Apple Signs New Deal With Arm to License Chip Designs Beyond 2040

[MacRumors]

Apple has signed a new deal with British chip design company Arm to license its chip technology that extends beyond 2040, reports Reuters.

News of the deal emerged in documents filed on Tuesday for Arm's initial public offering, which the company has priced at $52 billion.

"We have entered into a new long-term agreement with Apple that extends beyond 2040, continuing our longstanding relationship of collaboration with Apple and Apple's access to the Arm architecture," said Arm in the IPO document.

Arm's hardware underpins all of Apple's custom silicon processors such as the A15 in the iPhone 14 and the M2 in the MacBook Pro, since Apple licenses the Arm instruction set.

The document reveals that companies including Apple, AMD, Google, Intel, Nvidia, Samsung, and TSMC, have "indicated an interest" in buying "up to an aggregate" of $735 million in Arm shares. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, has said it will decide this week whether to invest in the chip designer. By holding Arm's shares, chipmakers will hope to have sway over Arm's management.

Japan-based SoftBank has been preparing for an IPO since its plan to sell Arm to Nvidia became subject to regulatory scrutiny. California-based Nvidia in January 2022 abandoned the purchase when it became clear that the deal would be blocked by the FTC.

The relationship between Apple and Arm is one of the longest in the chip business – Apple was one of the first companies to partner with the firm when it was founded in 1990, prior to the release of Apple's Newton handheld computer, which used an Arm-based chip.

• Apple's Biggest Hardware Flops of All Time

The Newton was a flop, but Arm wasn't. It went on to develop integrated circuit design data that is generally considered to be the "blueprint" for semiconductors. Arm licenses its chip designs to over 500 companies, and its architecture is used in 95 percent of the world's smartphones.

Article Link: Apple Signs New Deal With Arm to License Chip Designs Beyond 2040

 

[tripsync]

at least that didn't cost an arm

 

[JapanApple]

What a surprise Nobody thought it would be.

 

[retrocool]

Arm licenses its chip designs to over 500 companies, and its architecture is used in 95 percent of the world's smartphones.

What processors do the 5% of phones not using ARM have?

 

[mtrm]

What processors do the 5% of phones not using ARM have?

A few years back there were some devices powered by Intel chips, so probably x86/x64 based. However, I haven’t heard of those lately, so no clue if Intel is still on the mobile chip business or not.

 

[laptech]

If American tech companies get their hands on ARM via shares and force through management changes, it will be the end of ARM in my opinion.

 

[jlc1978]

If American tech companies get their hands on ARM via shares and force through management changes, it will be the end of ARM in my opinion.

I’m not so sure you could get 6 big tech firms to agree on anything significant having worked with consortiums before.

 

[laptech]

I’m not so sure you could get 6 big tech firms to agree on anything significant having worked with consortiums before.

Well I would have thought Apple would want a controlling amount of shares considering they use a lot of ARM tech in their products. I would have also thought having the likes of Samsung or Google as a potential major shareholder that could override Apple's decisions would be horrific to Apple senior management.

 

[FitzZic]

I hope that after:
PowerPC (IBM/Motorola) -> Intel -> ARM (Apple Silicons)

It will not become:
ARM (Apple Silicons) -> RISC-V (Apple Silicons, as RISC-V is fully opensource contrary to ARM, it will be easy for Apple Silicons to take off).

I don't want to see Rosetta 3 please.

 

[Kiwamu]

Currently we have MAC & mobile (and misc devices like the Chromebook) being on arm and the rest on x86 and I question, how long there is still a split or if arm will slowly but surely phase out x86. Though I guess, as long as intel has this huge market shares in PC CPU parts, we will see this duopoly for a long time.

 

[ACDeag]

Well I would have thought Apple would want a controlling amount of shares considering they use a lot of ARM tech in their products. I would have also thought having the likes of Samsung or Google as a potential major shareholder that could override Apple's decisions would be horrific to Apple senior management.

