Apple M4

Last updated
Apple M4
General information
LaunchedMay 15, 2024;13 days ago (2024-05-15)
Designed by Apple
Common manufacturer(s)
Architecture and classification
Applicationtablet (iPad Pro)
Technology node TSMC N3E
Physical specifications
Transistors
  • 28 billion
Cores
  • 9–10 (3–4 high-performance + 6 high-efficiency)
Memory (RAM)
  • LPDDR5 7500 MT/s (8 or 16 GB)
GPU(s) Apple-designed integrated graphics (10 core)
History
Predecessor(s) Apple M3

Apple M4 is an ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, including a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU), and a digital signal processor (DSP). It was introduced in May 2024 for the iPad Pro (M4), and is the fourth generation of the M series Apple Silicon architecture, succeeding the Apple M3. [1] [2] [3]

According to Apple, the M4 SoC's Neural Engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second, "which is 60x faster than Apple’s first Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic chip." The SoC is built upon a 3-nanometer process, and features 3 or 4 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores, and 10 graphics processing cores. [4]

The M4 is the world's fastest consumer SoC in single core performance according to the Geekbench benchmarking suite [5] , (beating Apple's M3 Max and Intel's Core i9 desktop CPUs), and rivals Apple's M3 Pro desktop CPU in multi-core performance. [6]

It is the first iPad SoC to support AV1 decode, and has a new display controller that Apple claims is necessary to support the iPad Pro (7th generation)'s Tandem OLED display. [4]

It is rumored the Apple M4 is Apple's first SoC which uses the ARMv9 architecture for its CPU cores, ARMv9.4 to be specific. [7] [8] It also could support Arm's SME2 extension, [9] which was announced in 2022 [10] and is a superset of SME and SVE2, [11] to accelerate matrix operations. This is likely the cause of the majority of the estimated 7.6% IPC uplift from M3 Max, which would only be 3.0% without the new matrix extensions. [12]

Apple M4 products

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple M1</span> Series of systems-on-a-chip designed by Apple Inc.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple M3</span> System on a Chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

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References

  1. ↑ Leswing, Kif (May 7, 2024). "Apple announces new iPad Pro with M4, new iPad Air tablets". CNBC. NBCUniversal. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  2. ↑ Warren, Tom (May 7, 2024). "Next-gen M4 chips start arriving in Apple devices this year". The Verge . Vox Media . Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Apple introduces M4 chip" (Press release). Cupertino, CA: Apple Inc. May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 "Apple unveils stunning new iPad Pro with the world's most advanced display, M4 chip, and Apple Pencil Pro" (Press release). Cupertino, CA: Apple Inc. May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  5. ↑ Norem, Josh (May 10, 2024). "The Apple M4 Is the New Geekbench Single-Core Performance Champion". ExtremeTech. Ziff Davis . Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  6. ↑ Mayo, Benjamin (May 11, 2024). "iPad Pro with M4 chip boasts impressive performance jump compared to just-released M3 MacBook Air". 9to5Mac . Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  7. ↑ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  8. ↑ Mann, Tobias. "You OK, Apple? Seriously, your silicon lineup is a mess". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  9. ↑ "Microbenchmarks | Hello SME documentation". scalable.uni-jena.de. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  10. ↑ "Arm A-Profile Architecture Developments 2022 - Architectures and Processors blog - Arm Community blogs - Arm Community". community.arm.com. 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  11. ↑ "Documentation – Arm Developer". developer.arm.com. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  12. ↑ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-05-21.


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