In the micro processing world, when the enemy of my enemy becomes my friend, you get an Intel and AMD coalition to fend off any threats Arm development might present in the future.
Intel and AMD announced a new coalition called the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group, developed in part; to deal with the rising threat of Arm development and support they see the industry going towards. The announcement was a bit more eloquent in the purpose of the formation of this new x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group, but make no mistake, only a significant enough of threat could transform a fifty-year cold war into a simmering partnership between Intel and AMD.
While Apple commands a modest market share of the PC user base with its M-Series silicon powered computers, the success at which the company was able to completely ditch x86 processors in favor of Arm ones smashed a very large hole in the Intel and AMD boat of power-hungry system on chip development monopoly.
With Apple now proving that Arm can provide the same level of performance as x86 processors with fewer energy consumption caveats, it was only a matter of time before OEMs were faced with finding alternative solutions to Intel and AMD’s x86-based chips.
Establishing the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group will ensure that the x86 architecture continues evolving as the compute platform of choice for both developers and customers. We are excited to bring the industry together to provide direction on future architectural enhancements and extend the incredible success of x86 for decades to come.
Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger had similar praise of the newly formed group that included, “We proudly stand together with AMD and the founding members of this advisory group, as we ignite the future of compute, and we deeply appreciate the support of so many industry leaders.”
Beyond the flowery rhetoric from Intel and AMD, the Advisory group, which consists of members such as Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Google Cloud, Broadcom, Meta, and Linux, will be looking to basically strip away the complexities of the x86 architecture while offering developers “software consistency and interfaces ” across both Intel and AMD’s PCs.
- Enhancing customer choice and compatibility across hardware and software, while accelerating their ability to benefit from new, cutting-edge features.
- Simplifying architectural guidelines to enhance software consistency and interfaces across x86 product offerings from Intel and AMD.
- Enabling greater and more efficient integration of new capabilities into operating systems, frameworks and applications.
The advisory group will act as a feedback hub for partners and OEMs to help Intel and AMD come up with a “unified set of instructions and architectural interfaces” for the future development of x86.
Intel and AMD partnering on creating an advisory board to help develop a sleeker x86 architecture going forward is objectively a good thing. However, I have my reservations that this late into mainstream Arm usage facilitated by the rise of smartphones, that normal customer will fundamentally adjust perspectives about what x86 is used for versus the experiences Arm powers.
Thanks to the rise in smartphone adoption, a lot of developers have shifted their applications over to Arm while new apps have completely abandoned x86 altogether, which means that even if Intel and AMD succeed in making x86 leaner and future forward, they still must overcome the convenience valley between smartphone and desktop development.
How will AMD and Intel convenience developers to continue their work on an app that is only on devices people carry around with them half the time verses investing in an architecture that delivers to a device that’s always with people and can be presented on that secondary device for an additional fifty percent of the time?
