The Journey of Apple's Hardware and Silicon Technologies

TLDRApple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, and senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, discuss the journey of building Apple's own silicon for their products. They highlight the close collaboration between hardware, silicon, and software teams at Apple and the benefits it brings in terms of optimized performance, power efficiency, and customer experience. They also address the importance of focusing on key differentiating aspects of their chips and leveraging external technologies when necessary.

Key insights

🔧Apple's hardware and silicon teams work closely together to build integrated products with optimized software for the best customer experience.

💡Apple's decision to build its own silicon was driven by the desire to have control over the hardware and deliver scalable architecture for future products.

🌍Apple aims to have a diversified supply chain for advanced chips, supporting manufacturing in different regions, like the U.S.

📈Apple's silicon capabilities enable continuous improvement and product innovation, allowing them to deliver industry-leading performance and power efficiency.

💪Apple's focus on key chip technologies, like storage controllers and DRAM, ensures the best performance and endurance for their products.

Q&A

What is the collaboration between Apple's hardware and silicon teams?

The hardware, silicon, and software teams at Apple work closely together as one team to build integrated products that are fully optimized for the best customer experience.

Why did Apple decide to build its own silicon?

Apple wanted to have control over the hardware and deliver scalable architecture for future products, enabling them to optimize performance, power efficiency, and features.

Does Apple have plans to control every part of the chip, including memory?

Apple's focus is on building the best products, and they prioritize controlling aspects of the chip that enable the product's vision. They may use external technologies when it aligns with their objectives.

Does the chip shortage affect Apple's chip production?

Apple has strategic partnerships with foundries and works closely with them ahead of time, which allows them to navigate issues like chip shortages and ensure reliable execution and delivery.

How does Apple ensure quality and performance in their chips?

Apple's silicon team focuses on key aspects that differentiate their chips and optimize performance. They design chips that are power-efficient, have high bandwidth, and enable superior customer experiences.

Timestamped Summary

00:13Introductions of Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies, and John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple.

02:00The collaboration between Apple's hardware and silicon teams and their focus on building integrated products with optimized software.

04:00The importance of Apple's decision to build their own silicon and control their own destiny in terms of hardware technology.

07:30The impact of the chip shortage and Apple's strategy to navigate such issues through partnerships and innovative solutions.

09:50The ramp-up of Apple's silicon efforts and the pride in delivering their first chip, the A4.

14:23Apple's approach to utilizing external technologies when it aligns with their product objectives and their focus on key aspects of chip design, like storage controllers and DRAM.