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Bloomberg is reporting today that Apple is working toward making Intel processor chips a thing of the past for all of its products, including Mac-related computers. Instead, the iPad maker plans to integrate its own ARM processor technology as soon as it is fast enough to power the larger electronic devices.
Apple currently uses ARM-based CPUs in the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for processor technology and Intel processors in its personal computers, including the iMac, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
Although the change over is not in the foreseeable future, Bloomberg is reporting that some engineers have said that the move toward ARM-based technology is “inevitable as the features of mobile devices and PCs become more similar.”
Intel has been providing CPUs for Mac computers since 2005. The processor maker has been floundering in a “stagnating market for computers running Microsoft’s Windows software.” If Apple decides to go with ARM chipsets for Macs, it could adversely affect Intel. The tech giant is know for being a trendsetter in the computer industry.
Apple Insider also reported that Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu told investors that he believes Apple will move toward ARM processors, but that the switch will take a long time.
ARM processors are just not powerful enough at this time. Wu believes that the mobile chipset will eventually be powerful enough and Apple will move toward making its entire line of products ARM-based, which would simplify the architecture of its devices to create a “more seamless experience for users.”
While Apple may be pushing ARM to make more powerful chipsets, Intel is also working hard to make their own processors less of an energy drain. The main reason that Intel chips never made it into Apple mobile devices is that their CPUs are only capable of four to five hours of battery life, compared to ARM’s 10 hours.
It is just as likely that Intel could work out the technology to make their chips more efficient and then ARM would become the obsolete processor.
[Via: MacRumors]
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