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Silicon=processor?
- Thread starter Kulfon
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It is Apple's name for their ARM based architecture for the Mac. So it is the architectural design, not a single component.
Wafer (electronics) - Wikipedia
Silicon is a chemical element used for its electrical characteristics when making chips.
Apple Silicon is just their term for “their silicon chips”
Apple Silicon is just their term for “their silicon chips”
The M1 design, like that of the iPhones and iPads, has the whole System on a Chip (SoC)
CPU (Processor) slang silicon typically
GPU
Neural Engine
RAM
SSD drive etc.
I don’t think they officially call it silicon. I didn’t see it on the website. But I didn’t look that hard.
CPU (Processor) slang silicon typically
GPU
Neural Engine
RAM
SSD drive etc.
I don’t think they officially call it silicon. I didn’t see it on the website. But I didn’t look that hard.
Apple being difficult and vague. The processor itself is the "M1". Sort of like how my MacBook Pro has an "Intel i9-9880H" processor, my Mac Mini has an "Apple M1 processor" (which also contains more than just the CPU.)
"Apple Silicon" is what they're calling the instruction set - it's really an ARM (AArch64; ARMv8-A) instruction set, similar to how Intel uses the x86-64 instruction set. ARM is an "open" instruction set - created years ago by the ARM company (now owned by Nvidia) as a "reference design" - anyone could implement a CPU that uses the ARM instruction set; while at the time, if you wanted to make an Intel-compatible x86 CPU, you had to pay Intel. If you wanted to make a PowerPC-compatible CPU, you had to pay Apple, IBM, and Motorola. (The co-creators of PowerPC.)
The instruction set is what defines the lowest-level of code. For example, if you want to do basic math of multiplying two numbers together, the code that you send to the CPU to tell it to multiply is different for different instruction sets. But the same on the same - regardless of operating system. If you are running the calculator app in Windows on a Dell, and the calculator app on macOS on an Intel Mac, the actual instructions the operating system sends the CPU are the same on the two computers.
But on a macOS on an Intel Mac, and on an "Apple Silicon" Mac? Different instructions. You can't just take the raw instructions for an Intel Mac and run them on an Apple Silicon Mac.
The term "Apple Silicon" is just what Apple has picked for their ARM-based instruction set.
Way too much detail:
Apple has been through four different CPU architectures (or six, depending on if you count the 64-bit variants separately.)
"Motorola 68k" - A 32-bit instruction set created by Motorola. Apple used the 68000, 68020, 68030, and 68040 CPUs. Note that some people claim the 68030 was "32-bit" while the previous ones weren't. This is wrong. Even the 68000 was 32-bit, it just could access less memory.
"PowerPC" - A 32/64-bit instruction set created by Apple, IBM, and Motorola as a replacement for a few different instruction sets, the Motorola 68k among them. Apple used CPUs made by both IBM and Motorola in this line - the 601, 603, 604, 750 (which Apple branded "G3",) and 7400 (Which Apple branded "G4") were 32-bit; the 970 (which Apple branded "G5") was 64-bit. 64-bit PowerPC was defined from the very beginning, and was 100% backward compatible with 32-bit.
"x86" - A convoluted instruction set created by Intel as 16-bit, then expanded to 32-bit by Intel, then expanded to 64-bit by AMD. It is variously called: "x86", "i386", "i686", or "Intel32" for the 32-bit variants, "x86-64", "AMD64", or "EM64T", or "Intel64" for the 64-bit variants. When Apple switched to it, Intel was already selling 64-bit CPUs, but Apple used the 32-bit "Core Duo" at launch, quickly switching to the 64-bit "Core 2 Duo" line a few months later. Apple later used the Core i-series CPUs and the Xeon equivalents of both Core 2 and Core i. Apple only ever called this architecture "Intel".
"Apple Silicon" - as mentioned, this uses the ARM 64-bit instruction set, specifically the "AArch64; ARMv8-A" revision. But Apple just calls it "Apple Silicon". The actual "M1" package contains the processor core, as well as the graphics core, as well as many support functions that would have been physical separate chips on Intel systems.
"Apple Silicon" is what they're calling the instruction set - it's really an ARM (AArch64; ARMv8-A) instruction set, similar to how Intel uses the x86-64 instruction set. ARM is an "open" instruction set - created years ago by the ARM company (now owned by Nvidia) as a "reference design" - anyone could implement a CPU that uses the ARM instruction set; while at the time, if you wanted to make an Intel-compatible x86 CPU, you had to pay Intel. If you wanted to make a PowerPC-compatible CPU, you had to pay Apple, IBM, and Motorola. (The co-creators of PowerPC.)
The instruction set is what defines the lowest-level of code. For example, if you want to do basic math of multiplying two numbers together, the code that you send to the CPU to tell it to multiply is different for different instruction sets. But the same on the same - regardless of operating system. If you are running the calculator app in Windows on a Dell, and the calculator app on macOS on an Intel Mac, the actual instructions the operating system sends the CPU are the same on the two computers.
But on a macOS on an Intel Mac, and on an "Apple Silicon" Mac? Different instructions. You can't just take the raw instructions for an Intel Mac and run them on an Apple Silicon Mac.
The term "Apple Silicon" is just what Apple has picked for their ARM-based instruction set.
Way too much detail:
Apple has been through four different CPU architectures (or six, depending on if you count the 64-bit variants separately.)
"Motorola 68k" - A 32-bit instruction set created by Motorola. Apple used the 68000, 68020, 68030, and 68040 CPUs. Note that some people claim the 68030 was "32-bit" while the previous ones weren't. This is wrong. Even the 68000 was 32-bit, it just could access less memory.
"PowerPC" - A 32/64-bit instruction set created by Apple, IBM, and Motorola as a replacement for a few different instruction sets, the Motorola 68k among them. Apple used CPUs made by both IBM and Motorola in this line - the 601, 603, 604, 750 (which Apple branded "G3",) and 7400 (Which Apple branded "G4") were 32-bit; the 970 (which Apple branded "G5") was 64-bit. 64-bit PowerPC was defined from the very beginning, and was 100% backward compatible with 32-bit.
"x86" - A convoluted instruction set created by Intel as 16-bit, then expanded to 32-bit by Intel, then expanded to 64-bit by AMD. It is variously called: "x86", "i386", "i686", or "Intel32" for the 32-bit variants, "x86-64", "AMD64", or "EM64T", or "Intel64" for the 64-bit variants. When Apple switched to it, Intel was already selling 64-bit CPUs, but Apple used the 32-bit "Core Duo" at launch, quickly switching to the 64-bit "Core 2 Duo" line a few months later. Apple later used the Core i-series CPUs and the Xeon equivalents of both Core 2 and Core i. Apple only ever called this architecture "Intel".
"Apple Silicon" - as mentioned, this uses the ARM 64-bit instruction set, specifically the "AArch64; ARMv8-A" revision. But Apple just calls it "Apple Silicon". The actual "M1" package contains the processor core, as well as the graphics core, as well as many support functions that would have been physical separate chips on Intel systems.
Yeah "Apple Silicon" is not apparently a trademark or a specific name. Everywhere Apple uses the term, they write silicon with lowercase. I think this has been discussed before.
But on the other hand, they don't write Intel silicon, but only write Intel-based vs Apple silicon-based. But that said, Intel based Macs have various supplier of components.
But on the other hand, they don't write Intel silicon, but only write Intel-based vs Apple silicon-based. But that said, Intel based Macs have various supplier of components.