Moore’s Law, 1970-2100

These two graphs show the exponential growth in transistor counts from 1970 to 2100, on a logarithmic scale. The highest known transistor count for a commercially available microchip in a given year is shown in blue. Despite concerns of an imminent slowdown, Moore’s Law is alive and well today and the overall trend continues, though it remains to be seen whether it can be sustained in the longer term. There is speculation that if Moore’s Law continues for long enough, a technological ‘Singularity’ may emerge at some point later this century, radically changing society and the world in general. As of 2022, Apple’s M1 Ultra is the consumer CPU containing the most transistors, with 114 billion. This is 50 million times more than the Intel 4004, launched in 1971.

Sources:

Transistor count, Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count

Apple unveils M1 Ultra, the world’s most powerful chip for a personal computer, Apple:
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/03/apple-unveils-m1-ultra-the-worlds-most-powerful-chip-for-a-personal-computer/

Posted: 7th February 2019. Last updated: 22nd March 2022.