Apple M1 & A14 Die Shots are Out!

When Apple released its M1 chip, a question arose: what is the difference between the A14 chip and M1 as they both share a lot of architectural features and are manufactured on TSMC’s 5 nm process. The answer lies in the recently published die photos and summary of the changes of both the chips by a Semiconductor analysis firm TechInsights.

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The M1 features eight CPU cores, out of which four are high-performance Firestorm cores, and four are energy-efficient IceStorm cores. On the other hand, the A14 only features six CPU cores, out of which two are high-performance Firestorm cores, and four are energy-efficient IceStorm cores. Moreover, M1 features twice the amount of GPU cores and DDR interfaces than A14. The M1 also features an Apple T2 security processor, and other controllers that are incorporated on the A14.

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These specification difference increase the M1’s die size by 37% in comparison to A14’s

Via Techinsights