The folks over at AllThingsD took a closer look at the landscape to analyze the benefits and challenges of Apple potentially making a switch from Intel’s processors to custom ARM-based chips for its Mac lines, an idea that surfaced in a report released yesterday. The analysis contrasts Intel’s focus on performance with ARM’s focus on power efficiency and notes that there is no inherent reason why Apple couldn't push ARM technology more toward the performance end of the spectrum to make the chips more suitable for both desktops and notebooks.
If a company decided it wanted to design an ARM chip that was, as [analyst Nathan] Brookwood put it, “hell-bent on performance,” it could be done. “You could get a pretty fast machine,” he says.
Trouble is, it would have to be not only be fast, but have a really excellent roadmap lasting well into the future that not only met but exceeded that of Intel. That’s a tall, tall order.
Trouble is, it would have to be not only be fast, but have a really excellent roadmap lasting well into the future that not only met but exceeded that of Intel. That’s a tall, tall order.
On another note, Intel has a long track record of being at the forefront of processor performance along with a strong history with Apple since the company’s Mac lines transitioned from the PowerPC chips seven years ago. Because of this, any decision to switch from Intel to ARM can’t be made lightly and Apple is clearly taking an extended time frame to examine the possibility. With Bob Mansfield now heading up the division of Apple dedicated new technologies in wireless and semiconductors, it seems that there may be a renewed focus on pushing the boundaries of the ARM platform even further then where they are at now.
Source: AllThingsD via MacRumors
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