Apple has been planning for 15 years to stop using Intel processors

The last few years have been truly tough for Intel; it seems the company is going through a desert with no end in sight. Its processor strategy needs to be reinvented immediately. Jim Keller was involved in this process, but he has left for personal reasons . And to make matters worse, Apple is finalizing its decision to stop using Intel processors, a plan that has been in the works for 15 years.

Apple has spent years working on controlling all aspects of its products and creating a closed ecosystem. They want to control everything from the design to the manufacturing of the components they assemble. Everything could be confirmed next Monday during the 2020 World Developers Conference (WWDC 2020), which will be digital, of course.

Apple after fifteen years of planning, will say goodbye to Intel

Intel has recently been left out of some of the world's most important systems. A few weeks ago, NVIDIA unveiled the Ampere-based DGX-A100, which is paired with AMD EPYC processors . The latest announced supercomputers are also based on EPYC processors. Apple leaving Intel out at the latter's worst moment is sure to be a devastating blow, not just to its image, but on every level.

We must bear in mind that Apple represents slightly less than 5% of Intel's processor sales. It assumes the annual loss of around 3.400 billion dollars, a figure that is not a joke.

Initially Apple will not replace all Intel processors with ARM processors, it will be something much more scaled. Initially we will see portable computers based on ARM processors, being more efficient and possibly the same or more powerful. For Workstation and others, it seems that they will continue to use Intel processors, a jump to AMD seems difficult.

The one who will benefit most from the strategy of relying on third-party products is TSMC, who will manufacture the new SoCs. In addition to making the SoCs for iPhone and iPad, it will now also make for some MacBooks. But it is also that TSMC is the one who manufactures the AMD GPUs that are integrated into Apple equipment.

Origin of this Apple movement

All Apple computers since 2005 are based on the same processors that are marketed at the user level. While the operating system has been optimized for these processors, the company wants more specific solutions. The company wants more control over the operation of its equipment and that Intel does not offer. The jump to ARM has been because they allow customizing designs and adapting them to needs. Curiously they have not had AMD, who also offers a certain degree of customization.

One of the factors that has accelerated the plan that has been 15 years in the making is the 10nm disaster by Intel. Theoretically in 2015 the company should have already started manufacturing 10nm processors and we are in 2020 and it still seems far off time to see commercial 10nm processors. Intel's problem is mainly in its processor design, which is monolithic. A few days ago we saw the Elkhart Lake, the first modular processors based on Foveros that would be the future of the company.

The production problems that we have seen in recent years would be added to this decision. Additionally, vulnerabilities in Intel processors have not sat well with Apple, who sells 'security'. There are many factors that have triggered this decision.

Microsoft has also started to build systems based on ARM processors, in this case, designed by Qualcomm. Although it should be noted that analysts indicate that ARM solutions are less powerful than Intel's. Microsoft has even started to build systems with AMD Ryzen processors, in a clear change in market trend.

Source: MD