3 ms·

Apple does indeed have an architcture license, which grants them the rights to modify&ship ARM IP.

• rrss 6y ago
  Standard architecture licenses require the custom microarchitecture to comply with ARMs architectural specifications, but M1 apparently does not. An architecture license is not usually a free pass to modify the architecture and fragment ARM's ecosystem at will.
  • evgen 6y ago
    Apple is effectively a co-founder of ARM. I am absolutely certain they have a 'do whatever the hell you want with it, and have most-favoured on licensing' agreement in a drawer somewhere in Cupertino.
  • barkingcat 6y ago
    Apple was one of the codevelopers of the arm6 and at that time Acorn spun out ARM holdings to create the ARM of today - so while architectural licences might come with restrictions, Apple most very likely have even deeper rights into the ARM ecosystem, up and including - "if you don't let us make the M1, we will deep 6 the entire arm ecosystem and use our "cocreator" patents offensively" It's easy to forget that Apple is/was one of the original computer companies, and had a founding hand in two ISA/architectures: PowerPC and ARM. They also used the Motorola 68000 and x86 (32+64), but in those cases they were relying on the manufacturer for the chips and architectural direction.
    • gumby 6y ago
      > "if you don't let us make the M1, we will deep 6 the entire arm ecosystem and use our "cocreator" patents offensively" I think those patents would have expired by now.