Doug S (foo.delete@this.bar.bar) on November 20, 2020 8:07 am wrote:
> Maynard Handley (name99.delete@this.name99.org) on November 19, 2020 8:22 pm wrote:
> > OK guys, M1 time is over. What's next?
> >
> > Something I just realized, and I think the timing works out beautifully:
> > TSMC started N5P testing/Risk production in 2Q2020.
> > Meaning that (and now that I think about it, it is so obvious!) the M1X will be on N5P!
> > THAT is what's determining its schedule.
> >
> > There is a precedent. Remember that the A10 came out in Sept
> > 2016, on 16nm. But the A10X came out in June 2017 on 10nm.
> >
> > This makes so much sense. It gives time Apple to improve some of the rushed bits of the M1, and gives
> > a free 5% speed boost (which isn't much, sure, but may mean that M1X clocks at, say 3.5GHz)
> > And gives Apple a second round of (totally justified!) "OMG,
> > Apple is king, everyone else is doomed" publicity,
> > say maybe in April or May, which should sustain them till the A15/iPhone next reveals in September.
> >
> > Well, six months or so to see if I'm right. tick tick tick
>

Everybody is reading MUCH more into this that I meant.
The analogy is M1:M1X is A10:A10X
Not redesigning any part of the CPU and SoC (except maybe fix a few errata that can be done easily and safely). JUST
- Physical Optimization
- Grow the parts that everyone expects to grow in an M1X (more cores, more GPU, more memory)
- pick up the wins expected from this (5% performance from N5P over N5, probably some slight performance from POPT, so maybe enough to get you to 3.5GHz, maybe 3.4 in the same power envelope, maybe 20% density boost from POPT and whatever slight density tweaks N5P gives you)

No IPC changes, no A15 core, which will come with the iPhones.