It is unlikely a user of ARM's technology would get permission to take it over, there would be regulatory concerns. Someone neutral maybe allowed.

 

[laptech]

It is unlikely a user of ARM's technology would get permission to take it over, there would be regulatory concerns. Someone neutral maybe allowed.

The UK did not allow a takeover hence why the private owner of ARM want's to list it on the stock exchange.

 

[vigilant]

A few years back there were some devices powered by Intel chips, so probably x86/x64 based. However, I haven’t heard of those lately, so no clue if Intel is still on the mobile chip business or not.

I believe there was only one chip and it only shipped in one phone.

I don’t recall however how it performed or if the phone was any good.

 

[iBluetooth]

"The relationship between Apple and Arm is one of the longest in the chip business – Apple was one of the first companies to partner with the firm when it was founded in 1990, prior to the release of Apple's Newton handheld computer, which used an Arm-based chip."

Again a vital fact is missing. Apple was one of the founders with an equally large share of Arm as Acorn Computers and VLSI Technology, had the rest about 12%. A separate company was founded because Apple didn't want to buy a component directly from a competitor, which was Acorn Computers here. Apple provided funding and the first CEO of ARM was an Apple VP, Acorn provided the the designers and VLSI technology to the new company. Apple needed a better CPU than the one they were evaluating from AT&T for the Newton (the failed iPad predecessor with a stylus).
Apple later sold these shares when it became technically bankrupt and Microsoft helped them with cash injection. One of Bill Gates smartest investments.

 

[foobarbaz]

Wow, I would have bet a lot of money that Apple already had secured much longer-term rights, given their special relationship and strategic investments. Everything else seems kinda risk.

Probably they already had an option for this and just now triggered it (allowing ARM to finally report the income).

 

[Bremse]

The Newton flopped 30 years ago. But the Indiana BMV still uses a stock image of a Newton on their website when you log into your account.

 

[redbeard331]

What processors do the 5% of phones not using ARM have?

LEG’s.

Manufacturers moved away from them because they were always running.

 

[timber]

This probably settles all rumours about Apple moving from ARM.

 

[headlessmike]

I believe there was only one chip and it only shipped in one phone.

I don’t recall however how it performed or if the phone was any good.

There were a few generations of the Atom for smartphones. Asus was probably the biggest brand to use them in their phones, but several smaller, primarily Chinese brands used them as well.

I still have an Asus Android tablet from 2015 that sports a quad core Intel Atom SoC. It works fine but the performance was never great.

 

[ingik]

I hope that after:
PowerPC (IBM/Motorola) -> Intel -> ARM (Apple Silicons)

It will not become:
ARM (Apple Silicons) -> RISC-V (Apple Silicons, as RISC-V is fully opensource contrary to ARM, it will be easy for Apple Silicons to take off).

I don't want to see Rosetta 3 please.

For us that have been using Mac for a long time it's more like
68k (Motorola) -> PowerPC (IBM/Motorola) -> Intel -> ARM (Apple Silicon)

 

[orbital~debris]

I hope the deal didn't involve paying an arm and a leg…
🫣

 

[asiga]

Move to RISC-V please. It's a better design, it's royalty-free, and it supports 128bit IEEE FP in hardware, unlike ARM which is limited to 64bit FP.

 

[klasma]

iPhone 33 saved!

 

[klasma]

A few years back there were some devices powered by Intel chips, so probably x86/x64 based. However, I haven’t heard of those lately, so no clue if Intel is still on the mobile chip business or not.

I believe the Spreadtrum SC9853i in 2017 was the last one. The Panasonic Eluga Ray 800 (2019) was probably the last smartphone released with it.

 

[rare6499]

I know the performance is excellent, just partly a shame considering these machines now have a 6/7 year lifespan. At least prior to Arm you could install Linux/Windows etc. Unless there is another Arm OS I don’t know about. It’s the only thing stopping me spending a small fortune on a Studio.