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Apple has an architectural license from ARM, which allows them to design their own cores based on the ARM instruction set. They used ARM cores in the beginning,
by jakobegger 11y ago
Apple has an architectural license from ARM, which allows them to design their own cores based on the ARM instruction set. They used ARM cores in the beginning, but they're designing their own cores now. (The GPU is still licensed)
- PeCaN 11y agoIt would be really interesting to see if Apple picks up, say, RISC-V or does their own ISA once their ARM license expires. (Does it expire?)
- ksec 11y agoUnless there are some major technical advantage in doing so, Apple is unlikely to move away from ARM. The ARM architecture license is far cheaper then the design license. ( Since you have to do more work to design it yourself rather then buying the blueprint ) And according to RealWorldTech, ARMv8 is simply a work of art.
- kristoffer 11y agoYou're wrong about the cost of the licenses. The architectural license is the most costly one. It comes with a risk to let others make implementations of your ISA ...