Intel has a new CEO – Pat Gelsinger – who is set to take over the role fully in February. However, that did not stop him from commenting on the innovation Apple is making in the chip industry. Gelsinger called Apple, “a lifestyle company” and added that Intel has to do better than them.
“We have to deliver better products to the PC ecosystem than any possible thing that a lifestyle company in Cupertino makes”, Gelsinger reportedly said to Intel employees. “We have to be that good, in the future.” The informal announcement reportedly was made at an all-hands company wide meeting that was held on 14 January, 2021.
Heavy competition in the chip market
Past few years have not been positive for Intel as it has struggled to compete with the likes of AMD and ARM chip makers. The x86 chips maker AMD has been making much more powerful chips than Intel for a much lower cost. On the other hand, companies like Qulacomm and Apple have been making power efficient chips.
Intel has been delaying its 5nm and 7nm process chips for a while now. The company needs to sort its issues quickly to stay relevant in the industry in the long term. Apple has already released new Macs with ARM based chips and plans to move away from Intel completely within two years.
Apple unveiled its first Mac chip, the M1 in November which is very powerful while being extremely power efficient. The batch of Macs running on M1 chips have received tremendously positive reviews from both critics and users alike. The company released updated versions of MacBook Air, 13” base MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini which now run on the M1 chip.
The new M1 Macs promise immensely improved battery life, very less or no heat generation, and higher performance levels compared to the previous generation Intel equipped Macs.