Apple Silicon: Changed the chip game!
MacBooks are getting ever popular. They’re so popular that even you’re friend might have one. Where credit is due, it’s because of their distinct lineup and aggressive pricing strategy they have adopted recently. But still, it was not the case even 3–4 years ago. So what’s changed? It’s all because of the M1 chip, a new piece of silicon which brought the revival of the Cupertino-giant in personal computing. Let’s talk about it.
The Prologue:
Before the launch of the M1 chip in the fall of 2020, Apple was discretely using Intel’s off-the-shelf chips in the entirety of its Mac lineup. Before that, Apple used PowerPC chips till 2009, but that’s a different story. These Intel-based machines were updated to match the latest technology needs, but Apple lacked control of it. Apple has always focused on vertical integration, which gave them immense command over the user experience. Take the example of the iPhone, which still comes with a 3000 mAh battery and 3 GB of RAM is a terrible deal on paper, but the story is the opposite. This is all because of Apple’s complete control over its product pipeline & at the centre lies its custom silicon chips, which makes it all possible. This wasn’t possible with the MacBook as they couldn’t overrule the pipeline.
Shift to Apple Silicon:
While Apple used their custom-designed silicon, Apple Silicon was officially launched at WWDC’20, where new ambitions with the chip were announced and their move from Intel for their complete lineup. But what’s changed? A lot. The gains of Apple’s custom silicon were now available with their Macs. They became more battery-efficient & became one of the lasting batteries on a laptop. Also, a desktop had the lowest power draw, eliminating the need for a larger power supply. But this didn’t come with the performance cost. They were performing the same as equally-specked competitors, if not better, which also sustained during battery use, which was unheard of before. But this came at a cost. Due to the entire architecture of apps made for Intel chips, Apple had to ensure the smooth usage of apps as usual. This is where they introduced the Rosetta 2 translation layer to deal with it. But even with that, they incentivized the developers to rebuild their apps for Apple Silicon to reap the full power of those chips. The transition to Apple Transition for hardware and software was quick & was completed in 2 years.
The Epilogue:
Did anything change? Yes! Apple today is now back again with the Mac lineup they were once famous for. While there are shortcomings to fix, especially in their pricing, Apple’s laptops are one of the best offerings in the class & once discounted, they are the best in value for money. But today, Apple has a different problem to solve. They are not able to sell more Macs. But why so? Not because they made a blunder but because they made their first-generation chips so great that people are upgrading to the new ones. This is a funny place to be in.
