Apple designs its own chip (2010)
Apple put its first in-house processor, the A4, in the iPhone 4. Instead of buying a generic chip, Apple designed silicon tuned to its own software.
Apple gained tighter control over performance and battery life, and a head start rivals struggled to match.
Custom silicon became Apple's biggest hardware advantage and a model other phone makers copied.
Google started the Tensor line in 2021 to gain the same control, and the 2nm G6 is that bet maturing.
