Apple considering to switch its laptops to ARM?

Posted on Friday, May 06 2011 @ 23:15 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
SemiAccurate has a wild rumor that Apple is considering to dump x86 and switch its laptops to ARM-based chips. According to the site, this switch may occur within the next 2-3 years.
The short story is that Apple is moving the laptop line, and presumably desktops too, to ARM based chips as soon as possible. With A15/Eagle allowing more than 32-bit memory access, things look up, but it seems silly to do so before the full 64 bit cores come in the following generation. Nvidia is directly telling certain favored analysts that they will have Denver out in Q4 of 2012, maybe Q1/2013, and that uses the full on 64-bit ARM instruction set. It won’t be out by then, but that gives you a good estimation of when that ISA will break cover from one vendor or other. Think mid-2013.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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Re: Apple considering to switch its laptops to ARM?
by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 10 2011 @ 18:20 CEST
That would mean no more Thunderbolt port - so this seems like strange news or possibly strategically conflicting news.