Intel's Haswell Architecture Analyzed: Building a New PC and a New Intel
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 5, 2012 2:45 AM ESTWhen I first started writing about x86 CPUs Intel was on the verge of entering the enterprise space with its processors. At the time, Xeon was a new brand, unproven in the market. But it highlighted a key change in Intel's strategy for dominance: leverage consumer microprocessor sales to help support your fabs while making huge margins on lower volume, enterprise parts. In other words, get your volume from the mainstream but make your money in the enterprise. Intel managed to double dip and make money on both ends, it just made substantially more in servers.
Today Intel's magic formula is being threatened. Within 8 years many expect all mainstream computing to move to smartphones, or whatever other ultra portable form factor computing device we're carrying around at that point. To put it in perspective, you'll be able to get something faster than an Ivy Bridge Ultrabook or MacBook Air, in something the size of your smartphone, in fewer than 8 years. The problem from Intel's perspective is that it has no foothold in the smartphone market. Although Medfield is finally shipping, the vast majority of smartphones sold feature ARM based SoCs. If all mainstream client computing moves to smartphones, and Intel doesn't take a dominant portion of the smartphone market, it will be left in the difficult position of having to support fabs that no longer run at the same capacity levels they once did. Without the volume it would become difficult to continue to support the fab business. And without the mainstream volume driving the fabs it would be difficult to continue to support the enterprise business. Intel wouldn't go away, but Wall Street wouldn't be happy. There's a good reason investors have been reaching out to any and everyone to try and get a handle on what is going to happen in the Intel v ARM race.
To make matters worse, there's trouble in paradise. When Apple dropped PowerPC for Intel's architectures back in 2005 I thought the move made tremendous sense. Intel needed a partner that was willing to push the envelope rather than remain content with the status quo. The results of that partnership have been tremendous for both parties. Apple moved aggressively into ultraportables with the MacBook Air, aided by Intel accelerating its small form factor chip packaging roadmap and delivering specially binned low leakage parts. On the flip side, Intel had a very important customer that pushed it to do much better in the graphics department. If you think the current crop of Intel processor graphics aren't enough, you should've seen what Intel originally planned to bring to market prior to receiving feedback from Apple and others. What once was the perfect relationship, is now on rocky ground.
The A6 SoC in Apple's iPhone 5 features the company's first internally designed CPU core. When one of your best customers is dabbling in building CPUs of its own, there's reason to worry. In fact, Apple already makes the bulk of its revenues from ARM based devices. In many ways Apple has been a leading indicator for where the rest of the PC industry is going (shipping SSDs by default, moving to ultra portables as mainstream computers, etc...). There's even more reason to worry if the post-Steve Apple/Intel relationship has fallen on tough times. While I don't share Charlie's view of Apple dropping Intel as being a done deal, I know there's truth behind his words. Intel's Ultrabook push, the close partnership with Acer and working closely with other, non-Apple OEMs is all very deliberate. Intel is always afraid of customers getting too powerful and with Apple, the words too powerful don't even begin to describe it.
What does all of this have to do with Haswell? As I mentioned earlier, Intel has an ARM problem and Apple plays a major role in that ARM problem. Atom was originally developed not to deal with ARM but to usher in a new type of ultra mobile device. That obviously didn't happen. UMPCs failed, netbooks were a temporary distraction (albeit profitable for Intel) and a new generation of smartphones and tablets became the new face of mobile computing. While Atom will continue to play in the ultra mobile space, Haswell marks the beginning of something new. Rather than send its second string player into battle, Intel is starting to prep its star for ultra mobile work.
Haswell is so much more than just another new microprocessor architecture from Intel. For years Intel has enjoyed a wonderful position in the market. With its long term viability threatened, Haswell is the first step of a long term solution to the ARM problem. While Atom was the first "fast-enough" x86 micro-architecture from Intel, Haswell takes a different approach to the problem. Rather than working from the bottom up, Haswell is Intel's attempt to take its best micro-architecture and drive power as low as possible.
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tim851 - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
This is a perfect demonstration of the power of competition.With AMD struggling badly, Intel was content in pushing Atom. They didn't want to innovate in that sector, they sold 10 year old technology with horribly outdated chipsets. Yes, they were relatively cheap, but I was appalled.
Step in ARM, suddenly becoming a viable competitor. Now Intel moves its fat ass and tries to actually build something worthwhile.
Sadly, free markets are an illusion. Intel should pay dearly for the Atom fiasco, but they won't. Just as they didn't pay for the Pentium 4 debacle. They will come 5 years late to the party, but with all their might, they will crush ARM. ARM will fall behind, they can't keep up with that viscious tick-tock-cycle. Who can?
