My guess is that Apple buying ARM is a money-losing proposition. Actually licensing the ISA can't be terribly profitable for a company of Apple's size, and ARM

My guess is that Apple buying ARM is a money-losing proposition. Actually licensing the ISA can't be terribly profitable for a company of Apple's size, and ARM being fabless means there's not much competitive advantage to owning (rather than licensing) the ISA. Simply owning ARM might invite antitrust concerns that Apple really doesn't want to be dealing with, and risks souring their business relationships. Actually trying to exploit the ownership, beyond collecting royalties, would guarantee both. As, perhaps, would any future efforts to put proprietary ARM extensions into their Cortex line.