It's not market effects from x86, it's just process. We've entered a period where (1) Apple is able to command higher margins for its silicon and thus pay for "The Best" of whatever is available, even monopolizing the best processes and (2) "The Best" process isn't Intel, so it's available for purchase.
So Apple bought themselves a win, which makes perfect sense. And they had already chosen ARM for iOS (for historical reasons, really -- the original iPhone picked an off-the-shelf Samsung SOC), so that's what they dropped in the Mac.
But indeed, this is probably transitory. Eventually TSMC will either lose its lead or ramp its best processes to the point where other manufacturers can buy it. Already, as we see here, they're only mildly ahead of the rest of the pack.
I don't think it's fair to say that it's just process, Apple has invested very heavily in their core design and their perf/w + total perf is still unmatched by companies like AMD or Qualcomm on the same process node. It's certainly not a one-horse race but Apple is definitely has world class CPU design capabilities regardless of node.
The "same process node" isn't correct. Nothing from AMD is available in TSMC 5nm yet, and the Snapdragon 888 is on Samsung's clearly struggling 5nm node. Apple is alone at the top of the process ladder right now, and they're getting pretty much exactly the performance[1] benefit you'd expect from that. Certainly the M2 is not a bad SOC, and there's no reason it shouldn't be and remain competetive with everyone else's offerings as the industry evolves.
But I do think there's a certain amount of kool aid being drunk by the Mac community about these chips. They're great. But maybe not insanely so.
[1] It's absolutely true that Apple's whole-system power integration story remains at the top of the industry. But that was true even when they weren't on the best process.
> The "same process node" isn't correct. Nothing from AMD is available in TSMC 5nm yet, and the Snapdragon 888 is on Samsung's clearly struggling 5nm node.
Sorry you are totally right and my phrasing was poor, what I was trying to say is that Apple's TSMC 7nm chips (A13) are still very competitive with Qualcomm and AMDs offerings on the same node. They beat out AMD (5000 series) on perf/w while tying perf and beat Qualcomm (865+) on perf handily with (iirc) similar wattage. M1 and M2 are certainly benefitting from TSMC 5nm compared to everyone else currently and AMD in particular is a lot closer than I think many Apple fans give credit.
So Apple bought themselves a win, which makes perfect sense. And they had already chosen ARM for iOS (for historical reasons, really -- the original iPhone picked an off-the-shelf Samsung SOC), so that's what they dropped in the Mac.
But indeed, this is probably transitory. Eventually TSMC will either lose its lead or ramp its best processes to the point where other manufacturers can buy it. Already, as we see here, they're only mildly ahead of the rest of the pack.