I am not sure what world you live in? Their entry-level chip (the M1) beats workstation-class AMD CPUs like the Ryzen 3700X in most benchmarks, while being passively cooled and using 15W for the whole SOC, while the 3700X uses at least 65W for the CPU alone and requires a large cooling block. All while being passively cooled.
In matrix multiplication workloads, that same entry-level CPU is roughly as fast as a 12 core Ryzen 5900X, while using only 7.5W (the 5900X pretty much goes up to 105W for the same workload).
And all that while delivering stellar battery life.
You can hate Apple for their politics, walled-garden approach, etc. But your comment completely mischaracterizes the engineering feat of M1 CPUs. They have gone from having no presence on laptops/desktops to setting the gold standard for performance per watt.
It is hard to compare a CPU that has existed for one year and two months to one that will only be released half 2022. This is the problem in a lot of discussions about the M1: people will say 'wait until AMD or Intel releases XYZ'. I can pick up an M1 machine at pretty much any electronics store. By the time XYZ is generally available, the M2 will already be in mass production (in this case 5nm AMD CPUs).
At any rate, this is all besides the point. Even when Apple was still on 7nm, their iPhone/iPad CPUs were already competitive with Intel parts at much better performance per watt (an also left Qualcomm et al. far behind). It has been clear for a few years already that your point that
to make a CPU that's just barely competitive with the rest of the market
I am not sure what world you live in? Their entry-level chip (the M1) beats workstation-class AMD CPUs like the Ryzen 3700X in most benchmarks, while being passively cooled and using 15W for the whole SOC, while the 3700X uses at least 65W for the CPU alone and requires a large cooling block. All while being passively cooled.
In matrix multiplication workloads, that same entry-level CPU is roughly as fast as a 12 core Ryzen 5900X, while using only 7.5W (the 5900X pretty much goes up to 105W for the same workload).
And all that while delivering stellar battery life.
You can hate Apple for their politics, walled-garden approach, etc. But your comment completely mischaracterizes the engineering feat of M1 CPUs. They have gone from having no presence on laptops/desktops to setting the gold standard for performance per watt.