Some Apple (AAPL) news: 1) Apple has hired renowned chip engineer Jim Mergard away from Samsung...

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rwmdvm74 Comments (6)
 
Does this mean INTC might have a foot in the grave?
11 Oct 2012, 06:34 PM Reply Like

podmeister Comments (39)
 
Hardly. But I think it does signal that Apple is VERY serious about designing their own processors, especially for their low power devices.
11 Oct 2012, 06:41 PM Reply Like

pabcanc Comments (222)
 
How about this chip technology for Apple...http://bit.ly/P5qlXq
paul sykes
11 Oct 2012, 07:39 PM Reply Like

scott trader Comments (2871)
 
or this.....http://bit.ly/W9RjRJ
12 Oct 2012, 01:57 AM Reply Like

chasrob56 Comments (57)
 
It's obvious to me Tim Cook is following Steve Jobs in keeping as much R&D in house. We live in strange times "Technology" speaking, when Samsung and Google can steal Patents and only get a fine for it.
So this is the right way to go, and APPLE will do just fine.
11 Oct 2012, 08:47 PM Reply Like

merechino Comments (127)
 
Apple had been vitim of TSM & Samsung's processesors' hick-ups. They might bring the chip foundary work back on shore. AMD? TI? Both have excellent engineeers and incompetent mangers.
(Mr. TSM was coo of TI before he got fired.)
11 Oct 2012, 11:58 PM Reply Like

Matt-Man Comments (282)
 
iPad3: Sun Spider test score 1709
Intel Ivy Bridge: Sun Spider test score 124
(lower is better)

So current Intel offering for laptops/desktops is about 13x faster.
Sure Apple will make consumers to eat small performance difference? Maybe Apple will change back to PowerPC for inferior performance.

Hopefully these news will continue to drag Intel price down for additional shares for portfolio
12 Oct 2012, 12:08 AM Reply Like

Ronin. Comments (1488)
 
Soon, none of those speed tests will matter....the high efficiency ARM chips are becoming fast enough to do what most people use laptops for....unless you need to do video editing and other specialized ultra high demand tasks, mobile chips will be fully capable of what most people use computers for....I can tell by using my laptops and my iPad, we are getting there.....in fact, the link above mentioned Apple putting an A5 in a Mac Air....think about that....the current chip is the A6, and the System on a Chip tech may be a feature of an A7....the revolution that I've been waiting for may finally be on the horizon....
12 Oct 2012, 02:58 AM Reply Like

Matt-Man Comments (282)
 
If 13x speed is irrelevant then why Apple even bothers to update laptop/desktop CPUs yearly? Would be better business margins to use 4 year old chips from bargain bin.

Sure Ax chips are getting better very fast, but they are not catching Intel performance. If Apple wants consumers to change to lets say 5x slower Macbook Air, it needs to provide something very special in return like one week battery life. But that is unlikely to happen, iPad3 has 42.5Wh battery and 2012 Air has 50W battery. iPad advantage in usage time is only ~3h today.

And Laptop still does much more than iPad (connectivity, mass memory,keyboard).
12 Oct 2012, 11:17 AM Reply Like

Ronin. Comments (1488)
 
I am saying that things are changing, and it will matter less and less as people can do what they need to do with lower power....actually one week battery life sounds really appealing, the ARM chips aren't standing still, when they quadruple in speed, who is going to need more? Apple is the only PC maker growing and profiting at the same time, and if they change direction, it mantpy change the thinking of a lot of people too....I agree that there is a lot that I like better about a laptop over a tablet....it is just that those differences are unnecessary and can be overcome, that is the next revolution IMO....
12 Oct 2012, 01:22 PM Reply Like

Matt-Man Comments (282)
 
Ok, so you mean that Apple will change chips just for fun of it. Customers do not mind slower machines, they will be fast enough, speed from 2008 is enough for most people.
I wonder why people bother to even buy other than Atom based Intel laptops as that is same speed as current A6 from Apple.

I am convinced, sell Intel stock.
12 Oct 2012, 03:10 PM Reply Like

Ronin. Comments (1488)
 
Argumentative, aren't you?
Faster is better if you're not offering anything else....I am saying that there comes a point where chasing megahertz loses its appeal, that is what happened before... today having more GHz doesn't help Dell beat out the Mac lines because once you have enough speed, then the benefits come from other things....MSFT is just starting to understand this, but we will see if they can pull off their plans....just sit back and watch what happens to HP, Dell, and Toshiba laptops if they merely keep adding faster chips....

I'm saying that I think we are going in a very different direction than chasing speed....you can disagree....come seek me out in 1 1/2 to 2 years, and we will see who was right....
12 Oct 2012, 03:32 PM Reply Like

Matt-Man Comments (282)
 
Every iPad, iPhone and Mac generation has had faster performance than previous.

If we see in 2 years new generation that does not update the speed of the system then you are right. But that will not happen.
12 Oct 2012, 06:26 PM Reply Like

Ronin. Comments (1488)
 
Yes they will still get faster, but the implications of that is that the slower mobile devices will be capable of more and more....why carry a laptop and a bag, when a thin tablet and a portable keyboard will do? I've been saying this for the past year....and some thought I was crazy....now it sounds less crazy with ideas like the surface floating around....

.... I am basically saying that mobile devices will gradually consume the laptop...this has already started to happen, but I am saying that I believe it will accelerate because as the capabilities of mobile expand, tablets and laptops will become integrated...in some cases they will become one and the same.....it will push back the boundaries of laptops....they will become less common....

The A5X and the A6 can do many things, very fast, just think of the next couple of generations down the line?

Look at the entire computer industry....minicomputers got displaced by microcomputers......then, desktops, desktops got displaced by laptops.....and now laptops are being displaced by tablets.....

That is the trend, smaller, more portable, more versatile.....
12 Oct 2012, 06:48 PM Reply Like

Sal Marvasti Comments (1343)
 
Intel is in margin trouble. It will need to discount to get rid of inventory. Better comparison is atom to ipad.
12 Oct 2012, 01:10 AM Reply Like

mrfisher111 Comments (255)
 
wow thats a huge addition that just put apple back on its way up im a buy 50 shares tomorrow. They just announced walmart double buying the mini ipad and getting rid of the fire. apple is quickly turnning it around. I don't know how they got him away from samsung hes a big deal for samsung.
12 Oct 2012, 01:27 AM Reply Like

Ronin. Comments (1488)
 
Samsung uses off-the-shelf chips...not their own designs....if you want to do more creative work, where do you go? There are rumors that the next Apple designed chip will be a big step toward SoC, where more of the software will be built directly into the chip....I asked my tech pal about this....this will mean a leap in how the processors operate....faster AND more power efficient....and hard wired code can't be infected....

Who wouldn't want to work for Apple at this stage? ....after all, elite engineers are part artist too...
12 Oct 2012, 02:50 AM Reply Like

RAJONES Comments (12)
 
Apple Suffers Setback, Court Reverses Samsung Nexus Injunction: http://bit.ly/SUFhGz
12 Oct 2012, 01:59 AM Reply Like

fitness14 Comments (67)
 
I think it signals forward thinking with an eye on innovation, self determinism, efficiency, and cost control. Good thing IMO.
12 Oct 2012, 04:47 AM Reply Like