Ask HN: Is Apple's R1 a Discrete GPU?

77 points

2 years ago

I think the R1 in Apple's Vision Pro is a discrete GPU, which would be significant since it would be the first time Apple has shipped a discrete GPU of their own design and could be an indicator that discrete GPUs in Macs are imminent. But I'm asking here because I haven't been able to find any knowledgeable coverage or speculation about what the R1 chip actually is.

The confirmed details of the R1 chip are scant:

- It does a lot of image processing and sensor data integration: "the brand-new R1 chip processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user's eyes, in real time. R1 streams new images to the displays within 12 milliseconds"[0]

- It has substantial memory bandwidth: "256GB/s memory bandwidth"[1]

- It uses special, high bandwidth memory: "To support R1’s high-speed processing, SK hynix has developed the custom 1-gigabit DRAM. The new DRAM is known to have increased the number of input and output pins by eightfold to minimize delays. Such chips are also called Low Latency Wide IO. According to experts, the new chip also appears to have been designed using a special packaging method – Fan-Out Wafer Level Packaging – to be attached to the R1 chipset as a single unit […]"[2]

- This is subjective, but: Apple shows it as being roughly the same size as the M2 processor in the Vision Pro marketing[3], indicating it's a peer to the M2. Now, that may mean nothing, but based on my experience with Apple kremlinology they are not arbitrary about stuff like that.

So I see all this and get major GPU vibes. But I'm just some guy on a the internet, so what do I know?

0: https://www.macrumors.com/2023/06/05/apple-reveals-vision-pro-headset/

1: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/specs/

2: https://9to5mac.com/2023/07/11/vision-pro-performance/

3: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/

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