By Dean Takahashi July 13, 2009
Reports surfaced today that Apple will launch an $800 tablet computer in October. But we’ve dug out something interesting ourselves: the processor chip for the tablet is being designed by Apple’s own internal chip team. Apple acquired PA Semi in April, 2008 for $278 million. It never said what it planned to do with the chip design firm, which featured star chip designers including Dan Dobberpuhl and Jim Keller. But we’ve learned that PA Semi’s team was split into two parts, one designing portable ARM-based processors for iPhones and iPods, and another designing a processor for the tablet device. Our source noted that Apple acquired some incredible design talent with the PA Semi team, which was behind the original Digital Equipment Corp. Alpha processor and the StrongArm processor, which was a speedy low-power processor family that was acquired by Intel and then sold to Marvell. The Wall Street Journal confirmed recently that Apple has a substantial chip design effort under way.
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