Daniel Eran Dilger
Apple’s acquisition of PA Semi does not signal an entirely new direction for the company. Throughout its history, Apple has designed sophisticated custom chips for use in its computers, in addition to codeveloping complete microprocessors. According to those in the know, it appears that after acting to jettison its internal custom silicon efforts and delegate much of that work to Intel, Apple experienced some remorse and acquired PA Semi to get right back into the chip design business. Here’s a look at Apple’s history in chips, leading up to how Apple’s acquisition of PA Semi relates to the beleaguered future of Microsoft’s Windows.

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