[Apple Shockwave]④ The One Phrase That Awakened the Semiconductor 'Monster' Apple

Jobs Emphasized SW·HW Integration at 2007 iPhone Launch
Hinted at In-House Semiconductor Design and Development
Cook Announced 'Apple Silicon' in 2000... Solved the Final Puzzle
"Silicon Is the Core of Hardware"
"World-Class Silicon Design Team Is a 'Game Changer'"

Editor's Note[Apple Shockwave] is a content series that explores the upheaval caused by Apple entering the semiconductor market. You might wonder why Apple is involved in semiconductors. Apple is no longer just a company that makes smartphones and computers. After long efforts starting from its founder Steve Jobs, Apple has designed world-class semiconductors used in mobile devices. If Intel was the key player in the PC era, Apple has become the top predator in the mobile era semiconductor ecosystem. Amid the global semiconductor supply chain crisis and massive investments in semiconductor production facilities, we will carefully examine the upheaval and prospects in the semiconductor market brought about by Apple Silicon to broaden our readers' insights. Apple Shockwave will visit readers every Saturday. After more than 40 installments, it will be published as a book.

"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware."

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, said this during the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007. It is the most fitting expression to describe Apple, which makes both its operating system (OS) and hardware. Jobs introduced this quote as something said 30 years earlier by Allan Kay. Kay was a computer scientist at Xerox PARC (the company that makes the copier you might be using now) who inspired Jobs to develop the Macintosh computer. After visiting PARC in 1979, Jobs decided to create the 'Macintosh,' which was completely different from the PCs he had made before. The graphical user interface (GUI) and mouse ideas he saw at PARC were a shock to him.

Kay was a software expert. He created Smalltalk, the precursor to object-oriented programming and the 'C++' language. Kay did not stop at software; he also introduced the prototype of a tablet PC called the 'Dynabook.' He emphasized the integration of hardware and software. Jobs brought Kay to Apple. Kay also connected Jobs with Pixar, a computer animation company. During the time Jobs was ousted from Apple, Pixar, which he invested in, achieved great success with the animation 'Toy Story.' By now, one can imagine the extent of Kay's influence on Jobs.

Although Jobs developed the Macintosh using a GUI, there was a missing piece. The CPU running the PC still bore the logo of companies other than Apple. Kay's vision could not be fully realized. In the 1980s, it was unimaginable for PC companies to produce semiconductors. That role belonged to Intel, Motorola, and IBM.

The late Steve Jobs, Apple founder, introduced a quote from software expert Alan Kay, who inspired him, during the 2007 iPhone keynote.

Near the end of Jobs' iPhone keynote, a quote from legendary ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky was projected on the screen. Jobs, who liked the quote, began, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."

Kay watched his quote appear on the screen and witnessed the debut of the iPhone. In a post on Quora, the American version of Naver Knowledge, Kay shared a conversation he had with Jobs at the time. Jobs handed him the iPhone and asked, "Isn't this worthy of criticism?" Kay's response was remarkable. Drawing a size roughly that of an iPad with his hands, he said, "Steve, if you make it this size (the iPhone), you will rule the world." Kay explained that he thought Apple had already made a product similar to the Dynabook/iPad when he saw the iPhone announcement. He judged that Jobs' decision to announce the iPhone first was merely a marketing strategy.

Why did Jobs summon Kay and Gretzky on the historic day of the iPhone announcement? Their statements strangely overlap. Let's look at the background of their remarks. Jobs introduced Kay's quote while explaining why Apple, which makes both hardware and software, needed to bring the Mac computer's operating system 'OS X' to the iPhone. When introducing Gretzky's quote, Jobs likely expressed his firm determination to create new history through the iPhone and to combine hardware and software to take a path competitors could not follow. In fact, it can be seen as Apple's intention to control all hardware and software it uses. At the time, it was difficult to grasp the full meaning of this statement. Thirteen years after Jobs summoned Kay, in 2020, Jobs' prophecy, which Kay had pointed the way to, became reality with the arrival of Apple-exclusive PC semiconductors. It was a decisive moment rewriting the history of the global semiconductor industry, which had been led by specialized semiconductor companies like Intel.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is declaring at the 2020 WWDC event that Apple Silicon will be introduced, and that they will use their own developed semiconductor instead of Intel CPUs.

June 26, 2020, was the day a PC company declared independence from semiconductor companies. Amid the unprecedented global fear of COVID-19, Apple unveiled its 'secret weapon.' It was a system-on-chip (SoC) to replace Intel's CPU used in Apple PCs. Although Jobs was no longer present, the legacy of Apple Silicon he left behind had grown like a mountain and was ready to be introduced to the world through Tim Cook's hands.

CEO Tim Cook stood alone on the stage facing an empty auditorium. The empty seats stood out unusually. Amid the silence of the audience, only Cook's voice echoed through the theater. COVID-19 disrupted a moment that would be remembered in semiconductor history. Under normal circumstances, Cook would have shouted "one more thing" amid thunderous applause filling the Steve Jobs Theater, but this time was different. Apple Silicon was introduced via video over the internet. Whether there was an audience or not was irrelevant. What was being announced was the key.

"Today is truly a historic moment in the history of Mac," Cook said while introducing Apple Silicon. He pointed to three historic moments in Mac PC history during the event: the transition from Motorola CPUs to the Apple-IBM-Motorola PowerPC, the introduction of Mac OS, and the transition from PowerPC to Intel CPUs. Cook asserted that the announcement of Apple Silicon was an even more important day than those moments. He emphasized that the most important innovation in Apple's history was semiconductors.

Cook said this about Apple Silicon: "At Apple, the integration of hardware and software is the foundation of everything. That is why our products are great. Silicon is the core of our hardware, and having a world-class silicon design team is a game changer."

In Cook's voice announcing Apple Silicon, traces of Jobs' words from 13 years ago can be seen. Cook used the phrase 'historic development' that Jobs mentioned in 2007. Johnny Srouji, head of Apple Silicon, explained that Apple Silicon, which started with the iPhone, played a decisive role in advancing the iPad and Apple Watch. He said, "Ultimately, when we bring SoC to the Mac, we can make much better products. This is the result of the close integration of silicon and software." This means Apple Silicon is the foundation for greater innovations to follow the Mac, iPod, and iPhone.

Five months later, Apple's first PC semiconductor, the 'M1,' was introduced. As Cook promised, the achievements of the Apple Silicon design team were astonishing. The M1, which integrated computing cores, graphics cores, and AI computing, broke the existing PC paradigm of using separate CPUs and graphics chips. Its performance and power consumption overwhelmed competitors. A situation unfolded that could instantly change the semiconductor industry's trend.

Apple anticipated change through semiconductors and had already put it into action. Apple's high-end monitor, the 'Studio Display,' contains the A13 chip used in the iPhone. It is expected that monitors using the M1 or M2 chips will be introduced in the future. This means Apple plans to showcase more powerful and innovative features by using the latest chips not in computers but in monitors. The monitor is just the beginning. It is hard to believe Apple's goal will end here. There is clearly a bigger goal.