Apple Recruits IBM Chip Designer, IBM Files Lawsuit

MacRumors · 02:39 AM

CNet reports that IBM has filed a lawsuit against former employee Mark Papermaster for accepting a job at Apple. Papermaster was IBM's vice president of microprocessor technology development but recently accepted a position at Apple to begin in November.

IBM claims that Papermaster is violating his prior employment agreement by accepting a position at a competitor and may divulge IBM's trade secrets to Apple. Papermaster reportedly has authored several papers on PowerPC chip development and is considered a "top expert in Power architecture and technology."

CNet speculates that Apple could be interested in Papermaster because of his experience in both chip and system designs.

Quote:

Papermaster's expertise in system design--putting together the entire package of processor, chipset, and the rest of the guts that form a computer--could serve him well at a company that prides itself on soup-to-nuts design.

Of course, Apple could also be interested in having Papermaster help with their recent P.A. Semi acquisition. Apple has been said to be working on their own ARM processors for use in the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Quote:

If Apple wants to continue its strategy of designing and building complete systems, hardware, software, and now chips for iPhone and iPod Touch, it's going to need someone who can predict the future of chip design and advise Jobs and Apple's executive team on how Apple can best take advantage of those trends. Papermaster, with a unique set of skills in the tech industry, might be just that guy.

Article Link: Apple Recruits IBM Chip Designer, IBM Files Lawsuit

TwinCities Dan · Oct 30, 2008, 11:48 PM

Meh, who cares, they'll settle out of court for an "undisclosed amount".

mathcolo · Oct 30, 2008, 11:51 PM

Seems pretty stupid for IBM to file a lawsuit just because someone accepted a job...

jessica. · Oct 30, 2008, 11:51 PM

That's what you get when you sign and violate a non-compete.
****wads.

TwinCities Dan · Oct 30, 2008, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessica.

That's what you get when you sign and violate a non-compete.
****wads.

jessica. feeling extra sassy tonight?

dvince2 · Oct 30, 2008, 11:54 PM

What's with all the PPC and Apple recently?
If this was like...3-4 years ago, good for them. But they made the switch to intel. As far as we know, 10.6 isn't going to be PPC, and we for sure know that 10.7 won't be.
Wouldn't it be better to get insiders from Intel or something?

Fukui · Oct 31, 2008, 12:07 AM

PPC is dead. THis is to make apple's next gen iphone's arm chip an atom killer.

stephengiem · Oct 31, 2008, 12:07 AM

pretty awesome. i bet he found that job post online somewhere. apple designing and manufacturing chips will save a lot of money.

alphaod · Oct 31, 2008, 12:15 AM

I guess this would be in line with severance agreements.

skyline1999 · Oct 31, 2008, 12:15 AM

Please fix the grammatical errors!

Rivix · Oct 31, 2008, 12:21 AM

Hey, if the guy signed a contract with IBM thats how business works.

Srai-W · Oct 31, 2008, 12:22 AM

Should be interesting to watch. But yeah, PPC? I think it must be more for the iPhone. Maybe for a tablet mac in the future too???

mdntcallr · Oct 31, 2008, 12:24 AM

Super Cool, sounds like just the right person to lead Apple with right chip technology.

Sad IBM won't let this person work without a rumble. you can't stop people from earning a living!

OriginalMacRat · 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvince2

What's with all the PPC and Apple recently?
If this was like...3-4 years ago, good for them. But they made the switch to intel. As far as we know, 10.6 isn't going to be PPC, and we for sure know that 10.7 won't be.

And you probably thought the same when Mac OS X was thought to be PPC only.

While Apple won't support 10.6 on an old PPC Mac, that doesn't mean future PPC systems aren't supported in the labs today.

With the quantities that Apple is shipping today, they can't get locked into a single vendor.

theBB · Oct 31, 2008, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessica.

That's what you get when you sign and violate a non-compete.
****wads.

AFAIK, non-compete agreements are not legal in California, although they are in NY state. As the violation will take place in CA, I am not sure how a NY court judgement might apply. Besides, if IBM is not working on an ARM product, but if he will be working on such products at Apple, he could argue Apple is not a competitor.

brad.c · Oct 31, 2008, 12:32 AM

Wow, that'd be a dream job if I knew anything about chip architecture.
But if they ever switch to cheesies, I'm ready for the call.

Gymnut · Oct 31, 2008, 12:32 AM

Papermaster? That name sounds too good to be a real name. Sounds phony, like Art Vandelay.

Apple Ink · Oct 31, 2008, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brad.c

Wow, that'd be a dream job if I knew anything about chip architecture.
But if they ever switch to cheesies, I'm ready for the call.

I'm not sure about the dream job part (ignore if it was sarcasm)

For the cheesies... I'll give you a tough competition on that!

twoodcc · Oct 31, 2008, 12:55 AM

now this seems interesting to me. i wonder how apple will respond? or what can they even do?

im-a-ppc · Oct 31, 2008, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gymnut

Papermaster? That name sounds too good to be a real name. Sounds phony, like Art Vandelay.

I assure you that Mark Papermaster is a real person, having worked for him for over 10 years. I guess it could all turn out to have been a dream...

Maxington · Oct 31, 2008, 01:03 AM

Going to prove, besides you would hate to see Apple defect to AMD in the future.

dissdnt · Oct 31, 2008, 01:06 AM

Judge will throw it out, Non-Competes are total bs. You can't prevent someone from pursuing their livelihood.

