Heart of the Machine report
Since Apple started the road of self-developed M-series processors, it seems to be getting farther and farther away from Intel.
Recently, it was discovered that Apple had removed the last bit of Intel chips from its PC lineup with the M2 version of the MacBook coming online. When hardware teardown site iFixIt researched a recent MacBook Air (with an M2 processor model), it found that previous generations of Intel's USB4 chips had been swapped out for another brand.
The component change, discovered in an iFixIt teardown report last week, may mark a historic end to Intel's partnership with Apple. In the zoomed-in detail of the motherboard, you can notice that the two chips are codenamed "U09PY3". Previous versions of the MacBook used Intel's JHL8040R Retimer chip to support USB4 and Thunderbolt.
We don't know which company made the new U09PY3 USB4 retimer chip, sources suggest it's a custom design, we can't get more information from the markings in the images. As a small part of the motherboard, Apple has also not said anything publicly about this change, nor is it expected in the future. It is common practice to change the supplier of such chips for supply chain or cost reasons. Another reason behind the switch could be dissatisfaction with the Intel JHL8040R retimer, but again we didn't hear any complaints about that.
A semiconductor blogger on Twitter said that the two current M2 MacBooks are completely devoid of Intel elements.
On the topic of keeping Intel out, it was also pointed out that laptops with AMD's latest Rembrandt (Ryzen 6000) series chips have eschewed all ties to Intel's USB4. Some of the retimers AMD decided to use were KB8001 "Matterhorn" from Swiss startup Kandou. The company claims its USB4 retimer chips are "deployed in products from five of the top six PC OEMs." In addition, its USB4 retimer is compatible with all SoC platforms.
The role of the Retimer chip is to use advanced signal conditioning techniques to improve signal integrity and then deliver it to greater distances at higher speeds.
We know that Intel has a deep connection with the USB4 standard based on Thunderbolt 3. Both are based on the Thunderbolt 3 underlying protocol, which is complementary and compatible with each other, and both are Type-c interfaces. So USB4 supports transfers up to 40 Gbps, DP Alt mode monitor connections (up to 5K resolution), compatibility with some Thunderbolt 3 devices, and power transfer up to 100W. Note the word "highest" here, which means that the nominal performance is not universal.
Interestingly, in the disassembly, people found that the new generation of MacBook Air not only has no cooling fan, but also no heat sink. Apple is full of confidence in the new generation of design.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-amd-removes-intel-silicon
https://www.ifixit.com/News/62674/m2-macbook-air-teardown-apple-forgot-the-heatsink
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