Apple - compute

Apple unleashes M1

Apple Event April 20, 2021

This week, Apple hosted its first event of 2021 and debuted products incorporating M1, the first silicon it has designed and developed in-house for the Mac. Dubbed "Spring Loaded", the event showcased new M1-powered iMac and iPad Pro models which will join the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini in supporting M1.

The ARM-based M1 delivers impressive power and efficiency. By combining key components like the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and Memory on a single System-on-a-Chip (SoC) and then vertically integrating hardware and software, Apple claims CPU and GPU performance 3.5x and 6x faster, respectively, and battery life twice as long, compared to previous-generation Macs. With smaller and easier-to-cool packages, Apple will release the thinnest iMac ever, and power an iPad with a desktop-class CPU that will outperform the highest end desktop competition in many tasks.
In our view, its new products signal that Apple is moving quickly on a two-year plan to transition the Mac line onto its own silicon. Having powered Apple computers with its x86 architecture since 2005, Intel could be the big loser.

In other news this week, Intel reported a 20% decline in datacenter sales for the first quarter, purportedly because hyperscale players like Amazon and Facebook are going through a period of inventory “digestion”. AMD and Nvidia, its competition, also could be playing a role. Last week, for example, Nvidia announced Grace, a new ARM-based datacenter CPU.