Apple MacBook has been removed from the shelves, so Intel processors

Apple MacBook has been removed from the shelves, so Intel processors

Apple's MacBook has been removed, so the intel processor, that is, the last Intel chip in Apple's computer, has also been abandoned. From now on, Apple has nothing to do with Intel. Apple MacBook has been removed from the shelf, so Intel processor.

Apple's MacBook has been taken off the shelf, so Intel processor 1 Apple's Mac computer has been using Intel processor for more than ten years, but since 20 19, Apple began to deliberately get rid of its dependence on Intel through self-developed chips and other measures. According to the report of Fast Technology on July 26th, Apple has removed the last trace of Intel.

According to iFixit's introduction to the disassembly of Apple's MacBook M2, the Intel JHL8040R USB4/ Thunderbolt 3 timer chip used before has disappeared, and it has been replaced by an unknown brand. On the surface, only one number U09PY3 can be seen. At present, it is not clear which manufacturer this new chip comes from, and no useful information can be found from the serial number.

In addition, iFIXIT's introduction to the disassembly of Apple's MacBook M2 Air on July 19, 2009 showed that a Thunderbolt 3 driver similar to Apple appeared on the chip board, instead of the familiar Intel chip.

This means that Apple has completely broken with Intel.

Although Apple has continued to make efforts in chip research and development in recent years, some netizens are sweating for Apple: "Apple invests hundreds of billions every year, why does 5G research and development still fail? Where is the difficulty of 5G chips? "

The "Love-Hate Debate" between Apple and Intel

Prior to this, the cooperation between Apple and Intel lasted for more than ten years. In 20 19, Apple began to get rid of its dependence on Intel.

It is understood that at that time, Apple launched a plan internally to replace the Intel chips in its Mac computers with processors based on ARM architecture by 2020.

Soon, Apple hired Mike Filippo, one of ARM's top chip engineers. Mike Filippo's experience in more advanced chips such as servers will help Apple achieve this goal. Mike Filippo's profile on LinkedIn shows that before joining ARM, he worked as a key chip designer at AMD and Intel and led some important projects.

In June 2020, Apple officially announced that it would abandon the Intel processor and switch to an ARM-based chip. In June 2020, 1 1, Apple officially released the M 1 chip. In June 2022, Apple brought the M2 chip.

Intel has been working hard to improve its chip design in recent years, and CEO Pat Gelsinger has made defeating Apple's notebook computers as his top priority.

Pat Gelsinger said in 2002110 that he hoped to win back Apple's business by creating "better chips" than Apple could make in the future. He plans to ensure that Intel's products are "better than theirs" and said that Intel has a more open and dynamic ecosystem.

In addition to competing with each other in chip research and development, the two companies are still recruiting talents.

On June 6th, 65438, Jeff willcocks, director of Apple's Mac system architecture, announced on LinkedIn that he would leave Apple to take a new position at Intel. He will hold the leadership position of Intel researcher and chief technology officer of design engineering team, focusing on client-side SoC architecture. Jeff Wilson said that he plans to cooperate with Intel to develop a breakthrough SoC.

Jeff willcocks is a key figure in the development of Apple's desktop and notebook computers. During Apple's eight years as the director of Mac system architecture, he was mainly responsible for the system architecture, signal integrity and power integrity of the Mac system. He is also a member of Apple's M 1 team, and he played a key role in Apple's transition from Intel chip to M 1 chip.

But interestingly, Jeff willcocks's old club is Intel. He worked for Intel from 1997, became the chief architect of NVIDIA after 10, returned to Intel on 20 10, and joined Apple three years later as the director of Mac system architecture.

Apple MacBook has been removed from the shelf, so the disassembly of Apple MacBook M2 by Intel processor 2 iFixit shows that the previously used Intel JHL8040R USB4/ Thunderbolt 3 timer chip is gone, and it is replaced by an unknown brand scheme, and only one number U09PY3 can be seen on the surface.

This means that the last Intel chip in Apple's computer has also been abandoned. From now on, Apple has nothing to do with Intel.

The discord between Apple and Qualcomm

Things have to start with the feud between Apple and Qualcomm. According to public information, in 20 18, Qualcomm and Apple were involved in dozens of patent lawsuits. In the end, due to patent litigation in Qualcomm, Apple was temporarily banned from selling its iphone series. The lawsuit between Apple and Qualcomm lasted for a long time. As a last resort, Apple switched to intel4G baseband chip, which was the beginning of the signal difference between iphone 1 1, and was widely criticized later.

After the launch of iphone 1 1, a large number of users reported that the signal of iphone 1 1 was often erratic, and the sales of Apple iphone 1 1 once declined. At that time, Huawei and Qualcomm's 5G baseband chips appeared one after another. Apple finally had to reach a settlement with Qualcomm and use Qualcomm's 5G baseband chip.

Apple and Intel secretly confronted each other

The industry has long been accustomed to the grievances between electronic product manufacturers. During the time when Iphone 1 1 was widely criticized for the problem of Intel baseband chip, Apple must have held several rounds of negotiations with relevant departments of Intel. Among them, regarding the unstable signal and poor gain, in the case of falling out with Qualcomm, Apple will never easily veto Intel. There must be a lot of communication offline.

