[COFF] [SPAM] Re: Architectures -- was [TUHS] 68k prototypes & microcode

[David Barto]

> On Feb 5, 2021, at 6:56 AM, Larry McVoy <lm at mcvoy.com> wrote:
> 
> If Intel doesn't want to make money off of the cheap, but very high
> volume, $20 SOC, Apple has shown that it has the chops to make a cheap,
> fast, and power sipping M1 chip.  Pretty impressive and if I were Intel,
> I'd be nervous.  Apple has shown they can switch architectures pretty
> painlessly repeatedly.  The x86 lock in isn't much of a lock in these
> days.

On my morning walk with a friend we discussed what iNtel is going to 
do about the M1 and coming M2, M3 chips from Apple. His contention
was that iNtel can’t do much because each vendor will want a different
configuration of the chip; more cores fewer GPU’s, more GPU’s fewer
cores, more of both, more/less RAM on board, etc.

It is unlikely that a SOC from iNtel can’t meet this varied selection so
it is unlikely to move into that market. It does have a solid lock on the
server market and it may just stick with that for the foreseeable future. 
The problem is that if the newer M2/M3 chips can perform at server
performance while retaining the low power consumption that the M1
has done, iNtel may see that its best days are past.

Disclaimer: I’ve got an M1 mini, and I have to say it is stunningly fast.

	David