Apple chucks PA Semi at Jesus Phone

'We will build our own mega-chips'

By Cade Metz in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in PCs & Chips, 11th June 2008 23:21 GMT

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Steve Jobs has admitted that Apple will design its very own super-chips for both the iPhone and the iPod.

Earlier this week, after his keynote speech at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, Jobs slipped a few extra words to The New York Times, and at one point - while describing his grand plan to reinvent the world of parallel computing - his mind wandered to P.A. Semi, the chip start-up Apple purchased back in April.

"P.A. Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods," he said. Apple didn't respond when we tried to verify the quote, but we trust The Times.

In the wake of its P.A. acquisition, Apple was characteristically mum on its plans for the company founded by Dan Dobberpuhl, lead designer of DEC's Alpha and StrongARM chips. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purposes and plans," a spokesman told Forbes.

But more than a few pundits suspected that Jobs nabbed the chip maker with an eye on the Jesus Phone - and maybe the iPod too.

At the moment, the iPhone uses ARM processors and everyone thinks it was built by Samsung. But they also think Apple has more than a small say in what Samsung builds.

Well, it now looks like Apple will take many matters into its own hands.

Not all that surprising, really. But it's nice to see Steve Jobs spill the beans. ®

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