Apple: The Heat Is On -- November 4, 2023

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Microchips are hot. Literally.

As engineers cram more functions and power into chips, they require more energy and, thus, produce more heat than ever before. To beat that heat, which limits the performance of the computers and other gadgets we use, Silicon Valley is looking to some surprising materials.

Chip companies large and small are experimenting with slices of synthetic diamond, pieces of ultrapure glass or even an obscure material only recently synthesized in quantities sufficient to test its properties. Heat is an old problem for engineers.

The first practical lightbulb by Thomas Edison was a success largely because he prevented it from burning out quickly.

Traditional gas engines need oil and coolant to prevent a breakdown, and nuclear reactors famously require cooling to avoid a meltdown.

If you have an old enough laptop — one that can get uncomfortably hot on your legs—you’ve already got an intimate understanding of the primary barrier to making computers faster.

“The hard limit on chip performance is the maximum temperature on a chip,” says Andy Bechtolsheim, who co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and was the company’s chief hardware designer.

Silicon microchips can’t run any hotter than about 221 degrees Fahrenheit or they become unreliable. To achieve higher speeds without a breakdown, chip developers aim to dissipate heat—or move it away from the source—as quickly as possible.