Here are the two dies at the same scale. The M1 is over twice as large physically as the ARM1. It has 16 billion transistors vs 25,000 for the ARM1. If you built the ARM1 using the same technology, it would be a pixel-sized speck. pic.twitter.com/NU0QzHnuSX
— Ken Shirriff (@kenshirriff) November 12, 2020
The ARM1 had an 84-pin package, 30mm wide. The M1 package is smaller at ~21mm wide, and has DRAM modules on it. Compare the yellow ceramic disc decoupling capacitors on the ARM1 board with the tiny 0402 capacitors surrounding the M1 die. (Photo shows packages at same scale.) pic.twitter.com/viusc7dQgh
— Ken Shirriff (@kenshirriff) November 12, 2020
Credits: M1 photo © Apple. ARM1 photo © ARM Ltd. ARM package photo CC BY-SA 3.0 Peter Howkins. Some M1 data from AnandTech (https://t.co/6trznbqzwy). I've written more about the ARM1 here: https://t.co/meLn3Yqt7I
— Ken Shirriff (@kenshirriff) November 12, 2020
To see the ARM1 in action with its 25,000 transistors blinking away, check out the simulator created by the Visual 6502 team: https://t.co/u3o2JIbamd
— Ken Shirriff (@kenshirriff) November 13, 2020