SydneyDev · Oct 31, 2008, 01:48 AM

Is the iPhone going PowerPC? Back when it was used in the Mac, one of the issues was performance per Watt.

sebastianlewis · 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvince2

What's with all the PPC and Apple recently?
If this was like...3-4 years ago, good for them. But they made the switch to intel. As far as we know, 10.6 isn't going to be PPC, and we for sure know that 10.7 won't be.
Wouldn't it be better to get insiders from Intel or something?

Talent is talent. It doesn't matter if they're from IBM, Intel, or working at some other company, their skills are still valuable to Apple for whatever reason Apple ends up hiring them.

Sebastian

gifford · Oct 31, 2008, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyDev

Is the iPhone going PowerPC? Back when it was used in the Mac, one of the issues was performance per Watt.

and the performance was good until apple were let down by their partners

Oct 30, 2008, 11:48 PM	#2
TwinCities Dan macrumors Demi-God Join Date: May 2008 Location: Land of 11,842 Lakes	Meh, who cares, they'll settle out of court for an "undisclosed amount". __________________ "TCD is good enough, smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like him." - rdowns

Oct 30, 2008, 11:51 PM	#3
mathcolo macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: /home/US/Colorado/Denver	Seems pretty stupid for IBM to file a lawsuit just because someone accepted a job... __________________ Polycarbonate MacBook - 2.16Ghz - 500GB HDD - 2GB RAM Mac OS X and iPhone Developer

Oct 30, 2008, 11:54 PM	#6
dvince2 macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Canada	What's with all the PPC and Apple recently? If this was like...3-4 years ago, good for them. But they made the switch to intel. As far as we know, 10.6 isn't going to be PPC, and we for sure know that 10.7 won't be. Wouldn't it be better to get insiders from Intel or something? __________________ Dtor:2.66 Quad MacPro,6GB,640GB,1TB,ATI 4870. Noir:2.4 Blackbook,4GB,250GB Case:iMac G4 17",768mb,80GM

Oct 31, 2008, 12:07 AM	#7
Fukui macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2002	PPC is dead. THis is to make apple's next gen iphone's arm chip an atom killer. __________________ It's a series of tubes!! - An old man

Oct 31, 2008, 12:15 AM	#9
alphaod Contributor Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: LIE x37	I guess this would be in line with severance agreements. __________________ Search before you post: MRoogle Mac Pro E09 (2x2.66/6x2GB/4x300GB10K/GTX285) \| Dell 3007WFP-HC (30") MacBook Air M09 (2.13/2GB/128GB) \| iPhone 3GS (32GB/White/Unlocked)

Oct 30, 2008, 11:51 PM	#4
jessica. macrumors Demi-Goddess Join Date: Feb 2005	That's what you get when you sign and violate a non-compete. ****wads.

Oct 31, 2008, 12:07 AM	#8
stephengiem macrumors newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon	pretty awesome. i bet he found that job post online somewhere. apple designing and manufacturing chips will save a lot of money.

Oct 31, 2008, 12:15 AM	#10
skyline1999 macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2008	Chip Designer article Please fix the grammatical errors!

Oct 31, 2008, 12:21 AM	#11
Rivix macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2005	Hey, if the guy signed a contract with IBM thats how business works. __________________ 15" MacBook Pro, 2.5GHz iPod Touch, 32GB

Oct 31, 2008, 12:22 AM	#12
Srai-W macrumors regular Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Singapore	Should be interesting to watch. But yeah, PPC? I think it must be more for the iPhone. Maybe for a tablet mac in the future too???

Oct 31, 2008, 12:24 AM	#13
mdntcallr macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Los Angeles, CA	Super Cool, sounds like just the right person to lead Apple with right chip technology. Sad IBM won't let this person work without a rumble. you can't stop people from earning a living! __________________ "Bite my Shiny Metal Ass!" Bender (Futurama)

Oct 31, 2008, 12:32 AM	#16
brad.c macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 44.244273,7.769737	Wow, that'd be a dream job if I knew anything about chip architecture. But if they ever switch to cheesies, I'm ready for the call. __________________ Excuse me. Where do you keep your "Self Help" books?

Oct 31, 2008, 12:32 AM	#17
Gymnut macrumors 68000 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Hawaii	Papermaster? That name sounds too good to be a real name. Sounds phony, like Art Vandelay.

Oct 31, 2008, 12:55 AM	#19
twoodcc macrumors 603 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Right side of wrong	now this seems interesting to me. i wonder how apple will respond? or what can they even do? __________________ tville pump Smarter than the average bear

Oct 31, 2008, 01:03 AM	#21
Maxington macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2007 Location: Oshkosh, WI	Going to prove, besides you would hate to see Apple defect to AMD in the future. __________________ Mac Mini (MacTV); Mac Book Pro (Mobile Silver); iMac (Buddy); iPhone 16 GB http://thedudesays.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/Maxington

Oct 31, 2008, 01:06 AM	#22
dissdnt macrumors 6502a Join Date: Aug 2007	Judge will throw it out, Non-Competes are total bs. You can't prevent someone from pursuing their livelihood.

Oct 31, 2008, 01:48 AM	#23
SydneyDev macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Down under	Is the iPhone going PowerPC? Back when it was used in the Mac, one of the issues was performance per Watt.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode