Apple silicon

Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. They are used in nearly all of the company's devices including Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTag, HomePod, and Apple Vision Pro.

The first Apple-designed system-on-a-chip was the Apple A4, which was introduced in 2010 with the first-generation iPad and later used in the iPhone 4, fourth generation iPod Touch and second generation Apple TV.

Apple announced its plan to switch Mac computers from Intel processors to its own chips at WWDC 2020 on June 22, 2020, and began referring to its chips as Apple silicon.^[1]^[2] The first Macs with Apple silicon, built with the Apple M1 chip, were unveiled on November 10, 2020. The Mac lineup completed its transition to Apple chips in June 2023.

Apple fully controls the integration of Apple silicon in the company's hardware and software products. Johny Srouji, the senior vice president for Apple's hardware technologies, is in charge of the silicon design.^[3] Apple is a fabless manufacturer; production of the chips is outsourced to contract foundries including TSMC and Samsung.

^ "Apple announces Mac transition to Apple silicon" (Press release). Apple. June 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
^ Warren, Tom (June 22, 2020). "Apple is switching Macs to its own processors starting later this year". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
^ "The Most Important Apple Executive You've Never Heard Of". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2016.

[Apple_PR_2020.06.22-1] "Apple announces Mac transition to Apple silicon" (Press release). Apple. June 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.

[:1-2] Warren, Tom (June 22, 2020). "Apple is switching Macs to its own processors starting later this year". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.

[:17-3] "The Most Important Apple Executive You've Never Heard Of". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]