Report: Apple Using PA Semi Chip in Tablet

[JMcEntegart]

Yesterday the rumors about Apple's plans for touch screen tablet got a refresh by The China Times. Hot on the heels of the CT report, Venture Beat dug up some more info on Apple's supposed $800 tablet.

Report: Apple Using PA Semi Chip in Tablet : Read more

 

[doc70]

..."one half of the PA Semi team was designing chips for the iPhone and iPod, the other half was designing a processor for the tablet device"...

hello... that's why it's called PA Semi.... 😉

 

[lifelesspoet]

I've been waiting almost a year for a quality mobile computer with an arm processor. I was hoping for a netbook form factor. Tablets are niche markets for surveyors and delivery companies, I would much prefer a keyboard.
I can't imagine apple putting this out without handwriting recognition and the ability to run the profitable arm based app store on the platrom.

 

[bfstev]

wouldn't this be more of a MID then? I mean they had transitioned OSX to x86 so it obviously wont be running (snow)leopard unless they have an ARM port of it.

Unless this tablet device is just an oversized ipod touch

 

[mcnuggetofdeath]

I remembering reading that there would be an edition of Windows 7 that ran using an ARM chip, but that it was only being distributed in "developing" markets. I see no reason that Apple wouldnt do the same thing. If its really $800 dollars i might just pick it up and put it in a dual boot with Sabayon Linux.

 

[Guest]

[citation][nom]lifelesspoet[/nom]I've been waiting almost a year for a quality mobile computer with an arm processor. I was hoping for a netbook form factor. Tablets are niche markets for surveyors and delivery companies, I would much prefer a keyboard. I can't imagine apple putting this out without handwriting recognition and the ability to run the profitable arm based app store on the platrom.[/citation]

Check out chippy's site @ umpcportal.com , there are some devices out for a couple of months already with an ARM processor.

 

[scook9]

i see this simply being an oversized iPod touch....same OS same hardware...same everything just bigger.

 

[ckiraly]

yeah and didn't Apple buy that cold-fusion start-up to power their future products?

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

[citation][nom]bfstev[/nom]wouldn't this be more of a MID then? I mean they had transitioned OSX to x86 so it obviously wont be running (snow)leopard unless they have an ARM port of it.Unless this tablet device is just an oversized ipod touch[/citation]

Apple is very well equipped to be able to handle OSs running on different chips. They've migrated from 680x0 to PowerPC and from PowerPC to x86. Rosetta worked amazingly well at running PPC code on x86 machines. As a result of all this, it would be relatively trivial for Apple to expand the "Universal Binary" moniker to compile Xcode stuff for x86, PowerPC and ARM. Of course, Intel specific software wouldn't work but anything else would be fine.

I would still far rather they put an x86 processor - mind you, for all we know, Apple could have licensed some x86 hardware from Intel...

 

[andy_newton]

@bfstev:

While capable of manufacturing its own chips, Apple is currently the only PC (Mac) manufacturer who is exclusive to Intel for its x86 chip based products. It will be dumb for intel to license it to Apple and turn them into another "AMD."