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Apple doesn't use Arm-design cores, they design CPUs that use Arm ISA in-house, so this tells us nothing about Macs.
by dchest 8y ago
Apple doesn't use Arm-design cores, they design CPUs that use Arm ISA in-house, so this tells us nothing about Macs.
- SmallDeadGuy 8y agoHe didn't say they did, he just said Arm Mac. As in, Arm-based Mac so Arm architecture, whether that's designed by Arm, them, or fairies on the moon it doesn't matter.
- monocasa 8y agoApple cores out perform ARM cores. They don't care what ARM dies in this space because they're years ahead of them in perf already.
- dchest 8y agoThe linked article refers to Arm core designs roadmap. Qualcomm and others will use those cores in their SoC. Apple, on the other hand, no longer uses those cores, they design their own cores that just happen to use the same Arm instruction set. Their cores are already more performant than those provided by Arm, so they don't need those design to put A# CPU as the main processor into MacBooks, they would probably design their own. So, this article is not the best evidence that Apple will use Arm in Macs (even though, I believe this would eventually happen.)
- gsnedders 8y agoQualcomm also design their own implementations of ARM (e.g. the current Kyro), though they do definitely ship some things with ARM designed cores.
- dchest 8y agoSamsung too (Exynos M1-M3). I think Qualcomm designs are heavily modified Arm designs, though.
- uluyol 8y agoWhile Kryo used to be fully custom, lately it's been based off of the Cortex designs. I'm not just talking about the low end SoCs, but even their high end stuff. Anandtech usually has details on this.
- gsnedders 8y agoRight, it's now a derivative design (as was Scorpion, AFAIK), though how much that matters is questionable (Apple got good perf gains over the Cortex-A8 in the Apple A4 despite it being a derivative).
- SmallDeadGuy 8y agoIt's not "just happen to use the same Arm instruction set," it's "they keep up to date with advances in the Arm architecture, such as v8.x extensions, which are heavily influenced by what Arm plans in their roadmaps." If instructions/extensions are being made that improve laptop-class performance in some ways, then that likely does increase the chance of Apple making laptop-class Arm cores for their Macs, even if by a miniscule amount.