Discussion Apple Silicon SoC thread

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Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
23,825
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M1
5 nm
Unified memory architecture - LP-DDR4
16 billion transistors

8-core CPU

4 high-performance cores
192 KB instruction cache
128 KB data cache
Shared 12 MB L2 cache

4 high-efficiency cores
128 KB instruction cache
64 KB data cache
Shared 4 MB L2 cache
(Apple claims the 4 high-effiency cores alone perform like a dual-core Intel MacBook Air)

8-core iGPU (but there is a 7-core variant, likely with one inactive core)
128 execution units
Up to 24576 concurrent threads
2.6 Teraflops
82 Gigatexels/s
41 gigapixels/s

16-core neural engine
Secure Enclave
USB 4

Products:
$999 ($899 edu) 13" MacBook Air (fanless) - 18 hour video playback battery life
$699 Mac mini (with fan)
$1299 ($1199 edu) 13" MacBook Pro (with fan) - 20 hour video playback battery life

Memory options 8 GB and 16 GB. No 32 GB option (unless you go Intel).

It should be noted that the M1 chip in these three Macs is the same (aside from GPU core number). Basically, Apple is taking the same approach which these chips as they do the iPhones and iPads. Just one SKU (excluding the X variants), which is the same across all iDevices (aside from maybe slight clock speed differences occasionally).

EDIT:

Screen-Shot-2021-10-18-at-1.20.47-PM.jpg

M1 Pro 8-core CPU (6+2), 14-core GPU
M1 Pro 10-core CPU (8+2), 14-core GPU
M1 Pro 10-core CPU (8+2), 16-core GPU
M1 Max 10-core CPU (8+2), 24-core GPU
M1 Max 10-core CPU (8+2), 32-core GPU

M1 Pro and M1 Max discussion here:


M1 Ultra discussion here:


M2 discussion here:


Second Generation 5 nm
Unified memory architecture - LPDDR5, up to 24 GB and 100 GB/s
20 billion transistors

8-core CPU

4 high-performance cores
192 KB instruction cache
128 KB data cache
Shared 16 MB L2 cache

4 high-efficiency cores
128 KB instruction cache
64 KB data cache
Shared 4 MB L2 cache

10-core iGPU (but there is an 8-core variant)
3.6 Teraflops

16-core neural engine
Secure Enclave
USB 4

Hardware acceleration for 8K h.264, h.264, ProRes

M3 Family discussion here:


M4 Family discussion here:

 
Last edited:

Glo.

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2015
5,803
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For 128 GB devices, Apple typically offers 256 GB as the next step up.

For 64 GB devices, sometimes Apple offers 128 GB as the next step up (in the case of some iPhones), and sometimes Apple offers 256 GB as the next step up (typically for iPads).
Typically for iPad Air - Apple offers base storage, and 1.5 half tiers higher storage.
 

Thibsie

Senior member
Apr 25, 2017
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Other than the pretty colors, I think most of it could be done with HTML5, CSS and JS. Maybe there's something very complex in that app that they are not showing in the sample screens?
Oh, technically I'm certain there's nothing that could be done with HTML/CSS/JS/SQL.
But I won't develop it myself so I have to rely on what exists and thge developper always stated that they would NOT port it to Windows.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
23,825
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Typically for iPad Air - Apple offers base storage, and 1.5 half tiers higher storage.
Sometimes they do, but it’s not necessarily “typical”. They change their storage tier mix from time to time, when it makes sense to do so. Anyhow, the rumours are in overdrive now for new iPad models coming, both for the iPad Air and the iPad Pro, within the next few weeks.

I could be wrong, but I’m guessing 256 GB base for the iPad Pro, 128 GB base for the iPad Air, and 64 GB for the iPad. However, if that does happen, it would likely be accompanied by a price hike to both the Pro and Air.
 

Glo.

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2015
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Sometimes they do, but it’s not necessarily “typical”. They change their storage tier mix from time to time, when it makes sense to do so. Anyhow, the rumours are in overdrive now for new iPad models coming, both for the iPad Air and the iPad Pro, within the next few weeks.

I could be wrong, but I’m guessing 256 GB base for the iPad Pro, 128 GB base for the iPad Air, and 64 GB for the iPad. However, if that does happen, it would likely be accompanied by a price hike to both the Pro and Air.
I also think the base will go up to 256 GB for iPad Pro, to justify 999$ entry price tag. But the storage upgrade on base iPad will be without price change. Remember, 12.9 replaces the Pro in price bracket.
 
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FlameTail

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2021
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GUYS. HAVE YOU FOGGOTEN THAT THE UPCOMING IPAD PROS ARE GETTING OLED?

And it's not any run of the mill OLED. It's going to be Double-stacked Tandem OLED.

iPad Pro starting price will certainly be >$1000. Maybe even $1500.
 
