Yeah. When the article compares what Apple is doing to Intel, I think they mean “classic Intel processors of years ago” that didn’t frequency scale. Like the numbered Pentiums, IIRC. That did stand out to me a little bit.
You’re right that everyone has been doing this for quite a while, it’s certainly not an Apple invention.
The Electric Light Company often covers Mac stuff and Activity Monitor is the tool you use to view this stuff in OS X, so it’s just the domain this article is focusing on.