Apple to Continue to Supply PA Semi's Chips

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

TheRegsiter.co.uk reports (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/16/pasemi_apple_support/) that Apple will continue to provide PA Semi's low-power PowerPC chip to existing customers, despite the acquisition:PA Semi's staff has started notifying a limited set of customers that the company's existing dual-core processor will enjoy long-term support. Apple will employ a number of old PA Semi staffers just for this task, which is good news for folks making missiles, mine-sweeping gear and storage boxes.Apple acquired PA Semi (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/23/apples-plans-for-p-a-semi-not-interested-in-the-chips/) in April, but had no interest in its existing product line. PA Semi had originally told customers that they would be unable to guarantee a supply of their chips in the future. PA Semi's PWRficient processor had reportedly seen quick adoption in a number of Department of Defense projects.

Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/05/19/apple-to-continue-to-supply-pa-semis-chips/)

[Chaszmyr]

I'm sure those customers are probably happy about this news, but since Apple is unlikely to devote many resources to improving those chips, it really just seems like it ensures that those customers will be using outdated technology for the foreseeable future.

All the same, hopefully it won't cost much for Apple to keep those chips around, and it will just serve as a steady stream of revenue to help recoup the money spent on acquiring the company.

[w00143881]

Department of Defense?!?!

iPhone 3.0's newest feature...
Automatically sends out an Electromagnetic Pulse that only affects PCs and renders them useless

Cmon Jobs, Chill...

[edesignuk]

We're going to end up with warmongering MBA's, it'll be like Small Soldiers, with laptops :p

[porky]

now we know what the new product at WWDC will be! The iMissile!

[MikeELL]

We're going to end up with warmongering MBA's, it'll be like Small Soldiers, with laptops :p

Introducing the iGun, iTank, and iMissile. Each comes in a lovable range of colours, with FREE laser engraving. Each is built to the high standards we've come to expect of Apple. Pick up the iGun and BAM! It just works. The iTank is a new low profile model that sits just 3 feet off the ground: that's THIN! We think once you get a chance to play with it you'll just love it.

The iMissile is of course the smaller cousin of the iNuke. For when you need a little gunboat diplomacy, right here, right now. With a user interface so intuitive that even a five year-old can use it, it's simply the fastest, most elegant way of inciting racial hatred.

[kristoffer4]

i really don't like this. I had hoped Apple was better than this...:(

[xUKHCx]

i really don't like this. I had hoped Apple was better than this...:(

What :confused: Apple are essentially going out of their way, with no obligation, to supply chips so that the current customers aren't left high and dry. It is a good thing for them to do.

I fail to see how this is a bad thing, unless of course your only goal is profit and even then it is not exactly a great argument as this may lead to more customers in the future.

[aLoC]

If I recall, one of the reasons Apple stopped using the PowerPC platform was the lack of lower power variants. And now here they are selling one themselves. It's a funny old world.

[jnc]

If I recall, one of the reasons Apple stopped using the PowerPC platform was the lack of lower power variants. And now here they are selling one themselves. It's a funny old world.

I'm supposing it costs less and is a smaller disruption in this instance to keep things as is, considering the lower throughput from a smaller customer base

[BenRoethig]

If I recall, one of the reasons Apple stopped using the PowerPC platform was the lack of lower power variants. And now here they are selling one themselves. It's a funny old world.

A very modern system on chip one too.

[CWallace]

The Department of Defense is not going to want new variants of those chips, so they could care less if Apple doesn't advance their spec with any great frequency.

And I expect the DoD could have killed this deal if Apple had either not agreed to continue to produce the chips or license the technology to another foundry to build them.

So Apple generates revenue from the deal (as Chaszmyr noted), the DoD gets their chips, and everyone is happy.

[khunsanook]

Although a lot of defense technology is associated with certain warmongering administrations, let's not forget that the article mentions "mine-sweeping gear". I'm not exactly sure which mine sweeping gear might use PA Semi chips, but if you've ever worked in or traveled to a post-war, heavily mined country like Cambodia or Laos you quickly see what a great thing advances in "defense technology" can be.

