Apple has taken the wraps off its first in-house SoC specifically designed for Mac computers, as expected. Dubbed the Apple M1, the new Apple Silicon SoC is manufactured using the 5nm process and packed with 16 billion transistors. The company also claims that it delivers up to 3.5x times faster CPU performance, up to 6x GPU performance, up to 15x faster machine learning and up to 2x longer battery life when compared to previous-generation Macs powered by Intel.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Featuring a unified memory architecture, all the custom-engineered components in the M1 chip access the same data rather than access multiple pools of data as evident in traditionally used multiple chips in Macs and PCs. It has an eight-core CPU with 4x high-performance cores and 4x high-efficiency cores, which Apple says delivers the world’s best CPU performance per watt. Each of the high-performance cores used are the world’s fastest yet in low-power silicon while the four high-efficiency cores are optimized to deliver the best performance by using one-tenth of its power.
The M1 chip also features Apple’s most advanced GPU yet, newest image signal processor (ISP) for higher-quality video and brings Apple Neural Engine to the Mac. There is also high-performance storage controller with AES encryption hardware for faster and more secure SSD performance, the latest Secure Enclave for best-in-class security and Apple-designed Thunderbolt controller with support for USB 4 (up to 40 Gbps transfer speeds) and compatibility with other peripherals.
Additionally, the macOS Big Sur is designed to exploit all the benefits of the Apple M1 chip, thereby resulting in longer battery life, better performance, and security. As expected, iPhone and iPad apps can now run directly on Macs and users can choose from a wider range of apps.