One familiar chip that end users might not expect to contain a computer is the IMU or accelerometer. Take a look at this flyer from a recent Bosch smartphone IM

One familiar chip that end users might not expect to contain a computer is the IMU or accelerometer. Take a look at this flyer from a recent Bosch smartphone IMU: https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloads/product_flyer/bst-bmi260-fl000.pdf https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloa... You might think an accelerometer just outputs acceleration data. I've used some that were purely analog; as an acceleration moved a mass, a strain gauge or piezo element flexed; the output wires were simply analog signals. But these excerpts: > ...combines precise acceleration and angular rate measurement with intelligent on- chip motion-triggered interrupt features. > The IMU provides highly accurate step counting, motion detection > provides an intelligent power management system enabling motion-triggered always-on features to run inside the ultra-low power domain of the IMU That ultra-low power domain of the IMU doesn't have dedicated logic to do step counting, it has a processor. The GPS IC has a processor. The power management IC is not just a voltage regulator, it contains a processor. The uSD card or UFS flash IC contains a processor. The camera sensors contain processors. The display controller contains a processor. Looking at a teardown, I can't see too many more ICs on a smartphone motherboard...oh, I suppose the noise-cancelling/speak to wake functions of the microphone ADC are probably also implemented by a processor. Some of those, depending on the manufacturer's vertical integration and the age of the device, are inside the SoC, but many of those functions that you might imagine to be hard-wired are actually running in firmware.