After eating AMD & Nvidia's mobile lunch, Apple Inc could next devour their desktop GPU business

While rumors have long claimed that Apple has plans to replace Intel's x86 chips in Macs with its own custom ARM Application Processors, MacGPUs are among a series of potentially more valuable opportunities available to Apple's silicon design team, and could conceivably replicate Apple's history of beating AMD and Nvidia in mobile graphics processors—and Intel in mobile CPUs.

Daniel Eran Dilger 11 years ago 52

How AMD and Nvidia lost the mobile GPU chip business to Apple — with help from Samsung and Google

Between 2006 and 2013, AMD & Nvidia fumbled the ball in mobile chips, losing their positions as the world's leading GPU suppliers by failing to competitively address the vast mobile market, enabling Apple to incrementally develop what are now the most powerful mainstream Application Processor GPUs to ship in vast volumes. Here's how it happened, the lessons learned and how Apple could make it happen again.

Daniel Eran Dilger 11 years ago 65

Apple alerts developers that existing app updates will need to be 64-bit by June 1, 2015

Apple on Wednesday alerted members of its development community that existing applications on the App Store will need to include 64-bit support for any updates submitted after June 1 of next year.

Katie Marsal 11 years ago 26

One year after Apple's A7, Nvidia announces first 64-bit ARM CPU for Android

Chipmaker Nvidia on Tuesday detailed the new "Denver" variant of its Tegra K1 mobile processor, a high-performance in-order design that represents the first foray into 64-bit processing for Android devices — nearly a full year after Apple shocked the mobile world with its own 64-bit A7 processor.

Sam Oliver 11 years ago 114

Samsung's chipmaking business posts weak outlook as rumors of Apple shift persist

To date, Samsung has been the sole supplier of custom A-series processors for Apple's popular iPhone and iPad, but industry watchers again expect that to change after the South Korean company signaled that its microprocessor business has a bleak outlook.

Neil Hughes 11 years ago 59

Apple Inc., ARM & Qualcomm aggressively poaching IBM's chip designers

As IBM secretly mulls plans to sell off its increasing outdated processor chip fabs in New York and Vermont, a new wave of mobile chip developers—led by Apple, ARM and Qualcomm—are hiring away many of the top chip designers of the once leading firm.

Daniel Eran Dilger 11 years ago 34

Inside Metal: How Apple plans to unlock the secret graphics performance of the A7 chip

Among the surprises that Apple unveiled at WWDC 2014 is the company's new Metal framework and shader language, aimed at radically enhancing the hardware accelerated graphics potential of the A7 Application Processor powering the company's latest iOS devices.

Daniel Eran Dilger 11 years ago 94

Rumor: Apple once again said to be strongly considering ARM-based Macs

Apple's most popular computing devices, from the iPhone and iPad to MacBook Pro and iMac, could all be powered by the same ARM-based processors, if the company were to decide to make such a switch, according to a new report.

Sam Oliver 12 years ago 129

Samsung says it 'leads by following,' admits few businesses are actually using Knox

Speaking to analysts and investors, a senior vice president of Samsung stated "we, as a market leader, are following the market trend" in adding biosensors to mobile devices, while sidestepping the company's delay in 64-bits and the moribund 2 percent adoption of Knox by enterprise users.

Daniel Eran Dilger 12 years ago 77

Analysis affirms Apple's A7 processor closer to a desktop CPU than regular mobile chip

An independent analysis of the microarchitecture behind Apple's latest A7 processor has shown that the company was not overstating when it called the design "desktop class," with the new silicon matching up well against Intel's recent desktop components.

AppleInsider Staff 12 years ago 209

Apple details Touch ID and Secure Enclave tech in new security white paper

An iOS security white paper published by Apple on Wednesday offers a deeper understanding of the company's Touch ID fingerprint sensing system and the so-called "Secure Enclave" found in the A7 SoC, both of which were introduced with the iPhone 5s.

Mikey Campbell 12 years ago 47

Apple sued by University of Wisconsin over A7 chip at heart of iPhone, iPad

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the patent licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin, alleges in a newly-filed lawsuit that Apple's A7 processor infringes a university-developed patent that improves "the efficiency and performance of contemporary computer processors."

Shane Cole 12 years ago 62

Apple's 64-bit A7 SoC 'set off panic' for chipmakers

Apple caught market-leading chipmakers off guard when it debuted the 64-bit A7 system-on-chip alongside the iPhone 5s in September, a move one Qualcomm insider says put the industry in panic mode.

Mikey Campbell 12 years ago 145

GlobalFoundries may subcontract Apple A-series chips for Samsung at New York facility

Rather than serving as an alternative to Samsung for production of Apples A-series chips, GlobalFoundries may just serve as a subcontractor for Samsung itself in producing chips for the iPhone and iPad, according to a new report.

Neil Hughes 12 years ago 15

GlobalFoundries to build A-series chips for Apple in New York - report

Apple will reportedly add a second U.S. chip fabrication plant to its supply chain, partnering with California-based GlobalFoundries to produce A-series processors at a new $6 billion facility in upstate New York.

Shane Cole 12 years ago 34

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