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Apple could buy a fab but doesn't, so vertical integration isn't a religion for them. Nobody said it was, but I like pointing out their restraint. Maybe when th

Apple could buy a fab but doesn't, so vertical integration isn't a religion for them. Nobody said it was, but I like pointing out their restraint. Maybe when the semiconductor that replaces silicon, say diamond, is close to viable, they'll splurge, not wait for it. They were worried they wouldn't be able to differentiate the iPhone, that's why they bothered with the A series chips. Forward thinking led them to see other phones improving beyond "good enough" or whatever. Maybe VR was on their horizon, too, or something else unknown. I like to imagine the satisfaction felt by whoever got the board of directors to approve going the direction of designing chips, not that they couldn't afford an R&D folly. Everybody likes to tell Apple how to spend its money, but almost everyone is wrong. Whoever championed ARM acquisitions must feel extra smart, since they were proved right. But will Apple ever make a super inexpensive notebook or PC powered by an A series chip? Probably not, because of stupid economics. They could, but they won't.

mmmBacon 8y ago
Apple owns a fab. https://appleinsider.com/articles/15/12/14/apple-buys-former-maxim-chip-fab-in-north-san-jose-neighboring-samsung-semiconductor- https://appleinsider.com/articles/15/12/14/apple-buys-former...
- beautifulfreak 8y ago
  For prototypes, low volume production. But they haven't bought a fab that can produce their A series chips, which I think shows restraint.
  - mmmBacon 8y ago
    Ok you said they didn’t buy a fab and you weren’t correct Building and operating a fab for 7nm is a massive undertaking. I find your comment incredibly naive. It cost 10s of billions of dollars to develop just the 7nm process alone. Global Foundries just cancelled all development of 7nm and beyond to focus on specialty processes and their 14nm process. Building an advanced node Fab would be an enormous undertaking and take many years before the first production wafer came out. Not to mention that there’s no guarantee that fab would be successful. On top of that fabs are all about volume, they are hugely expensive to operate. So it’s unlikely an Apple only fab would be economically competitive.
flyinglizard 8y ago
Apple will need to buy a fab every two-three years to keep up with manufacturing technologies.

mmmBacon 8y ago

Apple owns a fab. https://appleinsider.com/articles/15/12/14/apple-buys-former-maxim-chip-fab-in-north-san-jose-neighboring-samsung-semiconductor- https://appleinsider.com/articles/15/12/14/apple-buys-former...

beautifulfreak 8y ago
For prototypes, low volume production. But they haven't bought a fab that can produce their A series chips, which I think shows restraint.
- mmmBacon 8y ago
  Ok you said they didn’t buy a fab and you weren’t correct Building and operating a fab for 7nm is a massive undertaking. I find your comment incredibly naive. It cost 10s of billions of dollars to develop just the 7nm process alone. Global Foundries just cancelled all development of 7nm and beyond to focus on specialty processes and their 14nm process. Building an advanced node Fab would be an enormous undertaking and take many years before the first production wafer came out. Not to mention that there’s no guarantee that fab would be successful. On top of that fabs are all about volume, they are hugely expensive to operate. So it’s unlikely an Apple only fab would be economically competitive.

flyinglizard 8y ago

Apple will need to buy a fab every two-three years to keep up with manufacturing technologies.