Comments on: The Tangled Web: PA Semi, Processors, and Magic

By: Apple Overtakes Microsoft in Market Value: End of an Era?

Apple Overtakes Microsoft in Market Value: End of an Era? — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:06:41 +0000

[...] be easier and more expedient to work with a partner. In fact, since the company started making its own chips with the iPad, it looks to be shutting down even further [...]

By: 163 Million Smartbooks In 2015 — And None With x86 – jkOnTheRun

163 Million Smartbooks In 2015 — And None With x86 – jkOnTheRun — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:16:25 +0000

[...] Freescale, Marvell and Texas Instruments in addition to Qualcomm. The other elephant in the room is Apple’s iPad with it’s custom A4 chip, which just happens to be based on the ARM architecture, as well. To say that the ARM ship is [...]

By: iPad e-Books Have No Part in Adobe's Story

iPad e-Books Have No Part in Adobe's Story — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:44 +0000

[...] the software for the entire experience, as exemplified by the development of the iPad’s A4 CPU. why be dependent on [...]

By: iPad E-Books Have No Part in Adobe’s Story – jkOnTheRun

iPad E-Books Have No Part in Adobe’s Story – jkOnTheRun — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:32:33 +0000

[...] few organizations that wants to control the hardware and the software for the entire experience. The development of the iPad’s A4 CPU exemplifies that more than any other recent example. Why be dependent on [...]

By: Mark Hibben

Mark Hibben — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:47:00 +0000

Rumors continue to swirl around the A4. For a more thoughtful dissection of the A4, see my blog at

http://markstechchat.blogspot.com/.

Mark Hibben

By: Simon White

Simon White — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:27:46 +0000

Waaaa! No backflips? :o(

By: nonimus

nonimus — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:49:15 +0000

Stop hyping the next iPhone so that everyone gets disappointed when it doesn’t do backflips and cook you breakfast.

By: iphonerulez

iphonerulez — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:30:27 +0000

I believe the Tegra 2 chip is also supposed to be totally insane when it comes to fast processing and still giving long battery life. Notion Ink’s tablet with the Pixel Qi display is supposed to give 20 to 30 hours use in a package that’s smaller than the iPad. I think most of the gains are being made by the revolutionary display which uses next to no power. However, the Tegra 2 chip in other products has been said to be very thrifty in using power.

I’m hoping Apple/PA Semi will come up with some miracle chip to give them an edge over the competition, but Apple still has an advantage of building a particular chip that matches each device perfectly to get a tightly integrated package with the best traits possible for consumers.

By: KenC

KenC — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:57:04 +0000

Go to anandtech.com and read Anand Lal Shimpi’s two articles on MBP vs Windows laptop battery life tests. He posits that Mac OS X is significantly more efficient than Windows Vista, and that the MBP’s rated battery life is spot-on.

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3582
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3580&p=4

By: steve

steve — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:08:10 +0000

to understand why Apple got into chips with PA Semi you need to look at the mobile platform play they are creating. The A4 goes hand in hand with what they are trying to sustain – a controlled, “closed” platform and ecosystem.

wrote a bunch here – http://stevecheney.posterous.com/apple-the-platform-company