Apple’s M4 chip really does compete with itself

It is worth noting the extent to which each iteration of M-series chip leapfrogs the previous generation. The current highest end iPad Pro with an M4 chip running 1TB+ RAM seems like it might even surpass the M3 Pro chip. That’s significant, I think.

The three towers

Apple’s teams seem to have the following goals: To make computationally powerful chips, make them extremely power efficient, and ensure they generate little heat so the processors can be used across a slew of different devices. 

Iteration by iteration of the Apple Silicon concept, realizing these goals lets Apple achieve significant environmental benefits, dramatically reducing the power required by its devices while also trimming the size of batteries inside them — which means those devices derive the same life between charges. It also means Apple’s designers can scale cheerily between versions of the core architecture, scaling all the way from A-series chips in iPhones to the powerful Ultra series of processors the company also has the ability to create. 

This wide scale remains a huge design opportunity for Apple, which can visualize and design systems that could not exist before. We’ve all seen talk about plans for folding devices; those are made far more possible as products get thinner and batteries become increasingly less likely to overheat. Within this, the influence of ARM, (which itself recently announced record results), is tangible. 

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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