Perhaps an example... (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/technology_robot_menagerie/html/9.stm)

[FJ218700]

iTank,

coming Q1 '09

[ScottFitz]

I bet the price of those chips just went up. $200 hammer anyone?:rolleyes:

[Matthew Yohe]

What :confused: Apple are essentially going out of their way, with no obligation, to supply chips so that the current customers aren't left high and dry. It is a good thing for them to do.

I fail to see how this is a bad thing, unless of course your only goal is profit and even then it is not exactly a great argument as this may lead to more customers in the future.

I think kristoffer4 is a pacifist.

[cloudnine]

Sweet. Apple helps make missiles now.

Badass.

[macerroneous]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

I would prefer we all stay apolitical. Nevertheless, shouldn't we say "apple states it has no interest in the chips," rather than "apple has no interest in the chips"? I think they're planning to power an iPhone OS device with one of these chips someday.

[twoodcc]

this is very good, considering the military is one of their customers

[nostaws]

i really don't like this. I had hoped Apple was better than this...

Somebody has to make missiles, might as well be Apple. While I wish we weren't at war, and terrorists wouldn't try to kill us... we are at war, and they are trying to kill us.

I like my MacBookPro, it works like a dream. I hope the missiles made my DoD, with Apple's chips work just as well. The better missile: less the collateral damage, and the need to put fewer soldiers in harms way.

[MacFly123]

To be announced at WWDC 2008:

Steve Jobs will be retiring, but his true identity is now TONY STARK haha :D Lets see some of those physically interactive holograms from Iron Man now Apple ;)

[lord patton]

I know it's no use arguing with a pacifist, but considering that the U.S. military is civilian-controlled, and serves a constitutional republic with universal suffrage, it might be a bit naive to issue a wholesale condemnation of anyone who does business with them.

The use of a military is a political question. The issue of having a military, however, is no question at all.

[plumpan]

To be announced at WWDC 2008:

Steve Jobs will be retiring, but his true identity is now TONY STARK haha :D Lets see some of those physically interactive holograms from Iron Man now Apple ;)

tony stark was using a mac pro and dual cinema display set up for his main workstation, if anyone caught that ....

[jmadlena]

tony stark was using a mac pro and dual cinema display set up for his main workstation, if anyone caught that ....

But he also had Dells in his lab, too. I thought it was strange to mix the beauty of Apple Cinema Displays and run-of the mill Dells.

It's like buying an HDTV and then only watching standard definition.

Actually, that's not like this at all. Nevermind...

[MacFly123]

tony stark was using a mac pro and dual cinema display set up for his main workstation, if anyone caught that ....

But he also had Dells in his lab, too. I thought it was strange to mix the beauty of Apple Cinema Displays and run-of the mill Dells.

It's like buying an HDTV and then only watching standard definition.

Actually, that's not like this at all. Nevermind...

Of course we noticed lol. Yes I know there were some Dells spuriously placed here and there but any movie with any style and cinematography uses Apple products as their computer props. It has been that way for quite some time.

[Virgil-TB2]

What :confused: Apple are essentially going out of their way, with no obligation, to supply chips so that the current customers aren't left high and dry. It is a good thing for them to do.

I fail to see how this is a bad thing, unless of course your only goal is profit and even then it is not exactly a great argument as this may lead to more customers in the future.I think the poster (with which I also agree), was talking about the moral implications.
This seems to have gone right over your head. ;)

I also, am saddened by the idea that Apple is going to be producing products that are used to kill people.

I am clinging to the hope that the DoD forced them to continue selling them (that's how it seems so far), that it's for a limited time only, and that they won't make any more or contribute to the product development in any way.

Someone made a good point about mine-sweeping, but the majority of these products will be used for killing people. No biggie for citizens of the USA I am sure, but for a lot of people this is something that is usually called "wrong."

At least that's what my Mum taught me. :)

.

