Apple Car Chit-Chats: C1 chip with breakthrough AI capabilities expected
With a few days in the new year, we have finally got some news on Apple’s highly anticipated car circulating in the field of technology. Based on a speculative report, the most awaited Apple car is likely to employ a new “C1” chip established on a modified variant of its most potent processor, i.e., A12 Bionic, and boast in-cabin capabilities such as eye-tracking. The company is working on this project for the past few years, and it seems like this project may soon become a real deal.
As per US-based magazine, EEtimes analyst’s report by Colin Barden, the C1 processor will be an automotive-grade chip. It is expected to be different compared to the processor employed in Apple’s mobile devices. The report deals with the methodology and the technology licensed behind Apple’s new processor, tentatively referred to as “C1” chip. The news comes as no surprise since Apple has been indulged in designing its custom smartphone SoCs for years now and has recently announced the M1 chip as part of its full transition to its custom arm based SoCs for its mac lineup expected to be completed in two years.
The report also suggests TSMC or Samsung can supply Apple with chip foundry for manufacturing “C1”. It is also rumored that the chip will be based on a 7nm automotive grade process node of TSMC having 6.9 billion transistors with an average power consumption of just 3.5W, giving it a significant competitive advantage over its biggest competitor TESLA FSD (full self-driving) chip which has only 6 billion transistors consuming average power of 36W. So achieving similar performance levels as its competitor while consuming a fraction of power will be quite a feat.
The analyst also elucidates that Apple would make some changes in the existing design of A12 bionic making it more specialized for workloads expected to happen in automotive applications, mostly for computer vision and machine learning applications. The most significant change is likely to come in NPU, for which Apple may license the Core architecture from Occula instead of using its own as in its original A12 bionic. This step will allow Apple to handle data from various car sensors faster while powering various AI-based features, which aren’t possible in the current design. Occula boasts expertise in computer vision algorithms with a considerable amount of driving data collected by it.
“I’m certain Apple would make some tweaks, changes and additions to keep us all guessing, but if the iCar is to enter production in 2024, then a slightly modified variant of the A12 looks like a great starting point for the C1. After all, why reinvent the wheel?”(EEtimes on 15th January 2021).
As per rumors, the Apple car is also likely to feature LiDAR technology, also featured in the latest iPhone pro and iPad pro, which could add a lot of depth to onboard AI functions.
However, this report is highly speculative. The A12 chip is based on a 3-year-old architecture, and its neural engine is quite outdated by even today’s standard. It can only perform 8 TOPS(trillion operations per second) than the TESLA FSD chip launched in 2018, which can perform 72 TOPS. This performance gap is quite significant and will even increase by the time Apple announces its new car, which is not expected till 2028, according to renowned and reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a research note, Kuo has also cited three main issues of the Apple car, which have no final specifications yet. He has raised his concern over uncertainty about the launch timing as its launch time may exceed 2028 or even further; Uncertainty about the supplier and vehicle specs; Uncertainty around Apple’s competitiveness in the EV and self-driving car market. This will make Apple lack behind in various features of its competitor like TESLA in self-driving and AI-based features, which depends on NPU. It would make no sense as they already have a way better design incorporated in Apple’s M1 chip announced last year.
Designing its chips gives the firm advantage of vertical integration since both hardware and software are designed by the firm. This strategy also leads to better profit margins for the firm, so Apple designing its chip for its car is highly probable if it ever actually breaks into the car market. Given Apple’s success in hardware and being the pioneer of industry-defining norms, it’s tough not to get excited about the rumors and speculations like this. However, it’s way too early to speculate the design and specifics of the chip that will be used inside Apple’s car for now since it is not expected to hit the market before the second half of the decade, which in itself is just mere speculation as Apple is yet to announce its plan to launch a car formally. Also, the automotive industry is a different ball game even for a company like Apple, and the project may even get scrapped and halted, provided it faces significant hurdles in manufacturing or doesn’t meet Apple’s high standard, which was precisely the reason Apple’s another product airpower never saw the light of the day. So take this report with just a pinch of salt.
Nevertheless, we should wait. Apple’s journey for this project has always been rocky. One can expect some unforeseen, distinct or unique solutions for this most awaited Apple car that might bring many changes in industry norms.
