The Inquirer (via iLounge) is reporting that AMD (formerly ATI) Graphics Products Group CTO Bob Drebin has updated his LinkedIn page to show he’s found a new home — at Apple.
This is another in an increasingly long line of chip-related acquisitions, licensing deals, and staffing additions Apple has made in the chipset arena in the last year, including buying PA Semi, licensing ARM and PowerVR, and hiring Mark Papermaster.
Even though leaked specs for the next gen iPhone suggest previous iPhone chip-maker Infineon is still on board for now, it’s fairly clear Apple is looking to make changes further out on the product road map.
Our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, is wondering what they think they know about chips that nobody else does, driving them to move this in house?
We’re guessing it combines Apple’s desire for control and hardware customization/differentiation. Why do you think, and more importantly, what do you think Apple is going to do with all this firepower under the iPhone (and iPod touch) hood?
Way back on Sept. 7 we linked to an item that conjectured Apple might be the secret licensee of PowerVR technology. Well, the conjecture is now confirmed according to MacRumors:
Apple is “subscribing for” 8,200,000 new shares of Imagination Technologies Group which means Apple will have an ownership interest of 3.6% in the company. The press release also reveals that Apple is a licensee of Imagination’s technology.
What does this mean for the iPhone? That Apple is likely Spinning Custom “PA Semi” ARM Chipset for Next Gen iPhone!
Apple Insider is reporting (via CNet) that Apple has hired away Mark Papermaster, IBM’s VP of Microprocessor Technology Development.
When Apple bought Palo Alto Semiconductor (PA Semi), and reportedly signed licensing agreements with ARM and PowerVR, we kinda sorta suspected Steve Jobs was getting serious about spinning his own custom systems-on-a-chip for the iPhone and the greater iPod platform.
Hey, if they can switch from Intel integrated to Nvidia chipsets to support their Core 2 Duos on the Macbook line, they can certainly role their own mobile brains, right?
IBM is suing on the grounds of a no-compete clause, which has historically been worthless in California (which is likely why IBM is suing in New York!)
TiPb, of course, doesn’t really care about no frivolous lawsuit. We just want to see what kind of “screaming” fast new iPhones we can has next year!
We love it when a plan comes together. What plan? How’bout Apple buying super low-power fabless chip design firm Palo Alto Semiconductor (PA Semi) back on April 23, which Steve Jobs later said would make “system-on-chips” for the iPhone and iPod? How about PowerVR graphics cores reaching a mega-licensing deal with an unnamed company? (Which might just rhyme with Snapple…) And how about now, a Mr. Wei-han Lien, formerly of PA Semi, updating his Linked[In] profile to read: “Senior Manager Chip CPU Architect at Apple”, and more specifically, “ARM CPU architecture team for iPhone”? (ARM having reportedly also reached a long term licensing deal with an unnamed company)
Put them all together, and what do we get? A scary hardcore look at what will drive the next (and/or next after next) iPhone v3. And according to Macrumors:
By developing its own ARM variant, Apple could create a processor that meets the specific needs of the iPhone and iPod, building support for functions such as the touch screen or scroll wheel into silicon and possibly savings on costs by reducing the number of processors needed in each device. In addition, Apple’ will be able to maintain tighter controls on who knows what about its future products by disposing of an outside chip supplier.
Wanna bet Steve calls them “screamers”? And Carmack claims PS2-class gaming?
