Apple uses proprietary Apple Silicon chips in Macs, and Google recently launched the Pixel 6 series with an exclusive tensor chip. Chinese companies like Oppo and Xiaomi also want to have a strong presence in this market, but why are most technology companies now moving towards dedicated chip development, and what future does this approach shape for users?


The system on a chip, or SoC, is the beating heart of a phone or tablet that houses a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU). The brain CPU is a chip, and the GPU performs graphical and visual tasks. Traditionally, these components are separate from each other, but due to the small size of portable electronic devices, they are placed on one part.


These chips often include a separate neural processing unit for AI tasks and are used when machine-learning tasks are required. These tasks include voice recognition, snapshot analysis, and live translation.


In the past, companies such as Apple, Samsung and Google used to get these chips from other manufacturers, but over time they decided to develop and design these chips. Of course, Apple has used a proprietary chip in iPhones from the beginning, and has recently taken a similar approach to Macs.


Dedicated chip and software


Apple chips are very old, and the first iPhone arrived in 2007 with a proprietary Apple APL0098 chip. While most manufacturers of Android products rely on companies like Qualcomm for the chips they need, Apple still uses its own chip and uses the latest in the iPhone 13 series, the A15 Bionic.



But what is the reason for Apple's success in this direction, as well as the rush of Android companies to join the Cupertinos? The short answer to the question is: more manufacturer control over the parts on which the software runs. When designing a chip, the company considers the various parts of the software in the process and optimizes them.


This approach leads to better results not only in the world of electronics, but in all fields. The same is true of the software and hardware world. Apple itself has developed the operating system used in iPhones, so why not go for proprietary hardware to run it.


Apple's approach means that it can optimize hardware and software together to provide better performance to users, resulting in higher speeds, smoother performance, and even more energy efficiency.


In addition, such a strategy would allow Apple to provide much better software support for its products than Android manufacturers, and to release the latest version of iOS‌ for iPhones that are up to 5 years old. Such an approach would also allow Apple to theoretically outperform its Android competitors in some areas, such as RAM and battery capacity, but in practice, provide users with performance beyond that.



Several years after launching proprietary chips for iPhones, Apple decided to develop them for Macs and migrated to them from Intel processors; Immigration that has had extraordinary results. The Macs not only perform well, they also charge much better.


Dedicated chip benefits


In front of Apple is Google. The company that provides the Android operating system to countless manufacturers, but has now decided to follow in the footsteps of the Cupertinos. The first attempt of this internet search giant is called Tensor, which supplies 6 and 6 Pro pixel power. But instead of power, Google is focusing on another area: artificial intelligence processing. So Pixel 6 users get features that we do not see in competing phones.



Using a tensor instead of Qualcomm chips is not an easy approach as Google gets a lot of benefits out of it. If a company builds its own hardware and software, it is responsible for everything and does not need another manufacturer, although it may be better to say it does not depend on another manufacturer. The company can decide for itself and achieve the best performance.


Moving away from the technical issues, we come to another benefit of this approach: cost and revenue. If the company designs the chip itself, it can have more precise control over costs, and also have no worries about disclosing trade secrets when the software and hardware teams meet. Of course, we should also mention that not all chips are made completely independently, and for example, Google, with the help of Samsung, has developed a tensor.


Not bad to know the approach of Apple and Google is a little different. Apple will not share its operating system with any other manufacturer, and no other company will build a chip for iOS. But in Android we face a different world. Countless companies make Android products and there are several chip manufacturers for them in the world; From Qualcomm and Samsung to MediaTek.



Google does not want to stop the current trend in the Android world and wants companies to continue to innovate, but on the other hand, it has realized that in order to compete with the iPhone, it must change its course a bit. That's why it wants to have more and more precise control over hardware and software, and that's why it has moved to a dedicated chip.


If the reports are true, only Google phones will chip