Apple’s boss shared about the journey of leaving Intel to switch to Apple Silicon during the Covid-19 period
- Tram Ho
A lot has changed out under the leadership of Johny Srouji at Apple. The company is said to be working on next-generation M2 chips for at least nine different Macs.
The Wall Street Journal reported on how the iPhone maker weathered the storm of silicon shortages by switching to the M1 chip led by the semiconductor division under the leadership of senior vice president of hardware Johny Srouji. He used to be an executive with many years of accumulated experience in reputable companies such as Intel and IBM.
Apple’s engineering teams working on Apple Silicon chips for iPhones and iPads are constrained by the limitations of a battery-powered device. The company’s designs allow integration with the hardware so designers can complete the rest of the items.
In 2017, Apple received a lot of complaints about the poor performance of Macs. This was a turning point for the company because of the constant complaints about using Intel chips. So Apple has decided to switch to research and manufacture its own Apple Silicon chip.
The change has caused controversy within Apple, Srouji said, because computer hardware makers often don’t design critical components like internal processing chips. He added that the transition was challenging because the company’s semiconductor division was tasked with creating a chip that would fit all Macs, from the cheapest to the most expensive.
Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Johny Srouji
According to Srouji, at the time, “Apple was not a chip company”. The bigger question to answer is whether the company can “deliver better products” after the transition.
Furthermore, it is not a project that will start and end in a short time. It’s a multi-year commitment by Apple, and the chip design process will need to evolve and improve over time.
Srouji explained that Apple must be flexible enough to weather the Covid-19 pandemic. “What I’ve learned in life: You think through all the things you can control, and then you have to be flexible, adaptive, and strong enough to navigate when things don’t go your way,” says Srouji. plan. Covid is an example”.
The WSJ said that Srouji’s team had to develop a new test method immediately due to the outbreak of the pandemic. The pandemic threatens to disrupt all plans prepared many years before the launch of the M1 chip. The reworked inspection process allows for remote testing.
The team has set up cameras throughout the labs so engineers can test the chips remotely. It’s the kind of change that was previously unimaginable from Apple, where secrecy and control are paramount.
Part of the operation can rotate seamlessly because Mr. Srouji’s team spans the globe and is used to conducting business via video calls and working in different time zones.
Then Apple announced the first batch of Macs, the MacBook Air M1, the Mac Mini, and the MacBook Pro. All run on the M1 chip. All of these models have received praise and high praise for their powerful performance and good optimization.
After that, Apple continued to launch more powerful upgraded versions of the Apple M1 chip such as the M1 Pro and M1 Max for the MacBook Pro. Or most recently, the Mac Studio is equipped with the most powerful M1 Ultra chip ever of the M-series.
With the current improvements, Apple completely has the basis to continue to succeed with the next generation of Apple M-series chips.
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Source : Genk