Author Topic: Apple Buys PA Semi  (Read 2204 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline .: Mac :.

  • Avast Überevangelist
  • Ultra Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5093
Apple Buys PA Semi
« on: April 23, 2008, 06:09:17 PM »
Apple has bought Chip designer PA semi for $278 million. PA Semi designes PowerPC class processors.  Its interesting why Apple would invest in them when they have just completed the move from PowerPC to intel.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/23/apple_buys_chip_designer_pa_semi_for_278_million.html
"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." - Alan Kay

Offline szc

  • Avast Evangelist
  • Starting Graphoman
  • ***
  • Posts: 6927
Re: Apple Buys PA Semi
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2008, 01:58:42 PM »
Who knows what they're up to and what's cooking in their kitchen this time. All I know is if Apple didn't go with Intel processors, I would never switch to it. PowerPC machines were so slow, even though everyone was claiming they are fast and super responsive. Working in 3D animations/TV broadcasting/Internet multimedia world tells you stay away from PowerPC machine.
MB: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H Intel 7 Series  - LGA1155, CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K - Quad Core, 3.40GHz (3.80GHz Max Turbo), CPU COOLER: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Direct Heat Pipe R2, RAM: 16 GB Kingston HyperX Blu DDR3, VIDEO CARD: Galaxy GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 1GB, GDDR5, POWER SUPPLY: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 - 750 Watts, HD: Seagate Barracuda - 2TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/s

Offline .: Mac :.

  • Avast Überevangelist
  • Ultra Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5093
Re: Apple Buys PA Semi
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2008, 08:49:13 PM »
Who knows what they're up to and what's cooking in their kitchen this time. All I know is if Apple didn't go with Intel processors, I would never switch to it. PowerPC machines were so slow, even though everyone was claiming they are fast and super responsive. Working in 3D animations/TV broadcasting/Internet multimedia world tells you stay away from PowerPC machine.

Article on Appleinsider says that apple was more interested in PA Semi's intellectual property than its chips, which sounds reasonable. Its not unheard of to buy a small company to get some of its patents.

Well I both agree and disagree with you on PowerPC performance. Yes they were great chips and they did beat the pants off of x86 when they came out but the big issue was it was getting to be nearly 2-3 years between processor generations.

The G5 came out and it was amazing but then thats all Apple had and intel quickly passed them while apple waited on IBM/Motorola to make the G6 which never happened due to IBM's interest in Game consoles and Motorola/Freescale kept delaying the dual-core version of the G4 and as a result Apple's laptops were looking puny compared to comparable PC offerings. So Apple needed a Chip supplier that could keep it competitive in the market and inter Intel and the rest is history.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2008, 08:55:32 PM by .: Mac :. »
"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." - Alan Kay