AppleInsider Staff
In a somewhat shocking turn of events, Intel, creators of the 8086 CPU and resulting x86 microchip architecture, will begin fabricating ARM processors for another company starting next year.
Intel partner Altera announced at the ARM developers conference on Tuesday that the chip making giant will start fabrication of its 64-bit ARM chips in 2014, reports Reuters.
The news came as a surprise to many, given Intel's uphill battle to relinquish ARM's stranglehold on the mobile marketplace. Intel's Atom chipsets go head-to-head against ARM-based chips like Qualcomm's Snapdragon and Nvidia's Tegra products.
With Tuesday's announcement, some speculate that Apple may by interested in switching a portion of its A-series orders to Intel. The Cupertino company reportedly inked a deal in June with chip making heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to fabricate its next-generation silicon.
Apple already uses Intel's latest Haswell laptop-class silicon in its MacBook lineup, desktop-class chips for the iMac and Xeon processors for the upcoming Mac Pro. The companies have also collaborated on a number of cutting edge projects like Thunderbolt.
Despite using Intel parts in Macs, Apple employs in-house designed ARM chips for its iOS devices. Up to this point, Samsung has been responsible for fabricating all A-series SoCs, including the A7 chip found in the iPhone 5s, as well as the forthcoming iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display. Apple is thought to be distancing itself from its smartphone rival, however, thanks in no small part to an ongoing worldwide patent dispute.
The latest rumors claim Samsung will get a share of TSMC's business for the next-gen "A8" SoC, as the chip's advanced 20 nanometer process is said to be causing yield issues for the Taiwanese firm.
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64 Comments
doan-de-doan-doan, doan-de-doan-doan-DOAN!
Too late, Apple has decided on TSMC for 20nm, And a Split of TSMC and Samsung for 14nm.
May be Apple could do trial with Intel 14nm on Apple TV SoC or some other smaller batch SoC. But Definitely not on the iPhone / iPad.
"Hello, Intel? This is Tim."
> battle to relinquish ARM's stranglehold <
Never use a big word unless it a) is more apt than a small one, and b) has the intended meaning.
You're welcome!
Sure Apple can use Intel. Apple has the only 64-big ARM chip in a smartphone and tablet. And soon it will have AppleTV. Someone has to make all those chips. TSMC may have problems with yields since they are new to 20 nm chips. But Intel will have ZERO problems since making 15 nm and 20 nm chips is completely within their talent base. Intel can get half of the business, TSMC the other. Samsung will soon be cut off Apple's chip manufacturing.