>It seems that CPU design for phones and for data centres are quite different problems
Still limited by the same TDP. Just as data point and prospective Apple spend more TDP budget on its mobile CPU core than any current ARM Server CPU core.
> Just as data point and prospective Apple spend more TDP budget on its mobile CPU core than any current ARM Server CPU core.
Are you talking TDP per core? Because there are many ARM server processors with much higher total TDP than Apple's A/M series processors. Even per core, I find it hard to believe that's true for even most ARM server chips, let alone all, given the total TDP of an M1 (10-15W, 4/4 big.LITTLE cores) or an A14 (6W, 2/4 big.LITTLE cores) chip.
Per Core, The Max TDP per core of M1 pushes to 5W. All current ARM server based on N1 has a per core maximum of 3W max. You have specialised core like those on Fujitsu A64FX but they dont push to 5W either with when running with SVE.
i.e What ever core Google decide to work on tensor could easily be used on Server as well. Whether they are the best for it would be a different question though.
> All current ARM server based on N1 has a per core maximum of 3W max.
The N1 based Altra Q80-33 and the Q64-33 both have a per core max over 3W, with the Q64-33 approaching 3.5W/core. Still way under your figure for M1 of course.
Still limited by the same TDP. Just as data point and prospective Apple spend more TDP budget on its mobile CPU core than any current ARM Server CPU core.