New information based on the M4 die shot examination reveals that Apple’s latest SoC has four Thunderbolt controllers
The new 11-inch and 13-inch M4 iPad Pro models feature Apple’s latest M4, which is mass produced on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, which itself is a pretty big deal when discussing advanced manufacturing nodes. However, there are some subtle changes that the company has introduced to its latest Apple Silicon, which helps to increase total data bandwidth and allows for more possibilities. That includes four Thunderbolt controllers, making it twice as much as what the M3 sports.Having additional Thunderbolt controllers on the M4 allows for hooking up more high-resolution monitors and other peripherals that require insane bandwidth levels
A valuable find from @midnight_john1 on X shows a die shot comparison of the M3 and M4. In the first image, which shows the M3’s graphic, there is a single block, showing two Thunderbolt controllers, whereas in the next image, there are twice as many blocks, resulting in four controllers.
