[Info-vax] OT: About proprietary chips

[Bob Harris]

In article <00dc9bb4$0$17126$c3e8da3 at news.astraweb.com>,
 JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> wrote:

> John Wallace wrote:
> 
> > Yes it seems to be an ARM-based chip.
> 
> OK, so your arguments about it being less difficult/costly to have your
> own version are very valid.
> 
> But it is still costlier than buying some off-the-shelf ARM processors
> for your adult toys/phones.
> 
> Will be interesting to hear more about whether Apple was able to do much
> more with its "own" chip than if it had bought off the shelf ones.

NOTE: I do not have a "Clue" about what Apple did with their own 
chip, but I can guess.

I would guess that the value added is the extra bits around the 
ARM instruction set.  Things to make the graphics work better.  
Things to deal with the multi-touch.  Things to deal with 
accelerometer, compass, etc...

The more stuff they can integrate into the CPU chip, the less 
power, and the lower the component costs.

And I'm willing to bet that the next generation of iPhone and iPod 
Touch may be using a version of this chip.  That is millions of 
units per year.

                                        Bob Harris