However, in the face of market pressure and user dissatisfaction, coupled with the excellent performance of Qualcomm and Huawei's 5G baseband chips in the market. In the case that Intel baseband chips can't compete with related products from Qualcomm and Huawei, Apple has to choose the way of reconciliation with Qualcomm. Because Huawei's chips are not for sale, and Huawei's own chips are not enough.

Apple gives up cooperation with Intel's 4G baseband chip, will Intel have no complaints? In response to Apple's demand for its 4G baseband chips and the demand for 5G baseband chips, Intel must have invested a lot of money. But in the end, Intel failed in its cooperation with Apple.

Baseband chip independently developed by Apple

From Apple's point of view, the purchase of baseband chips and other accessories, on the one hand, is dissatisfied with Qualcomm's high patent licensing fees, on the other hand, there is no substitute in the whole market. Under such circumstances, Apple made up its mind to design its own 5G baseband chip.

I don't know whether the design of 5G baseband chip is more difficult than CPU or whether Apple lacks the design experience of baseband chip. In short, Apple's long-term efforts on the 5G baseband chip have been full of twists and turns, but it has not been successful so far. Therefore, Apple can't get rid of Qualcomm's 5G baseband chip for the time being.

Apple is determined to stay away from Intel

Since Apple developed its own CPU for M-series PC, Apple has accelerated the process of staying away from Intel. From M 1 to M2, Apple MacBook no longer uses Intel's CPU, but uses its own M2 chip. As at the beginning of this article, Apple gave up using Intel's timer chip and switched to another company's timer chip.

Since then, Apple and Intel have settled the matter and refused to give in to each other. For Intel, this is definitely an unforgettable experience. It's hard to say goodbye to each other in love, and Intel can't pull a red face. After all, Intel is the leader of CPU, but there is still a gap between Intel and Qualcomm in the field of mobile communication.

It's not just Intel that Apple is away from.

As a bystander and beneficiary of the US crackdown on Huawei, as an Apple company also engaged in the mobile phone business, it is well aware of Huawei's difficult situation. Looking at people's warmth and coldness, we can see that Apple has had grievances with Intel and Qualcomm, and feels the same for Huawei's continuous self-improvement. Therefore, Apple is determined to decisively develop its own 5G baseband chip. Even if things don't go well, Apple is determined not to give up.

The breakup between Apple and Intel is inevitable.

Since Apple itself is not involved in manufacturing, only from the design point of view, increasing investment in scientific research is the only way for Apple. Through scientific research, Apple can occupy more voice in the patent field, at least it can no longer sign the alliance under the city. Therefore, Apple not only broke up with Intel, but also had a "love affair" with Qualcomm.

On the other hand, Huawei in China is similar to Apple. Although the biggest difference between Apple and Huawei is that they can at least sign an alliance with Qualcomm to maintain their business operations, Huawei has also anchored its own Huashan road of developing chips.

Apple MacBook has been removed from the shelf, so Intel processor 3 seems to be getting farther and farther away from Intel since Apple started the road of M series self-developed processors.

Recently, it was discovered that Apple had removed the last Intel chip from its PC product line with the launch of the M2 MacBook. While studying the new MacBook Air(M2 processor model), iFixIt, a hardware dismantling website, found that previous generations of Intel USB4 chips had been replaced by another brand.

This component change was discovered in last week's iFixIt disassembly report, which may mark the historical end of the cooperative relationship between Intel and Apple. In the enlarged details of the motherboard, it can be noticed that the code names of the two chips are "U09PY3". The previous version of MacBook used Intel's JHL8040R retimer chip and supported USB4 and Thunderbolt.

We don't know which company made the new U09PY3 USB4 timer chip, but the source indicates that it is a custom design, so we can't get more information from the marks in the image.

As a small part of the main board, Apple has not publicly expressed any information about this change, and it is expected that it will not in the future. For reasons of supply chain or cost, it is common to change suppliers of such chips. Another reason behind the switch may be dissatisfaction with the Intel JHL8040R retimer, but we have not heard any complaints about this.

On Twitter, a semiconductor blogger said that the current two M2 MacBook have no Intel elements at all.

On the topic of shutting Intel out, it was also pointed out that AMD's latest notebook computer equipped with Rembrandt (Ruilong 6000) series chips has avoided all relations with Intel USB4. The retimer that AMD decided to adopt includes KB 8001"Matterhorn" from Swiss startup Kandou. The company claims that its USB4-fold timer chip is "deployed in the products of five of the six major PC OEM". In addition, its USB4-fold timer is compatible with all SoC platforms.

The function of retimer chip is to improve the signal integrity by using advanced signal conditioning technology, and then transmit it to a distant place at a higher speed.

We know that Intel has a deep relationship with the USB4 standard based on Thunderbolt 3. Both of them are based on the underlying protocol of Thunderbolt 3, which are complementary and compatible with each other. They are both Type-c interfaces. Therefore, USB4 supports transmission up to 40 Gbps, display connection in DP Alt mode (up to 5K resolution), compatibility with some lightning 3 devices and power transmission up to100W ... Please note the word "highest" here, indicating that the nominal performance is not universal.

Interestingly, during the disassembly process, it was found that the new generation MacBook Air not only had no cooling fan, but also had no heat sink. Apple is full of confidence in the new generation design.