This Is Where P.A. Semi Comes In, Right?
by John Paczkowski
Posted on July 28, 2008 at 5:00 PM PT
So that “future product transition” Apple’s headed for later this year? The one that will bring with it “state-of-the-art new products that [Apple's] competitors just aren’t going to be able to match”? It’s looking more and more like it may involve a new chipset–possibly even an internally developed one. AppleInsider reports that Cupertino will forgo Intel’s (INTC) new Montevina chipset in its next-generation portables in favor of another that will further differentiate them from rivals. The publication offers no real details beyond that, so it’s not clear exactly what Apple may be up to.
It’s worth noting, though, that this particular rumor follows relatively close on the heels of Apple’s April acquisition of P.A. Semi, a boutique semiconductor design company that specializes in super-low-power processors. In early 2007, P.A. Semi debuted a 64-bit dual core microprocessor that the company claimed is 300 percent more efficient than any comparable chip; it consumed only 5 to 13 watts running at 2 gigahertz. That was well over a year ago–who knows what they’ve come up with since then?
So maybe Apple (AAPL) is forgoing Montevina in favor of a P.A. Semi-designed chipset. Perhaps we’re nearing the moment when Apple begins pushing its own processor innovations out into the market in concert with those it makes in hardware and software.
Or, perhaps not.
Comments
Will Apple broadly use Solid State Drive in all laptops/desktop? It makes sense and hence new chipsets are needed:
1. Instant on function. The computer need not to be in standby mode which still consumes energy. It can be turned off when not in used. Greener computers.
2. Less power is used during operating.
Posted by L S at July 28th, 2008 at 6:56 pmChipsets, yes. But Apple is not abandoning the Intel processors. Not a chance of that happening. The semi-painful transition from PowerPC to Intel has taken a big enough toll on Apple. The motherboard chipsets are one thing, changing processor architectures is a completely different thing.
Posted by Eric Welch at July 30th, 2008 at 8:11 am