5 Apple Silicon Subsystems

James Calligeros edited this page 2022-10-19 23:01:02 +10:00

Table of Contents

• Generalised overviews
• Coprocessors and accelerators
• Platform control logic
• Platform initialisation and boot
• Application processors
• I/O
• Peripherals

These pages detail the specifics of a particular platform subsystem. They are loosely categorised by function.

Generalised overviews

• Introduction to Apple Silicon
• Accelerator Engines

Coprocessors and accelerators

• HW:AGX - Apple's PowerVR-derived tile-based deferred renderer
• HW:SEP - The Secure Enclave, Apple's crypto/biometrics/security engine

Platform control logic

• HW:AIC - Apple Interrupt Controller
• HW:WDT - Watchdog Timer
• HW:SMC - System Management Controller
• HW:ASC - Apple's Mailbox-like firmware interface

Platform initialisation and boot

• SW:Boot
• SW:MachO Boot Protocol
• HW:Memory map
• HW:SMP spin up
• FW:ADT (Apple Device Tree)
• SW:NVRAM

Application processors

• HW:ARM System Registers
• HW: SPRR and GXF
• HW:CPU debug registers
• HW:Apple Instructions

I/O

• HW:APCIe (Apple PCIe controller)
• HW:GPIO
• HW:Debug USB
• HW:USB PD
• SW:Storage

Peripherals

• HW:Camera - Broadcom camera and ISP

Feature Support:

• M1 Series Feature Support
• M2 Series Feature Support
• M3 Series Feature Support

Project related:

• Glossary
• FAQ
• "When will Asahi Linux be done?"
• Project:References
• Recent Changes

Platform documentation:

• Apple Silicon Subsystems
• Apple Platform Security Crash Course
• Devices
• Codenames
• Display Controllers

For users:

• Broken Software
• Alternative Distros

For developers:

• Yaks in need of shaving (HELP WANTED!)
• Tethered Boot Setup (For Developers)
• m1n1:User Guide Boot loader
• Hypervisor
• U-Boot
• Devicetree bindings
• Open OS ecosystem on Apple Silicon Macs

Wiki for the Asahi Linux project: https://asahilinux.org/