Apple Silicon
Apple Silicon is Apple's in-house lineup of integrated circuits based primarily on the ARM architecture. It spans system-on-chip (SoC) and system-in-package (SiP) designs that combine CPU, GPU, memory (unified memory on the M series) and a dedicated Neural Engine that accelerates on-device machine-learning workloads.
Apple adopted the "Apple silicon" name at WWDC in June 2020 when it announced the Mac's transition to its own processors. The first Macs built around the Apple M1 were unveiled on November 10, 2020. Apple's first in-house SoC, however, was the Apple A4 from 2010 (first-generation iPad). Apple is a fabless designer and outsources fabrication to external foundries, primarily TSMC.
The family is organized into series: A (iPhone and some iPads), M (Mac computers, since M1) and specialized chips for other devices and wireless connectivity. For AI and robotics the Neural Engine is the key element — an integrated neural-network accelerator that runs ML model inference directly on the device.
Classification
AI System-on-Chip (SoC) · serves as: Compute, AI acceleration, AI Inference.
Which group Apple Silicon belongs to and how it is built
Integrated System-on-Chip combining CPU, GPU, NPU and memory controllers — used as the primary compute unit in personal computers, mobile devices and robots.
Component type encompassing System-on-Chip designs used as primary compute units in embedded devices, edge AI, and robotics applications.
Technical specification
Primarily fabricated by TSMC
Primarily fabricated by TSMC