In 8 years, ARM will have been bought by some company, perhaps Apple. ARM will then no longer be a competitor, it will be just a different architecture, like X86. I don't see Apple having any long-term interest in designing their own hardware, it's way too unsexy. They will just cross-licence ARM with Intel and in 10 years time, Intel will rule supremely again.
UpSpin - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
You forget that Intel vs. ARM is something bigger than AMD vs. Intel.Behind ARM stand Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple, ...
All new software is written for ARM, not Intel (x86) any longer. Microsoft releases a rewritten ARM Windows RT with a rewritten Office for ARM. Android runs on ARM and everyone supports the ARM version, while only Intel has to keep it compatible with x86.
Haswell will get released, when exactly? In a year, ARM A15 in maybe two months. Haswell has nice power savings, but it's still a Ultrabook design. The current Atom SoCs are much worse than current A9/Krait SoCs. Intel heavily optimized the software to make it look not that bad (excellent Sunspider results), but they are.
If Windows 8 is a success, Intel can be lucky. If it's not, what many expect, Intel has a real problem.
Intel is a single company building and developing their CPU/SoC. ARM SoCs get build and developed by a magnitude of companies.
If Apple can design their own ARM based SoC which has the same performance as a Haswell CPU (which is easy in the GPU area (the iPad has a faster GPU than the Intel CPUs most probably already, and with A15 and Apples A6 it's possible to get as fast with the CPU, too), they will be able to move Mac OS to ARM. This allows them to build a very very power efficient, lightweight, silent MacBook. They can port apps from iOS to MacOS and vice versa. Because they designed their SoC in-house, they don't have to fear competition the near term.
Apple always wants a monopoly, so it doesn't make sense for them to cross-license anything.
tuxRoller - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
Unless your app is doing some serious math you can get by with just using a cross platform key chain.Frankly, the hard part is targeting the different apis that are, currently, predominating on each arch. However, assuming those don't change , and the form factor doesn't either, your new app should just be a compile away.
Kidster3001 - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
Current ATOM SOC's are not "much worse" than A9/Krait. Most CPU benchmarks running in native code will favor the Intel SoC. It's the addition of Android/Dalvik that leans the favor back to ARM. Android has been on ARM for a lot longer and is more optimized for ARM code. Android needs to be tweaked more yet to run optimally on x86.Kidster3001 - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
" with A15 and Apples A6 it's possible to get as fast with the CPU, too"say what? A15 and A6 are a full order of magnitude slower than Haswell. omg
Dalamar6 - Sunday, May 12, 2013 - link
Nearly all of the software on Android is junk.Apple blocks everything at a whim and gives no control.
I don't know about Windows RT, but I suspect it will suffer the same manner of crap programs Android does if it's not already.
Even if people are more focused on developing for ARM, the ARM OSes are still way behind in program availability(especially quality). And it's downright sad seeing people charging money for simple, poorly coded programs that can't even compare to existing open source x86 software.
jacobdrj - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
I agree competition is good/great. However, how you categorize Atom is just not true! Atom filled a very real niche. Cheap mobile computing. Not powerful, but x86 and fast enough to do basic tasks. I loved my Atom netbook and used it until it bit the dust last week. Would I have liked more power? Sure, but not at the expense of (at the time) battery life. Besides, once I maxed it out by putting in a SSD and 2 GB RAM, my netbook often outpaced many peoples' newer more powerful Core based laptops for basic tasks like word processing and web browsing.Just because power users were unhappy does not mean Atom was a 'fiasco'. Those old chipsets allowed Atom netbooks to regularly sell, fully functional, for under $200, a price point that Tablets of similar capability are only just starting to hit almost 4 years later...
Don't bash Atom just because you don't fit into it's niche and don't blame Intel for HP trying to oversell Atom to the wrong customers...
Peanutsrevenge - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
If competition is 'good/great' what does that make cooperation?Imagine the possibility of Intel and AMD working together along with Qualcomm, Imagination etc.....
Zeitgeist Movement.
Kidster3001 - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
Intel is not going this way because "ARM stepped in". Intel is going this way because it decided to go play in ARMs playground.krumme - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
My Samsung 9 series x3c (ivy bridge), have a usage looking on this page with wifi at bt on ranging from 4.9W to 9.9W from lowest to higest screen brightness, with a normal usage of screen of 7.2W with good brightness (using samsung own measuring tool).So screen is by far the most important component on a modern machine. In the complete ecosystem i wonder if it matter how efficient Haswell is. The benefit of 10W tdp for say the same performance is nice, but does it really matter for the market effect. And the idle power is already plenty low.
I doubt Haswell will have an significant impact - as nice as it is. This is just to late and way to expensive for the mass market. Those days are over.
At the time it hits market dirt cheap TSMC 28nm A15 and bobcat successor hits the market for next to nothing, and will give 99% of the consumers the same benefits.