Rumour from WCCF: AMD is making a Custom Chip for Apple

[dark zero]

Rumor: AMD Making Custom x86 SOC For Apple’s 2017 And 2018 iMac Designs



Rumor has it that Apple may contract AMD to design a semi-custom x86 SOC for its iMac products in 2017 and 2018. According to a report from Bitsandchips.it this deal would allow Apple to secure a high performance x86 SOC design at a significantly lower cost than competing Intel solutions.
At the 2017-2018 timeframe AMD will have two high performance CPU cores, an ARM based design code named K12 and a second generation Zen “Zen+” x86 design. However the report explains that as the x86 ISA is a necessity in the high-end desktop and prosumer level Apple products a Zen based design is most likely.


Source: http://wccftech.com/amd-making-custom-x86-soc-apple-imacs-2017-2018/

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Ok, I'll take as a grain of salt... it will be insane to watch... maybe they are referring to ARM chips.... but Apple wants to be independent from Intel and seems that they want the competent but broke underdog.... maybe that's why key people are jumping off the ship.... maybe Apple wants really to "buy" AMD once at all!

Yeah, they can't buy directly, but they can "help" them in a way that AMD won't need to go to retail stores.


Ok Intel, give nVIDIA an x86 licence and be better to do right now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

My only question is, can AMD supply the volume needed by Apple? I know that they were supply-constrained during the period of time that the K8 was dominant in the market, and supposedly, that was one reason that they didn't gain as much market-share in x86 as they could have. I hope that wouldn't happen again, although any orders are good for AMD.

 

[PPB]

My only question is, can AMD supply the volume needed by Apple? I know that they were supply-constrained during the period of time that the K8 was dominant in the market, and supposedly, that was one reason that they didn't gain as much market-share in x86 as they could have. I hope that wouldn't happen again, although any orders are good for AMD.

Apple with a possible AMD SoC is in the same supply situation they are with their A9 chips. Only you need to replace Samsung with GloFo, and TSMC situation can be similar. Apple could conveniently open up some TSMC space so AMD makes chips for them. We know AMD will be using both nodes, so anything can be possible, volume-wise.

 

[csbin]

Source

http://www.bitsandchips.it/52-english-news/6183-apple-could-use-custom-x86-soc-made-by-amd

 

[Racan]

Probably as likely as this rumor tuned out to be

The transition from Broadwell to Skylake will be similar to the transition from Prescott to Conroe

http://www.bitsandchips.it/52-engli...lar-to-the-transition-from-prescott-to-conroe

 

[ShintaiDK]

Clickbait site using another clickbait as source. Priceless. (In ads revenue).

Even the wccftech guy doesn't take it serious.

 

[AtenRa]

A ZEN based + GCN 2.0 iGPU + HBM 2 SoC would be a perfect product for Apple Laptops/AiO.

 

[sandorski]

My only question is, can AMD supply the volume needed by Apple? I know that they were supply-constrained during the period of time that the K8 was dominant in the market, and supposedly, that was one reason that they didn't gain as much market-share in x86 as they could have. I hope that wouldn't happen again, although any orders are good for AMD.

That's an old issue when AMD made all their own chips. That is no longer the case, so it should be a non-issue.

 

[Arachnotronic]

A win of this size would quite literally turn AMD's fortunes around ($100/CPU * 20 million CPUs = $2 billion in incremental, annual revenue). Strange that they haven't disclosed it in a conference call. Probably because this is made up nonsense designed to either grab page views from desperate AMD stockholders/fans or it's designed to try to pump up AMD stock.

 

[Medu]

A win of this size would quite literally turn AMD's fortunes around ($100/CPU * 20 million CPUs = $2 billion in incremental, annual revenue). Strange that they haven't disclosed it in a conference call. Probably because this is made up nonsense designed to either grab page views from desperate AMD stockholders/fans or it's designed to try to pump up AMD stock.

Does Apple even sell 20m Macs annually?
If Apple were to use AMD it would likely test the water first with a single product - which would likely be just a way to get Intel to reduce their prices.

 

[frozentundra123456]

A win of this size would quite literally turn AMD's fortunes around ($100/CPU * 20 million CPUs = $2 billion in incremental, annual revenue). Strange that they haven't disclosed it in a conference call. Probably because this is made up nonsense designed to either grab page views from desperate AMD stockholders/fans or it's designed to try to pump up AMD stock.

Yea, I cant see Apple committing to a product for which the performance is not even known yet. And as the previous poster just said, it could be a bargaining tool to try to lower intel prices. But we keep getting these rumors. Wasnt it just a few weeks ago the hot gossip was that macs were going ARM?

 

[MisterLilBig]

Ok Intel, give nVIDIA an x86 licence and be better to do right now.

Intel does not need Nvidia.

My only question is, can AMD supply the volume needed by Apple?

Since Apple would be paying and be in charge of that, AMD's own personal situation with it's own chips is unrelated.

