Sumit Gupta, VP, IBM’s AI Strategy, has done the math and estimates that Apple’s move to dump Intel for the M1 in new M1 MacBooks (Air and 13-inch Pro) could save the company $2.5 billion per year.
The M1, the most powerful chip Apple has ever created and the first chip designed specifically for the Mac. M1 is optimized for Mac systems in which small size and power efficiency are critically important. As a system on a chip (SoC), M1 combines numerous powerful technologies into a single chip, and features a unified memory architecture for dramatically improved performance and efficiency. M1 is the first personal computer chip built using cutting-edge 5-nanometer process technology and is packed with an astounding 16 billion transistors, the most Apple has ever put into a chip. It features the world’s fastest CPU core in low-power silicon, the world’s best CPU performance per watt, the world’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, and breakthrough machine learning performance with the Apple Neural Engine. As a result, M1 delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, all while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than previous-generation Macs. With its profound increase in performance and efficiency, M1 delivers the biggest leap ever for the Mac.
The laptops that use the ARM M1 instead of Intel x86 CPUs are the MacBook Air and the MacBook 13-Entry, which is a combined volume of almost 14 million MacBook units.
Assuming the following costs for Apple:
• ARM-based Apple M1 processor cost: $50 (might be closer to $40)
• Intel Core i5 Dual-Core for MacBook Air: $200 (maybe $175)
• Intel Core i5 Quad-Core for MacBook 13-Entry: $250 (maybe $225)Costs of MacBooks with Intel:
• Total = $3.2 BCosts of MacBooks with ARM-based M1:
• MacBook 13-Entry: 8.6 M units x $50 = $268 M
• MacBook Air: 5.4 M units x $200 = $429 M
• Total = $697 MThat is a saving of $2.5 Billion for Apple!!!
The math is easy and simple for Apple. They save over $2 Billion by moving to their M1 chips. And they get better performance, better battery life, and of course, can innovate in the silicon (neural nets, graphics, …).
MacDailyNews Take: Apple finally dumping Intel for their own SoCs is a win for battery life, a win for performance, and a win for costs. It’s a win-win-win for both Mac users and Apple!