How is Apple Silicon different from Intel Chips

Though a laptop consists of several components like motherboard, display and keyboard. A small component which is known as Chipset plays a very significant role in determining the performance. Be it clicks or using keyboard shortcut all kind of action is executed by the chipset. So we can safely affirm that chipset is the most important component of a laptop. And Silicon is the raw material through which chipsets are manufactured. Though all chipsets are manufactured using silicon, they exhibit some differences. In this blog, we are going to mention How is Apple M1 Silicon different from Intel chips.

The trillion dollar company from Cupertino was using Intel chipsets for over 15 years. Because back then performance of PowerPC was no match to Intel. But in present scenario Apple has toppled the entire scenario.

Because till now most of the laptops and computer chipsets are built using the Complex Instruction Set Computer. It was an architecture developed by the market leader Intel itself. On the other hand every Smartphone processor or System on chip uses Reduced Instruction Set Computer.

This architecture was developed by John Cocke and his team, who were researchers at IBM. Debate between CISC or RISC has a very long history. And this debate will never end. As both architecture has its own advantage and disadvantage.

Apple M1 Silicon Vs Intel

Partnership between Apple and Intel is very deep. They have been together for a very long time. Apple began to use Intel chipsets in their MacBook because Apple’s PowerPC processors couldn’t deliver the performance of Intel Core series processors.

The Core series processors made Intel to take a giant leap and beat competition without much effort. Research and Development team of Intel did everything to enhance the performance and power efficiency of Apple MacBook.

Apple Intel MacBook

Back then Laptops had a bulky design and weight was above 1.8 kilograms. This is when Apple decided to surprise the entire world through their MacBook series products. It was in the year 2008, Steve Jobs unveils the first-generation MacBook Air.

The design of the MacBook Air can lure anyone in the planet effortlessly. Apple introduced a slim and light laptop in an era where other companies had a fleet of bulky and overweight laptops.

We all know what Apple is good at. They are good at delivering what others dream of. Apple did this on 2008 with the help of Intel. Without Intel, MacBook will have been voluminous. By reducing the size of CPU Apple was able to construct an attractive laptop.

Intel Architecture

Every Intel processor comprises of two types of architecture. First is the Instruction set architecture and the next is Microarchitecture. Not just Intel processors at present all computers and laptops use 64 bit Instruction set architecture. Only the microarchitecture of each processor is different.

Every generation of Intel Core processor comes with several improvements and advancements. Because of these factors performance of latest generation Intel Core processors are able to perform much better than its predecessors.

Apple M1 Silicon: Architecture

This is where the first difference begins. Unlike other laptop processor in the industry, Apple isn’t using processors made using CISC architecture. Apple is using the architectural design of ARM which is based on RISC.

Transition to a whole different architecture may sound simple. But it is definitely not like what we think. But the trillion dollar company has managed to do it under the leadership of Tim Cook in a very convenient manner.

Architecture of ARM isn’t relatively new to Apple. As their A series bionic processors are built using the ARM architecture. But a processor used in iPhone cannot be straight away used in a MacBook.

There are certain factors such as performance and power efficiency which needs to be enhanced.  Only then MacBook will be able to perform in a miraculous manner.

Since all new Apple M1 Silicon chip follows an entirely different architecture than Intel. We can safely affirm that Apple M1 Silicon is completely whole different processor than Intel Core chipsets.

Apple M1 Silicon: Lithography

All processor comprises of several transistors. And it is the responsibility of transistors to execute the commands which user is assigning to the laptop or computer. And lithography is the name of the process through which a processor is made.

Next difference between Apple M1 Silicon lies in this process. Intel manufactures its processors using 10 nanometre lithography. Though Intel uses smaller process nodes, Apple has a huge advantage in terms of battery life.

Apple M1 Silicon: Battery Life

On the other hand TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) manufactures Apple M1 Silicon using 5 nanometre lithography. It is also because of this smaller lithography, the Apple M1 Silicon consists of 16 billion transistors.

These 16 billion transistors don’t consume much power. Thus battery life of MacBook which run on Apple M1 Silicon is phenomenal.

And every chipset manufacturer tires their best to increase the number of transistors. By increasing the numbers, a chipset can perform in an efficient manner by consuming less power.

System on chip Vs Microprocessor

System on chip is a type of processor which comprises of components like CPU, GPU and RAM together. Whereas GPU and RAM are two different components of a microprocessor.

Apple M1 Silicon comes in two variants. One variant has 8 core CPU and 7 core GPU another variants has 8 core CPU and GPU. And the difference in performance between both variants is negligible.

Since all components are soldered together, data latency of system on chip is very low. But the only con of buying a laptop with system on chip is, customer will not be able to upgrade any component of a laptop.

These are the differences between Apple M1 Silicon and Intel processors. Hope the blog explained the differences in a very comprehensive manner. Price of Apple M1 MacBook starts from rupees 92,900 from our website Poorvika.

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