ARM SoCs (system on a chip) have become a hot topic in the computing world in the past few years. Apple branded ‘Apple Silicon’, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, Ampere’s Altra, and others have been disruptive in a world once dominated by x86/x64-based systems from Intel & AMD.

In Part 1 of a two-part series on ARM in postproduction, we explore some of the essentials of ARM systems, including:

• Basics of ARM vs x86/x64 processors
• RISK vs Non-RISK CPUs
• The flexibility & scalability of ARM
• The goal of a uniform product architecture and its advantage for a company like Apple
• GPU design/performance - the surprise of Apple’s ARM implementation
• The appeal and benefits of efficiency and low power consumption
• The benefits of unified memory
• Package scalability - faster/more cores, multiple SoCs
• Does clock speed matter with ARM SOCs?
• Additional benefits - onboard encode/decode abilities
• Are SoC GPUs ever going to be on par with discrete GPUs? Will discrete GPUs ever come to Apple ARM systems?

In part two, we’ll dive a bit deeper, exploring additional topics, including how cloud-based ARM computing could be a game changer for cost-effective, decentralized post workflows, what the future may hold for workstations from Apple and others, and much more.