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Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
23,825
1,396
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GUYS. HAVE YOU FOGGOTEN THAT THE UPCOMING IPAD PROS ARE GETTING OLED?

And it's not any run of the mill OLED. It's going to be Double-stacked Tandem OLED.

iPad Pro starting price will certainly be >$1000. Maybe even $1500.
US$899 11” 256 GB
US$999 13” 256 GB

Or at most:

US$949 11” 256 GB
US$1049 13” 256 GB

Meaning that even with OLED, the iPad Pro starts at well below US$1000.
 

Glo.

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2015
5,803
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US$899 11” 256 GB
US$999 13” 256 GB

Or at most:

US$949 11” 256 GB
US$1049 13” 256 GB

Meaning that even with OLED, the iPad Pro starts at well below US$1000.
You are way more optimistic on this topic than me ;).

But yeah, if 12.9 inch Air is 899$, then 11 inch Pro also could be 899$, knowing how Apple builds their pricing structures.
 
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FlameTail

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I don't think any iPad is getting single-stack OLED. The display analysts have written at length why Apple does not want to use single stack.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
23,825
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For those following this, what's so special about these OLED displays over regular OLED that people will just "have to" have one.
Dual-stack OLEDs can go brighter and yet at the same time have lower risk of burn-in. For people like me, dual-stack OLED may be overkill, but it seems these are targeted at the true creative professionals, where this would actually matter. Related to this, without dual-stack OLED, going from a mini-LED iPad Pro to an OLED iPad Pro could be a big step down in terms of brightness. The other aspect to this is that dual-stack OLED actually uses less power than regular single-stack LED for bright images.

So, dual-stack is brighter, longer lasting, and lower power than conventional single-stack, but way, way more expensive and up until now, was only ever produced in low volumes.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
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FlameTail

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2021
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BOE is also making Tandem OLED. They are not to be underestimated.

Although idk if they will supply for the iPad Pros coming this spring.
 
Jul 27, 2020
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Oh wow, three different panel suppliers. Yay for panel lottery? Good thing I won't be getting subjected to that after spending a lot of money. Don't care about anything Apple.
 

FlameTail

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2021
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Oh wow, three different panel suppliers. Yay for panel lottery? Good thing I won't be getting subjected to that after spending a lot of money. Don't care about anything Apple.
Usually, Apple is very careful to avoid "lotteries" when they are multi-sourcing. All the suppliers must meet Apple's standards or they won't get to supply for Apple. BOE once got slapped in the wrist for cost cutting on the copper wire thickness in iPhone display panels.
 
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Doug S

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Feb 8, 2020
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For those following this, what's so special about these OLED displays over regular OLED that people will just "have to" have one.

Reportedly the main reason Apple wants them is they have a lifetime 4x longer than single stack OLEDs. They feel that's important for tablets versus phones due to the relative amount of screen time and expected device usage life. Lifetime not talking about "burn in" but talking about color accuracy. Apple is super picky about that in a way no one else is, they want something to have the same color accuracy at the end of its useful life that it had at the beginning.

Obviously they have better stats than me but I would figure the useful life of an iPhone and iPad are about the same. People may replace iPhones more often than tablets/PCs but iPhones get second, third maybe even fourth owners. I suppose an iPad Pro is likely to be have a lot more screen on time on average than an iPhone though (obviously with outliers on both sides so spare me the "I'm on my phone 12 hours a day but only touch my tablet twice a month")
 

soresu

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Dec 19, 2014
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Dual-stack OLEDs can go brighter and yet at the same time have lower risk of burn-in. For people like me, dual-stack OLED may be overkill, but it seems these are targeted at the true creative professionals, where this would actually matter. Related to this, without dual-stack OLED, going from a mini-LED iPad Pro to an OLED iPad Pro could be a big step down in terms of brightness. The other aspect to this is that dual-stack OLED actually uses less power than regular single-stack LED for bright images.

So, dual-stack is brighter, longer lasting, and lower power than conventional single-stack, but way, way more expensive and up until now, was only ever produced in low volumes.
Blue PHOLED does this anyway for QD OLED displays that are exclusively blue OLED pixels (with QD's for color conversion to red/green).

Shifting to lower power dual stack + blue PHOLED should yield a pretty meaty increase in lifetime and peak brightness.

Though for either W-OLED or full AMOLED display configurations the benefit brought by blue PHOLED pixels won't be anywhere near as great, because red and green PHOLED pixels have been in use for years already in these display types.

So you are only getting power and/or brightness improvements for 1/3 of the subpixels in each whole pixel.

I wonder if LG will switch from W-OLED to QD OLED as the blue PHOLED comes in, and mix it with their MLA (micro lens array) for premium displays/TVs - that would be ideal, albeit likely expensive to produce.