Yea, I cant see Apple committing to a product for which the performance is not even known yet.

"Performance", matters not. Apple is a Product and Software company, if Zen turns out to be half as good as expected, it would already be a superior choice for Apple and being Semi-Custom more so. And whatever loss in HW performance can be made up in SW performance.

 

[PPB]

Yea, I cant see Apple committing to a product for which the performance is not even known yet.

The big firms that would ever consider a x86 product as of today have probably seen the very first silicon and it's performance after it's tapeout. Dont confuse your knowledge as of the moment regarding Zen with what the big industry firms get to know when making multi-millon deals.

The sources from that article in that "clickbait" site are the same ones that predicted the very existence of zen/K12 3 days prior it's official announcement. Unless you are an INTERNET STRONGMAN, I wouldnt dismiss it so quickly.

 

[Thanatosis]

Apple teaming up with AMD could deliver an amazing product, although I doubt it will have the kind of CPU performance you see in current intel designs. I doubt its true, mainly because I've been repeatedly disappointed by AMD before, but it does make sense. Apple has been pushing intel to make a good igp for its iMacs and laptops for years, and they are probably starting to doubt intel has either the intention or the capability to provide such an igp.

AMD is a known quantity when it comes to semi-custom x86 with jaguar and PS4/Xbox One. Coupled with Apple's immense cash reserves they could theoretically produce a product much more suited to Apple's needs than intel. I just don't see them continuing with x86, so I don't see this happening. Apple has never been a company to get attached to a certain architecture or codebase, so I'm not gonna just jump in and start believing that Apple will save AMD and x86. It could happen though, I think.

The question to Apple is: Do we make a better product (ARM Macs) and possibly lose a large number of x86-attached customers? Or do we team up with the best graphics IP we can find and try to bring x86 performance more in line with what Apple does with its own custom cores?

 

[hasu]

This news is part of market manipulation. Rumors, positive or negative, are propaganda by investors looking for quick money. That has nothing to do with the love for technology.

I don't think any one will postpone their iMac purchase for a later date just because they can get AMD in it, neither will any one purchase iMac before that date just because they don't like AMD. So why publish such articles?

 

[Genx87]

A win of this size would quite literally turn AMD's fortunes around ($100/CPU * 20 million CPUs = $2 billion in incremental, annual revenue). Strange that they haven't disclosed it in a conference call. Probably because this is made up nonsense designed to either grab page views from desperate AMD stockholders/fans or it's designed to try to pump up AMD stock.

Because doubtful it is even true.

Anyways if it were true, knowing AMD the price per unit would be $20\CPU not 100.

 

[boozzer]

A ZEN based + GCN 2.0 iGPU + HBM 2 SoC would be a perfect product for Apple Laptops/AiO.

why only macs? I can use that in my laptop!

 

[Arachnotronic]

Because doubtful it is even true.

Anyways if it were true, knowing AMD the price per unit would be $20\CPU not 100.

For chip like the mythical Zen APU with HBM 2.0? That wouldn't be a $20 chip.

 

[tenks]

"Zen+" in 2017-2018? stop reading after that.

Lets see if 1st gen Zen can make it out in 2017 first, lol

 

[Fjodor2001]

It's quite obvious they have follow-ups to Zen on their roadmap. Anything else would be crazy, since tech keeps evolving so they cannot rely on the same chip forever.

Assuming Zen is 2016Q4, it's not unexpected that they have a Zen+ on their roadmap scheduled for 2017/2018. I'd be surprised more if they didn't have that.

 

[Fjodor2001]

According to a report from Bitsandchips.it this deal would allow Apple to secure a high performance x86 SOC design at a significantly lower cost than competing Intel solutions.

So Apple is getting tired of the Intel monopoly too it seems.

 

[Zstream]

If I was AMD, I would corner the market on custom socs like no tomorrow. However, as I know AMD and the management chain, they will fall flat and charge less than a standard out of the box chip. Let's hope I'm wrong.

 

[Phynaz]

A ZEN based + GCN 2.0 iGPU + HBM 2 SoC would be a perfect product for Apple Laptops/AiO.

And Apple branded space heaters.

See? I can pull stuff out of thin air too.

 

[Essence_of_War]

A ZEN based + GCN 2.0 iGPU + HBM 2 SoC would be a perfect product for Apple Laptops/AiO.

If you don't know the detailed performance characteristics of the parts in question, how on earth could you be sure it would be a perfect product for a particular purpose?

 

[tential]

This news is part of market manipulation. Rumors, positive or negative, are propaganda by investors looking for quick money. That has nothing to do with the love for technology.

I don't think any one will postpone their iMac purchase for a later date just because they can get AMD in it, neither will any one purchase iMac before that date just because they don't like AMD. So why publish such articles?

Lol very true though. Even companies are doing it to promote products or downplay other launches