While you can upgrade or replace almost any part in a computer that runs Windows or Linux, whether the processor, the graphics card, and even the RAM, you will not be able to replace or even upgrade a small part such as RAM if the computer is a modern MacBook or iMac based on the M1 chip Or M2 and the reason for this is not due to a technical defect at all, but rather the development of the technology used in those devices! As Apple relied on its modern devices on a chip made by it, as did Google and its Tensor chip. In general, most companies are now turning to manufacture processing chips themselves for computers and devices that produce them, thanks to SoC technology.
You may have heard or read before about SOC - short for System On a Chip - but the question here is what is that technology? What is its relationship to the processor and other components? But how it evolved! Is it possible to use it on personal desktops? Many questions I would be glad to answer you below.
SoC | All in one!
You must have used file compression programs like 7Zip or WinRAR at least once to collect more than one file and put them into one compressed folder that is smaller in size and preserves all the information without compromising performance or accuracy. You can say that technology companies used the same principle but on the main components of the computer! Not only compression but also merging them into one integrated chip, the so-called SoC.
The CPU, GPU, RAM, and even the modem for receiving Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, along with some peripheral processors such as the artificial intelligence processor and other basic components are all placed in one small integrated chip. That is, the SoC is the same as the processor, but with the rest of the other basic parts.
This is in contrast to what is common in ordinary computers, where each part is independent and has its own place on the motherboard, such as the CPU socket, the PCIe port for the graphics card, the DIMM port for the RAM, and others, which need a lot of space and energy, not to mention an independent cooling system for each part approx.
You'll say OK, but what about performance? In fact, you will be surprised that the performance is very high for small size and much lower power consumption, especially with the new chipsets based on the same SoC that Apple has offered us in recent years, such as the M1 series, which we talked about in many articles, or the second generation of the M2, whose performance will amaze you in general Besides, SOC technology is what makes our phones smarter, thinner, and lighter and will make even computers more powerful, smaller and less expensive shortly. shortly, Of course, this development did not come from futility but rather dates back many years.
The digital world before an SoC or system on chip
Certainly, you will not be surprised by the huge size of computers at the beginning of their era, which was approximately the size of a room or two of the rooms of our current homes, and as we know, it has become smaller with time, especially after the invention of the integrated circuit or IC in the fifties of the last century, which contributed to the collection of thousands of microelectronic components Transistors, resistors, and capacitors link together to form integrated electronic circuits in a single piece of silicon, which led to the replacement of large components with relatively smaller ones until the early seventies of the last century when Intel unveiled the first single-chip CPU processor "Intel 4004". Which combines central processing elements into a single integrated circuit, which was a quantum leap in technology at the time.
Then, specifically in 1974, Texas Instruments released the first microcontroller, or "programmable silicon chip," which was a mini-computer! It is made up of microprocessors in addition to RAM with input and output devices integrated with the central processor within a single chip, instead of the old technology, which required the presence of an IC for each component, whether the processor, RAM, and even the control unit and others.
This invention helped in the emergence of small computers, digital game consoles, and other devices that require simple processing. However, the microcontroller was not used in computers, due to its limited capabilities compared to the central processor, discrete RAM, and even the graphics processor, which still provides adequate performance.
This remained the case even after the emergence of traditional phones where the processor, RAM,d other components were working separately on the same motherboard until smartphones appeared and changed everything! Instead of relying on microcontroller chips or even microprocessors, the SoC was invented, which adopts the same principle as microcontrollers, but with the development of the chip's carrying capacity to include other components. Therefore, smartphones became like pocket laptops, only thanks to this invention that combined all the basic components, especially the processor, within a single silicon chip the size of a coin.
The most important uses of the system on the slide
Certainly, the lesson behind this invention is to put as many components as possible that the computer needs to work within one piece, to achieve several goals such as reducing energy consumption, reducing manufacturing cost, improving performance, and reducing the actual size of the device as a whole. All of this greatly helps in designing ever more powerful smartphones, tablets,d laptops with greater battery life and a sleek, stylish look.
Therefore, a smartphone is not without system-on-chip technology provided by chips such as Snapdragon or even MediaTek, Samsung Xeno, and Huawei’s Kirin, not to mention the chips that Apple has used in its products over the past 14 years, starting with SoC chips based on ARM architecture and manufactured by companies Others, and then in 2010 Apple introduced its first SoC chip, A4, to work with iPhones and iPads.
SoC chips remained popular among tablets and smartphones, until 2020 when the Apple M1 chip appeared to be the first SoC that can be used in computers, whether desktop or laptop computers such as the MacBook and iMac. Regardless of the above, SoC technology is expected to invade our future world with all its applications.
Will we see SoC technology in more future computers?
Although the SoC is a great technology, its current uses are limited to smartphones, tablets, Apple devices, including iMac desktop computers, as well as mini PCs like Raspberry Pi, because it saves power, gives higher performance, and has a small size, however, we may not see it on computers Windows desktops that need qualitative cooling at the present time, except for that, the SoC technology will not give you the ability to upgrade components such as the processor, graphics card, and even RAM, but despite all of the above, we do not know what the future holds for us, and perhaps we will see Supercomputers using SoC or System on Chip shortly.
