Apple will please missile makers by backing PA Semi's chip
Unleashing the iBomb
Posted in Servers, 16th May 2008 00:11 GMT
Free whitepaper – Power and Cooling Capacity Management for Data Centers
Exclusive Apple will indeed support PA Semi's line of PowerPC-based processors, The Register has learned.
PA Semi's staff has started notifying a limited set of customers that the company's existing dual-core processor will enjoy long-term support. Apple will employ a number of old PA Semi staffers just for this task, which is good news for folks making missiles, mine-sweeping gear and storage boxes.
While the information is limited at this point, we believe the military interest in PA Semi's low-power chip may have forced Apple's hand here. Uncle Sam hates to design new missiles only to have the guts ripped out by some dude in a mock turtleneck.
Does all of this mean Apple will create a new version of PA Semi's chip? Nope.
Apple has abandoned any efforts to push the PA Semi architecture forward.
PA Semi was snatched up last month by Apple for close to $300m. Apple has yet to say why it bought the company, which has expertise in low-power processor designs.
With Apple killing off the PA Semi gear, it seems very unlikely that any Macs or iPhones will be appearing soon with PowerPC Inside. Although, the support deal does pave the way for the iBomb.®
Free whitepaper – Cooling strategies for ultra-high density racks and blade servers

Analyst Keynote: The Register Agile Data Center Summit
New storage architectures make SSDs more cost-effective
Dell PowerEdge R710 solution vs. Dell PowerEdge 2850 solution
Enabling the Agile Data Center

At what point do servers become HPC beasts?
The state of the x86 server estate
Large Hadron Collider team flicks switch on Xeon grid
Open-sourcers promise cloud elephant won't trample your code