Locator: 50618APPLE.
Apple and M5 are tracked here.
Jargon: 2.5D Fusion.
This is important. By the time Intel's best chips get released in 2028 (or whenever it is) the industry will have moved on to chiplets. Intel will sell every chip they make but end-users (Apple, for example) will have better margins, among other things.
I haven't yet read the skeptic's article in Barron's yet but I bet it's interesting.
AI query:
Was Apple one of the first chip designers, with the M5, to go to chiplets, rather than chips?
Reply:
Chiplet: A chiplet is a small, specialized, and modular "piece" of a chip designed to be combined with other chiplets into a single package, whereas a traditional "chip" (or System on a Chip/SoC) is a single, large piece of silicon containing all necessary functional blocks.
Essentially, chiplets break a single large die into smaller functional components to improve manufacturing yields, reduce costs, and increase performance.
Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max are true chiplet-based designs, separating CPU and GPU functions, a change from previous monolithic approaches.
The new chiplet design for the M5 Pro and M5 Max is expected to allow unique CPU and GPU configurations for better flexibility.
One of the M5 Pro’s and M5 Max’s biggest highlights is that both chipsets are rumored to feature TSMC’s SoIC packaging (Small Outline Integrated Circuit) and a 2.5D chiplet design that will enable the company to mass produce even more capable SoCs at a lower cost. A new rumor pretty much repeats the same information, talking about the advantages of the new Apple Silicon lineup, while also mentioning that both the M5 Pro and M5 Max will feature a slightly higher transistor density.
On Weibo, Fixed-focus digital cameras has shared various updates surrounding Apple’s upcoming chipsets, including a transition from InFO (Integrated Fan-Out) technology to 2.5D, bringing a slew of benefits to the table. On the latest post, the person has pretty much summarized the same perks, such as improved heat dissipation, a new packaging, with the only addition worthy of attention that hasn’t been mentioned before being increased transistor density.
Then again, Apple never disclosed the transistor count for the M5, so there’s no way of knowing if it differs from the M4. Fortunately, the only proper evidence that the M5 Pro and M5 Max offer a higher transistor count than the M4 Pro and M4 Max is Apple switching from TSMC’s 3nm N3E node to the 3nm N3P technology.
