Tim Cook on Apple Deciding to Manufacture Components: 'We Ask Ourselves If We Can Do Something Better'

[MacRumors]

During today's earnings call for the third fiscal quarter of 2021 (second calendar quarter), Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked how Apple decides what components to purchase and what components to develop, and Cook said that Apple asks if it can be done better.

We ask ourselves if we can do something better. If we can deliver a better product. If we can buy something in the market and it's great and it's as good as what we can do, we're going to buy it. We'll only enter where we have an ability to do something better and therefore make a better product for the user.

Cook went on to explain that the M1 chip is a great example of that. "We have the ability within our silicon team to make a product that's appreciably better than what we could buy," he said.

Response to the M1 chip has been "unbelievable," and has been powering Mac and iPad sales that are constrained. "That's how we look at that and whether we should enter a market or not," said Cook.

The M1 chip has allowed Apple to cut ties with Intel, and Apple is no longer reliant on Intel technology or Intel release timelines. In the future, Apple is also planning to come out with its own modem chips, reducing its reliance on Qualcomm.

Article Link: Tim Cook on Apple Deciding to Manufacture Components: 'We Ask Ourselves If We Can Do Something Better'

 

[ratspg]

So happy Intel is on the way outtttt.

They would take forever to update and enjoy overheating. Apples chips are the future.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Fire up that 5g modem division Cook.

 

[cohen777]

The writing on the wall for the M1 chip goes back to Apple's acquisition of PA Semi and making its own chips in the iPhones.

 

[falkon-engine]

Meanwhile Intel isn’t standing pat. Alder Lake is coming, Meteor Lake is coming, Lunar Lake is coming. And AMD is crushing it too, Zen4 and Zen5 are coming. Let’s see how the future x86 processors stack up against Apple’s M series. Meanwhile, I’m patiently waiting for my new M1x/M2 MacBook Pro.

 

[gugy]

I have to say the decision of manufacturing their own chip is the crown achievement of Tim's leadership. That was a huge move that will pay dividends for Apple and its customers for years to come. Well done!

 

[carrrrrlos]

With all the fuss about returning to work, just turn HQ into an automated chip production facility.

 

[Realityck]

Cook went on to explain that the M1 chip is a great example of that. "We have the ability within our silicon team to make a product that's appreciably better than what we could buy," he said.

Response to the M1 chip has been "unbelievable," and has been powering Mac and iPad sales that are constrained. "That's how we look at that and whether we should enter a market or not," said Cook.

The M1 chip has allowed Apple to cut ties with Intel, and Apple is no longer reliant on Intel technology or Intel release timelines. In the future, Apple is also planning to come out with its own modem chips, reducing its reliance on Qualcomm.

I have a problem with the fact that M1 chip supply are still constrained? That doesn't bode well. They need to get TSMC to meet the demand. How can they cut ties to Intel (maybe they never planned to), and release new Apple Silicone Macs if they aren't even close to meeting demand with existing models? Look at the wait with getting 24" iMacs. If they were to release either M1 something larger iMacs or M1 something MBPs, would their whole market be a waiting game?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Apple chips are the future of the chip industry. I think Apple has been doing an amazing job when it comes to building in-house chips.

Hoping iPhones and iPads inhouse chips are NEXT!

 

[anson42]

Companies go through build vs buy decisions all the time. For processors, since the inception of the A series chips, the decision to build has only been to Apple's advantage, particularly with phones and iPads. I feel the jury's still out for M series processors, need to see how the hardware offerings roll out over the next couple years.

 

[Cosmosent]

So what happens Tim, when a third-party App Developer Out Engineers Apple in a Camera Technology ?

Does Apple suppress its existence, OR does Apple Fess Up, & acknowledge it ?

 

[Realityck]

Apple chips are the future of the chip industry. I think Apple has been doing an amazing job when it comes in in-house chips.

I guess the real question is with the news of TMSC producing 100 million A15 for mostly iPhones and some iPads going to interfere with M1 and more advanced ARM production for Macs?

Related to this article mentioning M1 with iMacs and iPad Pro orders constrained.

 

[JPack]

Now we know why Apple doesn't make their own Wi-Fi chip.

 

[jinnj]

Meanwhile Intel isn’t standing pat. Alder Lake is coming, Meteor Lake is coming, Lunar Lake is coming. And AMD is crushing it too, Zen4 and Zen5 are coming. Let’s see how the future x86 processors stack up against Apple’s M series. Meanwhile, I’m patiently waiting for my new M1x/M2 MacBook Pro.

It's been 11 years since Apple introduced its first CPU and is hasn't been sitting around either. I have more confidence with AMD than with Intel when it comes to low power CPUs which is where the market is going. Also where AMD and Intel are tied down is the x86 architecture.

