AMD Acknowledges Apple’s Influence on Ryzen AI Max Chips, Emphasizing User Preference for Performance Over Integrated vs. Discrete Chips

Since the introduction of Apple Silicon in 2020, an era of increased competition has emerged in the tech industry, with AMD vying closely with Apple. In contrast, Intel has struggled, falling behind both Apple and AMD. AMD is closely mirroring Apple’s strategy by integrating CPU, GPU, and unified memory in a manner reminiscent of its M-series chipset. Although AMD has not explicitly acknowledged Apple’s influence, it did suggest that without Apple’s pioneering efforts, its own developments might not have come to fruition.

AMD’s Ryzen AI Max Chips: Performance Over Brand Loyalty

Recent reports detail AMD’s Ryzen AI Max chips, featuring up to 16 CPU cores and 50 GPU cores, along with an impressive 128GB of unified memory. AMD claims that its chip can outperform the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V in rendering 3D graphics by more than double. Despite this, AMD insists that its design concepts were in the works long before Apple’s innovations, as cited by their VP Joe Macri. This assertive stance highlights the subtle recognition of Apple’s influence without direct acknowledgment.

You might think AMD was taking a bit of inspiration from Apple Silicon, with its powerful CPU cores, graphics and unified memory. But according to VP Joe Macri, AMD was building towards this long before Apple. “We were building APUs [chips combining CPUs and Radeon graphics] while Apple was using discrete GPUs. They were using our discrete GPUs. So I don’t credit Apple with coming up with the idea.”

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Apple set a compelling precedent that has inspired AMD’s latest chip design. Macri acknowledges Apple’s role in showcasing that powerful computers do not necessarily require discrete graphics to appeal to consumers:

Macri gives Apple credit for proving that you don’t need discrete graphics to sell people on powerful computers. “Many people in the PC industry said, well, if you want graphics, it’s gotta be discrete graphics because otherwise people will think it’s bad graphics,” he said.

Apple’s transition to its proprietary silicon underscores the consumer preference for all-in-one solutions instead of a fragmented approach featuring separate CPU, GPU, and memory units. Ultimately, users care more about the overall performance of their machines than the individual components involved. This understanding may well have driven AMD to develop the new Ryzen AI Max architecture.

With the success of Apple Silicon, Macri was finally able to get approval to spend a “mind-boggling” amount of money developing the Ryzen AI Max. “I always knew, because we were building APUs, and I’d been pushing for this big APU forever, that I could build a system that was smaller, faster, and I could give much higher performance at the same power,” he said.

Additionally, when comparing its latest chip to Apple’s M4 and M4 Pro, AMD strategically omitted the M4 Max, likely due to its superior specifications. Since releasing the M1 chip in 2020, Apple has firmly established its custom silicon across its Mac lineup, leaving Intel in its wake. The new AMD Ryzen AI Max laptops are anticipated to launch in the first half of this year, and we will keep you informed on this developing story, so stay tuned for updates.

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