Apple stopped working with PowerPC processors more than four years ago, but we even heard news related to professionals who were important to the platform's growth. A group of them working in a small company called Intrinsity (and former employees of formerExponential Technology) is now indicated as one of the main highlights in handling chips with ARM architecture, but with the same goals that they aimed to achieve in semiconductor technology for Macs about 14 years, for Apple's alliance with Motorola and IBM.
Most interestingly, the strategy of these engineers does not involve the use of multiple cores or parallel processing techniques by developers, as they have re-propagated the means of reducing transistors and investments in better processor designs, in order to increase performance ARM-based chips (that is, similar to iPhones and iPod touch) and reduce power consumption. Through the prototypes created by Intrinsity, computational functions that would require 20 logical steps of a conventional CPU can be completed in just 4, with performance gains ranging between 40% and 60%, on average.
It is interesting to note that the same results they are achieving today are similar to those that the Intrinsity engineering team was able to deliver to the world through the Exponential X704 in October 1996. The chip was the fastest and most efficient in the world for a good time, even attracting the attention of Apple at the time, which became an investor of its manufacturer. However, it was not enough for the relationship between the two companies to culminate in a legal fight, as Apple dispensed extra help when it began to see more results on the side of IBM and Motorola that, in fact, managed to satisfy our needs very well until 2005. .
Today, the chances of this story repeating itself are very vague, but the fact that Intrinsity's work with ARM may attract Apple's attention in a short time may be different, considering that Ma does not need anyone else to create technology for its employees. mobile devices. At the moment, Samsung is one of the companies that is enjoying a partnership with Intrinsity, through its processor known as Hummingbird that may be on an iPhone near you in a little while, who knows
(via MacRumors)
