> Apple's A11 ... We are a generation or two away from ARM having the same power as top of the line laptop processors Apple's SoC's, including the CPU, are des

> Apple's A11 ... We are a generation or two away from ARM having the same power as top of the line laptop processors Apple's SoC's, including the CPU, are designed by Apple, not ARM (the company). They run the ARM instruction set but the CPU core is not ARM's design. The last Apple chip to have ARM-designed CPUs was the Apple A5(X) with the ARM Cortex-A9 from 2011, every Apple chip after that has had a CPU designed by Apple. Additionally, the SoC most likely contains "hidden" core(s) not unlike Intel ME (like most SoC's do) that boot up the system and perform power management and other peripheral duties. ARM is not the answer because they don't do their own chips. They license the technology and their clients are free to add whatever management engine hardware to their SoC. An ARM-based SoC could be built without hidden hardware or firmware blobs but I am not aware of a SoC that could run on completely free and open software.