On December 5th, according to foreign media tomshardware, Twitter user @VadimYuryev posted a real shot of the core of the Apple M1 Max chip, showing the real structure for the first time. Different from Apple's official rendering, there is a larger area on the edge of this chip, which is not shown in the rendering. This user said that just by flipping this chip, it can be interconnected with the same chip to form an MCM multi-chip package architecture to further improve performance.

Apple’s current M1 Max chip contains 10 CPU cores and 24 or 32 GPU cores. It is manufactured using TSMC’s 5nm process technology and has 57 billion transistors. If Apple's chip can be packaged together in multiple pieces, it is expected to achieve more powerful performance, and save development costs, without the need to redesign.

At present, only M1 Max has additional integrated circuits that can be used for interconnection, while the M1 Pro series chips have not found hidden parts. The core real shots are consistent with the official renderings.

If Apple’s M1 Max chip can achieve multi-chip packaging, it will support 128GB of memory, and the memory bandwidth can also be expanded to 800Gb/s, which can be used for graphics workstations and other purposes, while power consumption is greatly reduced compared to traditional solutions.

The original link: https://m.ithome.com/html/590555.htm

It was previously reported that Apple may use the M1Max chip in a multi-core package to empower workstation-level devices such as the new Mac Pro and iMac Pro, but now it seems that everything is pointing in this direction. In the real shots of the new M1Max chip, we can clearly find that a part of the M1Max chip does not exist in the "hidden part" in the official rendering. Combined with the multi-core interconnection circulated before, it seems likely to be for Prepared for multi-chip packaging. Before, we thought that Apple might adopt a multi-CPU solution similar to Intel. Now it seems that Apple's solution is much simpler and rude. It is estimated that the experience will also be better. Looking forward to the new M1Max processor in a single-handed multi-chip MCM package!

News ②: Exposure of all models of Intel’s 12th-generation Core desktop processors: from 2-core Celeron to 16-core i9

Reliable whistleblower @momomo_us exposed all the first models of Intel's 12th generation Core desktop processors.

As shown in the figure above, six K-series models have been released and listed in October this year, and the remaining models are expected to be launched one after another after being released at CES 2022.

According to the news, the 12th-generation Core family products have all upgraded the latest architecture, including the Pentium and Celeron series. In non-K models, apart from i7, i5, i3, Pentium and Celeron do not have small cores. Although there is no big and small nuclear heterogeneous blessing, the leak scores of the new i3 and i5 have shown a big improvement.

The following are the specifications of each model summarized by the foreign media TechPowerUp.

i9-12900/F: 8 large cores + 8 small cores, 2.4-5.1GHz, 30MB L3 cache

i7-12700/F: 8 large cores + 4 small cores, 2.1-4.9GHz, 25MB L3 cache

i5-12600: 6 large cores + 0 small cores, 3.3-4.8GHz, 18MB three-level cache

i5-12500: 6 large cores + 0 small cores, 3.0-4.6GHz, 18MB three-level cache

i5-12400/F: 6 large cores + 0 small cores, 2.5-4.4GHz, 18MB three-level cache

i3-12300: 4 large cores + 0 small cores,??- 4.4GHz, ?? MB L3 cache

i3-12100: 4 large cores + 0 small cores, 3.3-4.3GHz, 12MB three-level cache

The original link: https://m.ithome.com/html/590529.htm

As a result, the 12th-generation Core non-K series products should have all been put in place, and will only be released in the next year. However, recently there has been an ES version of i5-12650 on the Internet. It has a 6+4 core configuration like 12600K, and this code-named i5 is not in the list of this exposure, so it seems that whether it is i5 -12650 or this exposed list is still in doubt. Of course, Intel has produced a lot of "Unknown People" before. Most of them are OEM customized products, so they will not be officially sold, and they are not even found in intel ARK. 12650 is likely to be that kind of situation. The dust will settle after the actual release.

News ③: Intel intends to finalize a 3nm chip production plan with TSMC to avoid competing with Apple for production capacity

According to industry sources, Intel executives are preparing to visit chip foundry giant TSMC to finalize production plans for 3nm chips and avoid competing with Apple for production capacity. Intel and TSMC will collaborate on a GPU and three data center CPU projects. The company hopes to use TSMC’s 3-nanometer process technology in future Meteor Lake processors. Intel hopes to keep up with Apple in the chip manufacturing process through cooperation with TSMC.

Intel has always insisted on manufacturing its own CPU, but in recent years has lagged behind TSMC in this regard. Its CPU not only has high power consumption, but also has lower efficiency. This has prompted Apple to commit to phasing out Intel chips used in Macs and plans to replace them with self-developed Apple Silicon.

TSMC is Apple’s largest chip supplier, and it is said that the company has begun trial production of 3-nanometer M3 chips for Apple. These chips may eventually be used in Mac computers, and may be available as early as early 2023. At present, the chips in the latest iPhone, Mac and iPad are all produced based on TSMC's 5nm process technology.

The latest news echoes the previous rumors that Intel is considering outsourcing production to TSMC, and said that the two sides will hold talks in the next few weeks. It is reported that: "Intel executives will visit Taiwan Province in mid-December and meet with TSMC representatives to discuss the 3nm chip production capacity that the company hopes to obtain. ”

An earlier report stated that Intel is considering outsourcing chip production, but still hopes to improve its manufacturing capabilities. It is speculated that Intel’s move is to help TSMC arrange production plans in advance so that the latter will not be in a hurry to meet Intel processor orders while producing chips for the iPhone.

TSMC’s process technology is often limited by factory capacity in the early stages of its life cycle, which has prompted it to cooperate with only a few customers. Apple and TSMC have a ten-year cooperative relationship. The front-end Semiconductor Engineers also revealed that in terms of chip design and research, Apple is always given priority.

Obviously, Intel does not want to be the "third party" in the partnership between Apple and TSMC. The company wants to ensure that its demand for 3nm capacity will not be affected by Apple, and try to "avoid competing with Apple for capacity". .

It is worth noting that Intel plans to launch its own 2nm process technology in 2024, called 20A.

The original link: https://m.cnbeta.com/view/1210553.htm

We have also said before that TSMC’s current strategy is to give priority to Apple. For this reason, AMD is ready to switch to Samsung. Intel is different. Compared with AMD, intel is more financially rich. When TSMC pursues Apple's priority strategy, it can also reserve orders in advance to lock in part of its production capacity and prepare in advance for its own chips. Taking into account that Intel's CPU is still using its own technology, it is unlikely to change in the future, these reserved capacity may be prepared for the future ARC GPU. Of course, if there are some conspiracy theories, Intel may simply want to squeeze AMD’s orders, but I personally think that Intel should not be so boring, and the cost of doing so is a bit high, let’s wait and see what 3nm products Intel will have.