualcomm, so Samsung stopped doing it.

Now, it's take-two? Samsung would still have to figure out their fabrications as their fabs are just not good enough in the face of TSMC. Even Qualcomm ditched Samsung fab.

 

[blazerunner]

To be fair, the OP wrote "perfected." There were several MP3 players before the iPod. There were so-called smart phones from Nokia before the iPhone. And Xerox half-heartedly marketed a point-and-click user interface on a stupefyingly expensive business computer system before the Lisa and Mac. No comparison with the Apple products, as shipped. Here endeth the lesson.

I didn't learn anything.

 

[EntropyQ3]

Samsungs CPU efforts have nothing to do with Apple. In fairness to Macrumors, that connection was made by the article author in BusinessKorea, presumably to gain some clicks. Apple does not sell their processors to Android/Chromebooks or Windows on ARM, nor does Samsung sell their SoC to system integrators building macs or iPhones.
The SoCs have no market overlap at all.
Primarily they compete with ARM - if Samsung uses their own cores, they reduce the royalties paid to ARM. And further out, they may compete with Qualcomm, primarily in Samsungs own products, but potentially for other customers as well although that seems very unlikely.

This really has pretty much no connection to Apple whatsoever.