SoC And/Or Chip-Packaging -- September 2025

AI / Google Gemini prompt: n my mind, SoC and/or chip-packaging is only now (2025) become mainstream, something focused on my mainstream tech media. When do you think SoC and/or chip-packaging became mainstream and which company was most responsible for this new focus in tech?

AI overview:  

Both Systems on a Chip (SoC) and advanced chip packaging have been developing for decades, but they became mainstream and a frequent topic in consumer media much more recently. The perception of them as a "new" focus in tech media in 2025 is largely driven by their impact on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the public battle between tech giants 

Timeline to mainstream awareness

While the underlying technologies date back to the invention of the integrated circuit in the 1950s, the public perception of SoCs and advanced packaging as critical tech innovations occurred much later. 

 

Early days (1980s–2000s): Foundational technology

• System-on-a-Chip (SoC): SoCs, which integrate multiple components like the CPU and GPU onto a single piece of silicon, have been around for a long time. Early SoCs drove miniaturization in embedded systems, networking, and eventually mobile devices.
• Chip packaging: The evolution of integrated circuit (IC) packaging progressed from Dual In-line Packages (DIP) in the 1970s to Ball Grid Arrays (BGA) and flip-chip technology by the 1990s. These developments were primarily discussed within the semiconductor industry, not in mainstream consumer tech media. 

2010s: The mobile revolution accelerates SoC development

• Apple A-series: Starting in 2010 with the iPad, Apple began designing its own A-series SoCs for its mobile devices. These chips were built for high performance and power efficiency, which became a key part of the iPhone and iPad's appeal.
• The rise of chiplets: As Moore's Law, the principle that the number of transistors on a chip doubles roughly every two years, became more difficult and expensive to sustain, chipmakers turned to modular chiplet design to extend performance gains. AMD released its first consumer products using chiplet architecture in 2019. 

 

2020s: Advanced packaging enters the mainstream

• Apple Silicon: Apple's 2020 announcement to transition its Mac lineup from Intel to its custom M-series "Apple Silicon" chips marked a major turning point. The M1 chip highlighted the benefits of a highly integrated System-in-Package (SiP) design, with its unified memory architecture leading to impressive performance and efficiency gains.
• The AI and packaging arms race: The explosion of generative AI has created unprecedented demand for powerful, complex processing units. To achieve the necessary computing density and performance, companies like NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel have invested heavily in advanced packaging. The AI boom is largely responsible for advanced packaging making regular headlines.
• The CHIPS Act: Passed in 2022, this US legislation brought national attention and billions of dollars in funding to domestic semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging capabilities, cementing their place in the public conversation. 

 

 

Company most responsible for new focus

While multiple companies played a role in the technical innovation, Apple and AMD can be credited with making SoCs and advanced packaging a topic of mainstream tech discussion

 

Apple

Apple's transition to its own silicon starting in 2020 put a spotlight on the power and efficiency benefits of an integrated System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design. For mainstream consumers, the M1 and subsequent M-series chips provided a clear, real-world demonstration of what was possible with custom chip design. The media focused heavily on the performance leap of the new Macs, attributing it to Apple's design strategy

 

AMD

In the PC space, AMD was instrumental in driving the "chiplet" concept into the public conversation. Starting in 2019, AMD's Ryzen and EPYC processors used a modular chiplet architecture that allowed the company to offer highly competitive products against Intel. This led to frequent mainstream tech reporting comparing the architectural philosophies of the two chip giants.

 

Why 2025 feels like the tipping point

Your perception that this is a mainstream focus "only now (2025)" is understandable because of several converging trends:

• The AI demand curve: The current AI boom is pushing the limits of chip design and has made advanced packaging and multi-chip solutions essential for power and performance.
• The impact of Apple Silicon: The market-wide ripple effect of Apple's success with its M-series chips continues to drive interest and investment in advanced chip design.
• Public awareness of manufacturing: The geopolitical focus on semiconductor supply chains, highlighted by the pandemic and the CHIPS Act, has educated the public and the media on the importance of the technical details of chipmaking and packaging.