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Apple To Develop Its Own GPU, UK Chip Designer Imagination Reveals In 'Bombshell' PR (anandtech.com)
From a report on AnandTech: In a bombshell of a press release issued this morning, Imagination has announced that Apple has informed their long-time GPU partner that they will be winding down their use of Imagination's IP. Specifically, Apple expects that they will no longer be using Imagination's IP in 15 to 24 months. Furthermore the GPU design that replaces Imagination's designs will be, according to Imagination, "a separate, independent graphics design." In other words, Apple is developing their own GPU, and when that is ready, they will be dropping Imagination's GPU designs entirely. This alone would be big news, however the story doesn't stop there. As Apple's long-time GPU partner and the provider for the basis of all of Apple's SoCs going back to the very first iPhone, Imagination is also making a case to investors (and the public) that while Apple may be dropping Imagination's GPU designs for a custom design, that Apple can't develop a new GPU in isolation -- that any GPU developed by the company would still infringe on some of Imagination's IP. As a result the company is continuing to sit down with Apple and discuss alternative licensing arrangements, with the intent of defending their IP rights.
Because they couldn't get around the patents they had. They must have figured out another way to do things if they're just cutting them loose.
Poor guys, the stock was down 63% this morning.
The summary seems to suggest that but the title is vague. It would arguably be an even bigger bombshell if they were developing a GPU to compete with NVIDIA and ATI on the desktop market.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Don't complain. Who watches the watchers?
Moderate the moderators! Yes, there is actually a way to do this. Someone could invent this thing. Call it meta-moderation. And patent it! With rounded corners! It would be the best! Trust me! It would go over bigly! I promise!
I can't tolerate intolerant people! I am totally intolerant of intolerant people!
There are no absolutes! Absolutely no absolutes! And that rule is absolute!
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
"All censorship is evil and must be opposed"
No, that's not always true.
"All moderators should he permanently banned"
Ban yourself to a place with no censorhip
I bet it will work with quadrangles, because triangles aren't "magical", and will work only with 10bit depth textures.
They want their money, Apple! OR ELSE!
Get in line Imagination, because you'll need some to get anything!
So far Apple haven't given a crap about graphics performance. You don't have to be an anti-fanboi to see this, even Apple fanbois admit that the GPU in existing Apple kit, especially the so called 'pro' series, is lacking and the fanboi will say that this is because Apple users have better things to do with their time than play games.
Suddenly Apple cares enough to develop their own GPU? Are they hoping that game developers are going to start targeting the Apple user market which, for so long now, has been mostly disinterested in gaming? Are they hoping to win back the 3d graphics professionals that they've been neglecting all these long years?
The only direction this could be headed is mobile GPU.
Desktop graphics is a totally lost cause for Apple. No game studio is going to develop games for a platform whose users are basically disinterested in desktop gaming; because if someone were interested in desktop gaming they would have bought a PC not a Mac.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
We will make the wall taller and insurmountable
We will grow more stuff inside and import less and less.
By the time the inmates realize the walled garden is a prison, it would be too late. All other gardens would have been starved and withered and desolate.
Then, ... profit?
I remember another company trying to corner the desktop market for themselves.
Actually one can back all the way to Morgan trying to corner the silver market.
Well, free market and invisible hand all that will find some solution. But the people rewarded by the free markets would not be the ones hurt by the walled garden.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
When every brand had their own GPU ideas, CPU ideas and music chip support.
A tight new GPU design could see the kind of advancements some of the most creative game designers made with gpu support in the 1980's
Real freedom to be creative on one platform again. Not having to worry about the port, Windows, other devices.
A better in house GPU to keep developers happy. Been less tempted by easy porting and more productive on one OS.
The users then have to buy a hardware product range to play the must have game.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
For you who this isn't completely obvious: This is entirely about mobile GPUs. This has nothing about Apple trying to dominate AMD or Nvidia in the desktop space.
- Henrik
- when the Shadows descend -
Well, I can understand Apple concern and interest to use something else.
Adrenos GPUs on Android midrange phones already beat iPhone7's GPUs, and the gap is even wider on the hi-end.
It makes sense why they don't support Vulkan in light of that which is purely Apple decision. So whats gonna happen. They will introduce their own VR. Since VR is already on market and they are LATE to the party, somewhat. No one will want to invest into homogeneous enterprise. So they gonna try hard, and loose good chunk of fan base. Wellcome back to Windows our older more lazy users who ned to have shit done, welcome to Linux, those willing to learn.
