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Apple absolutely leverages their full-stack platform control to optimize their silicon. They know with insane accuracy how many cycles would be saved across a b
by twoodfin 2y ago
Apple absolutely leverages their full-stack platform control to optimize their silicon. They know with insane accuracy how many cycles would be saved across a billion phones if they added (say) another integer divide unit, and if they decide that’s worth it, they can rev every major developer’s toolchain to schedule instructions for the new ALU months before the new chip ships.
- saagarjha 2y agoApple doesn’t do this, as it would reveal details about unreleased products. The scheduling model for their CPUs typically drops months after the chips ship, and even then the benefit you get from that is minor. (You can try it yourself, by comparing code generated using the “wrong” microarchitecture versus the “right” one. And also keep in mind that developers don’t always update their apps immediately to use the new toolchain.)