Apple’s M4 Has Reportedly Adopted The ARMv9 Architecture, Allowing It To Run Complex Workloads More Efficiently, Resulting In Higher Single & Multi-Core Gains

The Kirin 9010 succeeded the Kirin 9000S when Huawei officially unveiled the Pura 70 series earlier this year, but the company was also working on another version of its latest chipset without keeping anyone in the loop. Called the Kirin 9010L, the existence of this silicon was found thanks to a thorough investigation of the newly announced Nova 12 Ultra Star Edition, which differs from the regular version. Here, we look at what sets apart the Kirin 9010 and the Kirin 9010L.

A new Exynos chipset is said to enter mass production in the second half of 2024, as Samsung is expected to aggressively increase the adoption of its in-house silicon for the forthcoming Galaxy S25 series. The company has been stated on numerous occasions to employ its Gate-All-Around technology to its mobile chipsets, potentially giving it an edge against TSMC, which already has its second-generation 3nm process up and running, with the M4 being the first to utilize this node.

TSMC and Apple have formed a tightly-knit partnership and have worked closely to secure deals that give the iPhone maker an edge over the competition. Recently, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams reportedly visited Taiwan to extend the company’s lead against its rivals in the semiconductor race by securing the first batch of TSMC’s 2nm wafers. Assuming both parties come to an agreement, and chances are that they will, it could potentially add billions to TSMC’s revenue this year alone.

China’s largest semiconductor manufacturing firm, SMIC, has reportedly achieved a new milestone and too, without the use of advanced EUV machinery that gives companies like Samsung and TSMC an edge in the cutting-edge chipmaking space. The latest information claims that using DUV equipment, the 5nm process has been completed, and SMIC is ready to mass produce the first batch of wafers. Huawei was previously said to be working closely with its local foundry partner to introduce a new Kirin SoC that will be found in the upcoming Mate 70 series for October later this year.

The M4 running in Apple’s latest 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models is available in a 9-core and 10-core CPU option. We did report about the top-end version’s performance, and we were thoroughly impressed as it ran circles around the M2 and M3 and maintained a solid lead against the M3 Pro and Snapdragon X Elite. However, how well does the base variant perform, which has one performance core less than the top-tier version? In the latest benchmark, we find that there is little difference between them, but there will always be consumers who want the latest and greatest.

The latest 11-inch and 13-inch M4 iPad Pro models measure 5.3mm and 5.1mm, respectively, making them the thinnest Apple products ever. The company likely attained this by switching over to Tandem OLED technology, which does not need its own backlighting and has individual pixels, allowing Apple to reduce the overall thickness. However, while there is no question that the latest iPad Pro models are design marvels, their extra sleekness can result in another ‘bendgate’ controversy, but a company executive has assured potential buyers that they have little to worry about.

The latest 11-inch and 13-inch M4 iPad Pro models are equipped with Tandem OLED technology, making them the first consumer products to be equipped with such panels. The obvious benefits include higher brightness and richer colors, and perhaps the biggest perk of using an OLED apart from the battery life improvements is the longer lifespan of the displays. However, users may not appreciate that the addition of Tandem OLED actually results in worse battery life compared to the M1 version with mini-LED, at least according to the latest tests.

Google is expected to unveil the Tensor G4 later this year for the Pixel 9 lineup, and just like its previous releases, the company is likely sticking with Samsung as its foundry partner. However, next year, the advertising giant is said to take a different direction, with its Pixel 10 range apparently featuring a 3nm SoC from TSMC. To help with the transition, Google is rumored to have expanded its Taiwanese R&D center, where it is expected to collaborate closely with the semiconductor giant to produce its best silicon to date.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite will eventually face competition in the ARM-based AI chipset space from MediaTek and NVIDIA, who have reportedly joined forces to co-develop a new SoC whose design is said to be finalized in the third quarter of this year. The upcoming silicon is said to support advanced technologies, including being mass produced on TSMC’s 3nm process, with the new entrant possibly competing with Apple’s M4 when comparing lithography.

The Galaxy S24 family shipped with Samsung’s ‘Galaxy AI,’ which is the company’s first AI-powered feature set that elevates the smartphone experience. So far, this addition has proven to be successful, as Samsung recently regained the top spot by beating Apple and becoming the largest smartphone vendor in Q1 2024. We expect to see more of these features added to the Galaxy S25 range next year, but ‘Battery AI’ is something that the company is rumored to introduce before it officially announces its 2025 flagship family.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 design was previously said to be finalized in April this year, with a target frequency of 4.00GHz and above. However, looking at Apple’s M4 and its high clock speeds that help the chipset attain a record-breaking single-core score, Qualcomm is rumored to introduce a chipset redesign with a new target frequency of 4.26GHz. This change is said to be made to take on Apple’s upcoming A18 and A18 Pro, which may also operate at higher frequencies to gain an edge against the competition.

The ‘less than stellar’ demand for the Apple Vision Pro has caused shipment estimates to drop to 400,000 to 450,000 units for 2024, a massive drop compared to the previous 800,000 estimates. Consumers are discouraged from making the AR headset their daily driver thanks to its ludicrous starting price of $3,499, and even though Apple intends to launch the device overseas, its ‘expensive’ problem is yet to be addressed. Fortunately, the company might overcome this hurdle with the Apple Vision Pro 2, with a rumor claiming that the successor will have a starting price of $1,500 and will add two new suppliers, Samsung and SeeYa, to the list.