Apple is reportedly working on a GPU code-named Lifuka, which would end up in an iMac in the second half of next year. The GPU would be made at 5nm, just like the upcoming Apple socs.
The China Times newspaper claims that Apple will equip its iMacs with a self-developed GPU. It was already known that Apple will use ARM-socs in its iMacs, but according to the new rumor, there will also be a GPU that is being developed especially for iMacs. It is not clear whether it is a separate graphics chip or a variant of the integrated GPU that is already on Apple socs.
By making a separate chip, Apple could offer different GPUs in iMacs, just like the company is now doing with AMD video cards. Buyers can choose different options. According to Chinese newspaper sources, the development of the GPU is going smoothly and is internally known under the code name Lifuka. Apple would have the GPU manufactured at 5nm by TSMC.
China Times also says Apple will release a 12 “MacBook this year with an A14X-soc. That laptop would weigh less than a kilogram and have a battery life of 15-20 hours. It would be Apple’s first Mac with ARM-soc. A14X-soc is a more powerful variant of the A14-soc expected in the next generation of iPhones, and Apple is also expected to use the A14X in future iPads.
Coverage about the 12 “MacBook deviates from what noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously predicted. He said Apple will release a MacBook Pro 13.3” with ARM-soc at the end of this year or early next year.
Apple announced in June that it would be moving away from the Intel x86 architecture and switching to proprietary ARM chips for all of its hardware. That transition will start at the end of this year and will take two years. Apple confirmed that a Mac with ARM chip will be released at the end of this year, without providing further details. Presumably that is the MacBook that the rumors talk about.