Rumors indicating the abandonment of Intel by Apple in favor of own chips on Macs are nothing new: Bloomberg already brought a very convincing report on the topic a few months ago and, with the arrival of the new processor A12 Bionic, several studies have shown that Apple is already very close to achieving, with its ARM chips, performance and efficiency levels equal to or higher than those of Intel’s best creations.
Now, to add more fuel to the fire, our forever friend Ming-Chi Kuo is bringing more evidence that, yes, we are very close to seeing Macs equipped with chips designed by Apple itself.
In a note sent to investors, the TF International Securities analyst focuses on an analysis of the TSMC (chip maker which is one of Apple’s biggest current partners) – it’s there that the A series processors that iGadgets company, for example. According to Kuo, the supplier’s relationship with Apple tends to become even stronger in the coming years and one of the main reasons for this is the start of manufacturing processors for Macs from 2020 or 2021.
There are many reasons to believe this: as the analyst pointed out, TSMC is one of the manufacturers with the most advanced technologies today in the production of chips; moreover, because it is not a competitor of Apple in any segment (as Samsung is, for example), strengthening the partnership would only have positive points for Apple – which, on its side, would finally have total control over basically all components of the Mac and would give the company higher revenue margins (since there would be no need to buy Intel processors).
But if you think that Apple’s relations with TSMC should be reduced to Macs, iPhones and iPads, it’s good to think again: Kuo also said that the Taiwanese supplier should be Apple’s official partner in the manufacture of the processors of the future Apple car – which, as the analyst himself speculated in a recent report, is still in Cupertino’s plans and is expected to arrive between 2023 and 2025.
Lexus car used by Apple (Apple Car)In the words of Kuo, the chip to be equipped with a future “Apple Car” would have to bring support to level 4 (high) or 5 (total) of automation, to house the autonomous steering system that would equip the vehicle. Today, only TSMC has manufacturing processes of 3 or 5 nanometers, which are the only possible ones to meet these requirements.
In the end, whatever is in Apple’s plans for the next decade, it will be worth watching this relationship closely – and especially the fruits they can generate. I’m excited, are you?
via MacRumors
