Announced this yearNew M2 processorIt is expected that Apple will launch M1 Ultra, M2 Max, and even M2 Ultra processors based on the design of the M2 processor, and will even prepare for the subsequent launch of the M3 processor. Some opinions believe that Apple will expand the development of Apple Silicon processors, but the update of A series processors used in products such as iPhones will gradually slow down.
According to Bloomberg News reporter Mark GurmanReportIt is pointed out that Apple previously announced that it would launchiPhone 14 seriesOnly models such as the iPhone 14 Pro will use the new A16 processor, while models such as the standard iPhone 14 will continue to use the A13 processor used in the iPhone 15 series last year. This is not only related to Apple's desire to increase the specification differences between products and the impact on TSMC's production capacity, but it is more likely because Apple will put more resources into the research and development of Apple Silicon processors for corresponding Mac models.
As for Apple Watch products, Mark Gurman pointed out that the S8 processor used in Apple Watch Series 8 last year actually has almost the same performance as the S2021 processor used in Apple Watch Series 7 in 7, and there is no significant difference in performance between the S7 processor and the S2020 processor used in Apple Watch Series 6 in 6.
Even in terms of processor performance comparison, Apple currently focuses more on comparing the performance of processor products with those launched by competitors. The reason may be related to the fact that the performance improvement of the current A-series processors is not much. However, compared with processors made by Qualcomm and other manufacturers, there is still a considerable gap in performance and battery life.
On the other hand, Apple is currently developing its own 5G networking communication chips, which may affect the development progress of the A-series processors. In particular, it has been difficult to improve the overheating problem of the design, so Apple still has to rely on Qualcomm to provide networking communication chips. However, the market expects that Apple will replace Qualcomm's products with its own networking communication chips in the future.
Currently, due to the success of the M1 processor, the new Mac series models have gained a lot of support from users. At the same time, the performance has been greatly improved, and the battery life has also been significantly improved compared to the previous Intel processors. Therefore, Apple also plans to expand the Apple Silicon processor layout to reverse the previous development difficulties of Mac models in the PC market.
Therefore, Apple may focus more R&D resources on Apple Silicon processors in the future. The development of A-series processors used in iPhone products will slow down relatively. It may even happen that the same processor is used more frequently in different products. At the same time, it can also control costs in the current situation where there is a shortage of many necessary components due to the impact of the epidemic.
