Intel Outside: Apple & AMD Remove All Traces of Intel Hardware From Their M2 MacBook & Rembrandt Laptops

Apple & AMD have removed all signs of Intel silicon utilized in the M2 Mac & Ryzen Laptop lines. Website iFixit released a blog post where the group dissected a new M2 processor-based MacBook, revealing that Intel's USB4 retimers, seen in previous models, have been silently removed and replaced with retimers from another party.

Twitter user SkyJuice first noted of iFixit's dissection from last week. Intel Retimer chips that utilized USB4 and Thunderbolt support have been used in past MacBook models.

The USB4 Retimer chip codenamed U09PY3 is a custom design by Apple itself. Also, Apple has not officially divulged the details of the unknown chip, but it feels that the company will probably keep quiet for now. The speculation is that Apple replaced the chip to either lower the cost or due to the supply chain restraints. However, another reason is rumored to come from Apple's distaste for the Intel JHL8040R retimer chip.

The Twitter user continues to note that the newest AMD Rembrandt-based laptops also removed any use of the Intel USB4 retimer chip. The company has chosen to look at Swiss startup Kandou to utilize their KB8001 Matterhorn retimer chip. Kandou ensures that its USB4 retimer chips can be found "in products from five of the top six PC OEMs." Another noted feature of Kandou is that their chips are currently compatible with every SoC platform.

Built on the foundation of Thunderbolt 3, Intel has utilized the USB4 standard for quite some time. Intel USB4 supports transfer speeds of as high as 40 Gbps, a minimal amount of Thunderbolt 3 device compatibility (which we just mentioned), DisplayPort Alt mode monitor connectivity, and allows for as much as 100W of power delivery.

News Sources: SkyJuice on Twitter, Tom's Hardware, iFixit