On the heels of numerous reports indicating that Apple has plans to transition the Mac to its own ARM-based processors, comes news of a significant hiring that should add fire to the rumor bonfire.
ARM’s lead CPU and system architect Mike Filippo joined Apple last month, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was development leader of numerous chips at ARM during the 2009 – 2019 time period. Chips include the Cortex-A76, Cortex-A72, Cortex-A57, and upcoming 7nm+ and 5nm chips.
Filippo also lead Intel’s CPU and system architecture team from 2004 to 2009. He was a chip designer at AMD during 1996 to 2004.
ARM confirmed Filippo’s departure in a statement to Bloomberg: “Mike was a long-time valuable member of the ARM community. We appreciate all of his efforts and wish him well in his next endeavor.”
Apple is reportedly designing its own ARM-based processors for use in their Mac lineup, which would allow it to move away from relying on Intel for their Mac processor needs. (Source within Intel reportedly confirmed to Axios that the company knows that Apple is planning on transitioning the Mac to ARM starting next year.)
The Cupertino firm already designs its own ARM-based chips for its iOS and Apple TV devices. It also designs the T2 security chip used in recent Macs.
Bloomberg reported that Apple transition to ARM-based processors across its entire device lineup will eventually allow developers to create apps with one single binary, allowing the apps to run across iOS and Mac devices. Apple’s Project Catalyst, unveiled in June is laying the groundwork for the process.
