Apple inks ARM deal to shore up another two decades of Mac, iPhone processors

Over the past three years, Apple has moved its entire Mac lineup from Intel chips to its own processors and solidified itself as one of the leaders in the silicon space. But now that the transition is over, Apple’s not about to rest on its laurels.

According to a filing by ARM ahead of its IPO, Apple has inked a new deal with ARM for chip technology that “extends beyond 2040.” That’s nearly two decades of iPhone and Mac chips and will likely cover whatever comes after the A- and M-series chips.

Apple is also one of several companies investing $735 million in ARM’s initial public offering, including Intel, Samsung, Nvidia, and Google. Softbank, which owns ARM, is targeting a valuation between $50 billion and $55 billion with shares between $47 and $51 when they land on the Nasdaq Composite Index later this month.

Apple helped create ARM (Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.) back in 1990 and used the first ARM processor in the Newton MessagePad. However, after abandoning the project for PowerPC and later Intel chips, Apple didn’t use ARM-based processors in its products until the original iPhone and the Mac’s M1 processor in 2020. It has been reported that Apple has an “architecture license” with ARM, which allows the company to design its own cores using the ARM instruction set.

Apple is expected to launch the A17 processor, the industry’s first 3nm processor, at the Wonderlust event on September 12. The M3 processor for Macs and iPads will reportedly follow in October.