[JeffDM]

i really don't like this. I had hoped Apple was better than this...:(

I think people noted that Apple already sells computers to the DoD. There probably isn't a major tech company that doesn't sell to the DoD, though Apple's are probably not built into military-specific hardware.

There may have been pre-existing contractual obligations that mean that they must be supplied with the parts or face the penalties for breaking the contract.

[jnc]

I also, am saddened by the idea that Apple is going to be producing products that are used to kill people.

.

Ugh. Apple are not "producing products that are used to kill people". http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/b/blankstare.gif They're producing chips. A component that could be used for many purposes.

It's like calling someone an arms dealer when they merely produce the metal that someone else then uses to make a gun.

If Apple were rolling out tanks and missiles, you'd have a point.

[goosnarrggh]

I think the poster (with which I also agree), was talking about the moral implications.
This seems to have gone right over your head. ;)

I also, am saddened by the idea that Apple is going to be producing products that are used to kill people.

I am clinging to the hope that the DoD forced them to continue selling them (that's how it seems so far), that it's for a limited time only, and that they won't make any more or contribute to the product development in any way.

Someone made a good point about mine-sweeping, but the majority of these products will be used for killing people. No biggie for citizens of the USA I am sure, but for a lot of people this is something that is usually called "wrong."

At least that's what my Mum taught me. :)

.

Intel makes chips that are used in DoD projects. Should we banish them as well?

Fact is, you will be hard pressed to find any tech firms in the free world that don't have some link to military applications.

Personally, I think it's highly likely that you right - the DoD could have very easily intervened and stated that the sale must not go through unless their supply of chips was guaranteed.

As for the "limited time" bit... Well, in all probability, they likely have contracts requiring a guaranteed supply of spare parts for the entire design lifetime of the applications in question. If we assume the application (for example) is a missile navigation system, then that could easily span a couple of decades.

What Apple are essentially going out of their way, with no obligation, to supply chips so that the current customers aren't left high and dry.
If the DoD really is one of those customers, then it would be a national secuirity issue. If that's the case, then Apple could very easily have been in a situation where simply discontinuing the product line without providing a duly licensed second-source would have landed them in a whole world of trouble.

I'm sure those customers are probably happy about this news, but since Apple is unlikely to devote many resources to improving those chips, it really just seems like it ensures that those customers will be using outdated technology for the foreseeable future.
Note that the DoD wouldn't care about research into upgrades of the existing chip offerings. In fact, they would be outright opposed to even a small unneeded change in any mission critical subsystem, because it would necessitate a complete re-evaluation of the entire design.

[BenRoethig]

I think the poster (with which I also agree), was talking about the moral implications.
This seems to have gone right over your head. ;)

I also, am saddened by the idea that Apple is going to be producing products that are used to kill people.

I am clinging to the hope that the DoD forced them to continue selling them (that's how it seems so far), that it's for a limited time only, and that they won't make any more or contribute to the product development in any way.

Someone made a good point about mine-sweeping, but the majority of these products will be used for killing people. No biggie for citizens of the USA I am sure, but for a lot of people this is something that is usually called "wrong."

At least that's what my Mum taught me. :)

.

By that train of thought, don't ask where your clothing or the beans in your espresso came from. This is about Apple, not politics.

[dam0dred]

I have to say I'm quite surprised that Apple, a company which is so very careful with it's branding and image, is willing to be associated with the US military.

[Exponent]

I have to say I'm quite surprised that Apple, a company which is so very careful with it's branding and image, is willing to be associated with the US military.

Yes, the US military, that dastardly group that rid the world of Hitler (9 million+ dead), withstood the attacks of Mao (20 million+ dead), stood vigilant against the Soviet Union (somewhere between 15 and 30 million dead), goes after brutal beheading terrorists, brought Saddam Hussien to justice (5 million executions documented), etc., etc. :rolleyes:

It takes a solid free world in order to create the fantasy world many of you live in. You ought to thank the armed forces and law enforcement of the free countries of the world, USA included, for that. And I'm proud that Apple now apparently, if in a backdoor way, supports the tough sustenance of freedom as well.