They are all chips, so why can’t computer CPUs be used in mobile phones?

This question is actually very simple. As long as we understand the difference between computer CPU and mobile phone CPU, the problem will naturally be solved.

CPU

01 Complex instruction set and simple instruction set

The biggest difference between mobile phone CPUs and computer CPUs is the difference in instruction set architecture. The CPUs in the mainstream PC market come from Intel and AMD, both of which use the X86 instruction set architecture, while mobile phone CPUs use the ARM architecture. Whether it is Huawei HiSilicon or Qualcomm Snapdragon, they are all based on the ARM instruction set architecture.

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The X86 instruction set architecture belongs to a complex instruction set system also known as the CISC instruction set, while the ARM architecture belongs to a reduced instruction set system also known as the RISC instruction set. This is the fundamental difference between mobile phone CPUs and computer CPUs.

Different architectures mean different focuses. Computer CPUs based on the X86 architecture focus on high frequency and high performance, while mobile CPUs focus on low frequency and low power consumption, relying on the ARM architecture. Therefore, it is precisely because of the different architectures that the CPUs in these two fields have different characteristics, and it is these characteristics that prevent the CPU processors in the two fields from interfering with each other.

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02 Differences in power consumption and power supply

Computer CPUs based on the X86 architecture have powerful performance due to their high main frequency, but they cannot achieve the ultra-low power consumption of mobile phone CPUs. The original intention of mobile phones is to be convenient and portable, and computers cannot solve the power supply and battery life issues.

At the same time, computer CPUs are too large to fit in mobile phones. Even if they can be put in, you cannot solve the heat dissipation problem unless you continue to expand the size of the phone. But that would go against the original intention of making the phone portable and turn it into a meaningless, low-performance tablet computer.

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The performance of mobile phone processors is far inferior to that of computer CPUs. Their advantage is that they can easily meet the problems of heat dissipation, power supply and battery life. Moreover, the ecosystems between computer processors and mobile phone processors are completely different, and they are not compatible with each other's hardware and applications.

This also proves the importance of architecture for a chip. The ARM architecture cannot surpass the computer X86 structure in performance, and the X86 architecture of computer CPU cannot enter the low-power mobile processor market.

03Differences in Ecosystems

The semiconductor industry is a big spender. Whether it is mobile phone CPU chips or computer CPU chips, the annual investment is hundreds of billions. Intel had the opportunity to get involved in the field of mobile phone processors, but unfortunately it did not pay attention to the mobile phone market at the beginning. The Atom series processors did not continue the success of X86 on PCs, allowing ARM to rise successfully. Now ARM has steadily killed the mobile market, and a huge ecosystem has been built. In addition, mobile phones are a highly integrated product. Other manufacturers are probably powerless to spend money to build an ecosystem. Different ecosystems are not compatible, just like you can't open APP applications directly in the Windows system, but can only use software such as emulators. Therefore, even if there are products with performance comparable to ARM on the market, it will be difficult to make waves in a short time, because without the corresponding underlying software and hardware ecosystem support, it is destined to be just a small fight, because the games you want to play cannot be played, and the applications cannot be opened are the most realistic problems.

Of course, the computer X86 ecosystem is similar to ARM. AMD and Intel dominate the consumer market with Windows systems, and they have taken the absolute mainstream. If other products want to get involved, they can only grab the small market share of Linux systems, which are more used in the commercial field. This is one of the reasons why the development of domestic chips is very slow. The construction of the ecosystem is very difficult and cannot be completed overnight. For example, the independent ecosystem of Apple IOS was not achieved overnight, but was completed through continuous accumulation over the years.