 

[JPack]

I have to say the decision of manufacturing their own chip is the crown achievement of Tim's leadership. That was a huge move that will pay dividends for Apple and its customers for years to come. Well done!

Pretty sure that was a Steve Jobs decision. There's a reason why he chose to build A4 instead of using Intel for iPhone.

 

[jz0309]

I have a problem with the fact that M1 chip supply are still constrained? That doesn't bode well. They need to get TSMC to meet the demand. How can they cut ties to Intel (maybe they never planned to), and release new Apple Silicone Macs if they aren't even close to meeting demand with existing models? Look at the wait with getting 24" iMacs. If they were to release either M1 something larger iMacs or M1 something MBPs, would their whole market be a waiting game?

M1 is not the bottleneck ... red the earnings call transcript here on MR, he did say the the more mature node are where the problem is, and it's across many industries

2:51 pm: Q: In September, there will be supply constraints on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌. First time on component shortages impacting ‌iPhone‌. Display or something else? What is the choke point?

A: Majority of constraints are of the variety that others are seeing. Industry shortage. We do have some shortages in addition to that that are where the demand has been so great and beyond our own expectations that it's difficult to get the entire set of parts within the lead times that we try to get those. It's a little bit of that as well. As I said before, the latest nodes which we use in several of our products have not been as much of an issue. Legacy nodes are where the supply constraints have been on silicon.

 

[jz0309]

I guess the real question is with the news of TMSC producing 100 million A15 for mostly iPhones and some iPads going to interfere with M1 and more advanced ARM production for Macs?

Related to this article mentioning M1 with iMacs and iPad Pro orders constrained.

from the earning call:
2:51 pm: Q: In September, there will be supply constraints on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌. First time on component shortages impacting ‌iPhone‌. Display or something else? What is the choke point?

A: Majority of constraints are of the variety that others are seeing. Industry shortage. We do have some shortages in addition to that that are where the demand has been so great and beyond our own expectations that it's difficult to get the entire set of parts within the lead times that we try to get those. It's a little bit of that as well. As I said before, the latest nodes which we use in several of our products have not been as much of an issue. Legacy nodes are where the supply constraints have been on silicon.

 

[Maconplasma]

So glad Apple created the M1 and moving forward will no longer be slave to Intel. Got so sick of Intel's brainwashed lemmings on Reddit and PC sites who kept falling for "The Next Awesome Intel Chip" for laptops saying, "Oooh I can't wait for the forthcoming amazing 14nm, 12nm, 1nm, blah blah blah" or the "Oooh Sandy Bridge is gonna be awesome, Coffee Lake is gonna be amazing, Waterloo lake is gonna run really cool" and none of it is amazing, but rather we end up with laptops that get hot, fans blowing, batteries draining fast and very unnoticeable limited performance increases. Intel has been snowing a lot of people for years because they get people to believe in their crap marketing.

 

[The Barron]

Meanwhile Intel isn’t standing pat. Alder Lake is coming, Meteor Lake is coming, Lunar Lake is coming. And AMD is crushing it too, Zen4 and Zen5 are coming. Let’s see how the future x86 processors stack up against Apple’s M series. Meanwhile, I’m patiently waiting for my new M1x/M2 MacBook Pro.

Something is always coming. You have to invest when you can in the tech product & not look back. Innovation will continue long after we are all gone.

 

[JPack]

I guess the real question is with the news of TMSC producing 100 million A15 for mostly iPhones and some iPads going to interfere with M1 and more advanced ARM production for Macs?

Related to this article mentioning M1 with iMacs and iPad Pro orders constrained.

The supply constraints for the past year have been the mature nodes, not the leading edge ones.

For instance, Infineon, NXP, Renesas, and ST Microelectronics, are now only allowed to run at 60% capacity in Malaysia. Guess who uses those suppliers?

 

[nezr]

The iCar was something they couldn't do better.

 

[Moonlight]

Hoping iPhones and iPads inhouse chips are next.

Have I got a surprise for you...

 

[icolove]

You probably should have asked if the MagSafe Battery Pack could have been done better because the answer is "yes".

 

[gugy]

Pretty sure that was a Steve Jobs decision. There's a reason why he chose to build A4 instead of using Intel for iPhone.

I think on the iPhone was Jobs but Tim moving into the Macs was a huge move.

 

[JPack]

I think on the iPhone was Jobs but Tim moving into the Macs was a huge move.

Not sure I'd give Tim too much credit. Jobs planted the tree and Cook collected the fruit. Steve had to wait until Apple's design was mature enough for desktop computing. If iPhone and iPad were using Apple Silicon, why shouldn't Mac? The transition plan was exactly the same as PPC to Intel, right down to Rosetta 2.