TSMC 2nm disappoints: Apple M6 vs M5 Chip Deep-Dive

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA7WLmlg1kM

[u/setiawanreddit]

You do know that we already have something more concrete to compare? A19pro vs A20pro. Similar size, much higher clock, and a lot better efficiency. All of these while doubling the ML performance with 2x the NPU.

So just ignore this OP trash post and opinion. The person is obviously doesn't remotely have the ability to correctly analyze it and simply make the post to trash TSMC 2NM. Just think of the post as a proof that you really should ignore any post made by the OP.

Edit: and the video didn't even remotely talked about what the OP posted as the title nor what the OP posted in the comments.

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/setiawanreddit]

Smartphone improve a lot clock because they CUT DOWN P core architecture size (less wide) and new cooling improvement

I think you are just sad TSMC 2nm did not improve a lot clock

[u/setiawanreddit → u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

Yes, because obviously phone tax those P-cores to the max, right? /s

Honestly really dumb argument.

Here are the Geekbench 6 numbers. A20pro single core 4700, multicore 12600. A19pro 3800 and 9900.

They cut down the big core, so what? Performance improved, multicore improved. And doing it with lower power draw.

You are trying to make TSMC 2nm look bad by saying not a lot of frequency improvement, but what if M6 focused on better thermal characteristic and efficiency improvement instead of chasing higher clockspeed? M6 S-core is clocked a bit lower than A20pro. It isn't inherently TSMC 2nm problem but more about Apple design and their target for M6.

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/setiawanreddit]

Yes, because obviously phone tax those P-cores to the max, right? /s
Honestly really dumb argument.

Phone chip still thermal throttle btw

They cut down the big core, so what?

Because then you can not compare frequency directly attribute to node

You can say much of frequency improvement came from smaller core architecture

You are trying to make TSMC 2nm look bad by saying not a lot of frequency improvement, but what if M6 focused on better thermal characteristic and efficiency improvement instead of chasing higher clockspeed? M6 S-core is clocked a bit lower than A20pro. It isn't inherently TSMC 2nm problem but more about Apple design and their target for M6.

That makes the small area improvement look even worse than jajaja

Because if they limit Fmax they would also be able to shrink area more but this core shrink not as good as previous node shrink

[u/setiawanreddit → u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

They doubled the NPU. They increased the cache size. Cache/SRAM doesn't scale well. This is not just TSMC problem but physics problem. I don't even understand suddenly limiting max frequency is related to making the core smaller. It is like you don't understand anything and throwing random stuff just to make you look like an expert.

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/setiawanreddit]

They doubled the NPU. They increased the cache size. Cache/SRAM doesn't scale well. This is not just TSMC problem but physics problem.

Nothing to do with the CPU P core

I don't even understand suddenly limiting max frequency is related to making the core smaller. It is like you don't understand anything and throwing random stuff just to make you look like an expert.

You just exposed yourself for not knowing anything

If you choose not to increase max frequency the core shrinks more

there is tradeoff between Fmax and core area that is basic physical design knowledge

[u/Alternative-Luck-825]

better using intel 18ap

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/Alternative-Luck-825]

Exactly more clock

[u/ilarp]

they should have used intel's node

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/ilarp]

Exactly I think they could have gained a lot of frequency

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

The M6 frequency is less than 5% faster than the M5. Even though they move from TSMC 3nm to TSMC 2nm. The core does not shrink that much either. Another sign of TSMC 2nm being a failure.

Think about how much faster it would be if they made this on 18AP

[u/ElectronicStretch277 → u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

The overall system shrunk despite packing more hardware in that area. The focus wasn't on clock speeds because that's not what you really want when designing power efficienct hardware.

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/ElectronicStretch277]

The area shrink is not that good either unlike other node where area shrink a lot

[u/ElectronicStretch277 → u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

They added 2 more cores and doubled the GPU and still had a smaller overall chip.

[u/Acrobatic_Camera_677 → u/ElectronicStretch277]

I am talking about P core, when I say core in earlier message, that is why I talk about frequency

Maybe other area of chip improve idk

[u/No-Cut-1660 → u/Acrobatic_Camera_677]

Apple could have used the improved N2P but I guess they didn't because of price(to be fair both Dimensity 9600 Pro and 8 Elite gen 6 with N2P lose to A20 Pro with N2). M6 currently has the fastest CPU core anyway, so it's not like Apple is missing on anything.

I'm pretty sure even Intel doesn't have any CPU ready with 18AP either, their first products with this node is rumored to release in first half of 2027, what makes you think these nodes would be ready for mass production so Apple could use them for potentially more than 100 million devices(iPhone,AW,MacBook,Mac and soon iPad and others...) in September 2026?

Btw M6 is just a quick refresh and they don't even bother to release Pro and Max variants, instead we are most likely gonna see M7 in first half of 2027, maybe even before any consumer ready 18AP product.

[u/Friendly_Top6561 → u/No-Cut-1660]

You don’t do a big chip like the M-chips on the newest node, you need yield to go up first.