Actually the thing that should be banned are ACs, like the GP post.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
sue.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The only direction this could be headed is mobile GPU.
the rest of your post is ignorant garbage
tell us more about how the world came to a crashing end when ford and GM started making their own brakes and transmissions instead of buying them
'Furthermore the GPU design that replaces Imagination's designs will be, according to Imagination, "a separate, independent graphics design."'
Imagination does not acknowledge Apples claims, it actual fact Imagination says the exact opposite.
"Apple has not presented any evidence to substantiate its assertion that it will no longer require Imagination’s technology, without violating Imagination’s patents, intellectual property and confidential information"
Apple were also one time in talks to acquire Imagination's technology outright.
"From time to time, Apple talks with companies about potential acquisitions. We had some discussions with Imagination, but we do not plan to make an offer for the company at this time." March 2016
Apple's been advertising/looking for GPU verification engineers and IC process engineers on LinkedIn and other sites for months. If this was a "secret" it was one of the worst-kept secrets out there...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
how does that work? TRiangles are gaurenteed to be planar (3 points determine a line) quadrangles are not necessarily planar. Doesn't that screw up a lot of the interpolation and shading and such?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
In TFA, It says:
Imagination has a significant number of GPU patents (they’ve been at this for over 20 years), so developing a GPU that doesn’t infringe on those patents would be difficult to do, especially in the mobile space. Apple couldn’t implement Imagination’s Tile Based Deferred Rendering technique, for example, which has been the heart and soul of their GPU designs.
Since patents only last for 20 years, and the first Tile based PVR was released in 1996...... Why couldn't Apple use Tile Based Deferred Rendering?
Develop? More like infringe on all of Samsung's parents to create a GPU.
Why the down-vote? AC is right: Apple will violate every single one of the zero GPU related patents Samsung owns.
Not a whole lot of logic to that one. See: The Federalist Papers
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Which GPU patents are those? You do realize that Samsung, just like Apple, licenses their mobile GPUs from others for their mobile chips right? In fact in their Exynos CPUs they've used PowerVR (the same line Apple uses) and Mail (from ARM). For some of their mobile products they don't use their own processors: Samsung uses Snapdragon processors which is 100% Qualcomm IP.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
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Dear msmash,
The moment I read the headline, I knew that you had written it. This is becuase the headline is difficult to parse, and you seem to be in the habit of writing difficult-to-parse headlines. The problem, of course, is that "Imagination" is being used as a proper name, but readers are likely to interpret it as a common noun, especially when it occurs before the word "reveals". The headline becomes much easlier to read if you just drop "Imagination" entirely:
Apple To Develop Its Own GPU, UK Chip Designer Reveals In 'Bombshell' PR
Incidentally, are you a millennial? I have noticed that the millennials seem to have difficulty understanding other peoples' points of view. In this case, you don't seem to have considered the fact that the word "Imagination" might confuse people who are unfamiliar with the name of the UK chip designer.
Somebody modded this post -1, so I'm bringing it back up. The post contains constructive criticism, and it is difficult to learn from our mistakes if constructive criticism is suppressed.
First rule of karma whoring: never ask about the downvotes.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Samsung uses Snapdragon processors which is 100% Qualcomm IP.
Which is why Samsung can't just say, "Golly Qualcomm, go away we're not going to pay you anymore. We're going to build our own!"
If it turns out compatible, they'll have a hard time claiming they didn't copy it when they even used to license it!
That is the danger is the first place when you have somebody develop tech to sell to you, instead of developing it yourself. They then own the implementations you're used to using for the features you thought of!
Ultimately, Apple probably figures they'll get a better price at settlement of the suit than at the negotiation.
Which is why Samsung can't just say, "Golly Qualcomm, go away we're not going to pay you anymore. We're going to build our own!"
And how much experience has Samsung had with that? None. In their own Exynos chip, they have only designed the core for Exynos 8 and Exynos 9. Prior models used ARM standard cores.
The issue isn't just desire. Samsung doesn't have the experience or the personnel at this point to do it. They barely have the personnel to do it for CPUs much less any IP entanglements that might occur.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Let's just hope they don't do with GPU what they did in CPU. I'm going to be pissed if Apple GPUs are as dominant as their CPUs are.
Yeah, people who mod ACs to -1 are kind of dicks in my book. Unless they're disgusting ACs.
As if it's not hard enough getting visibility as an AC already...
Look guys- we're watching a dying company. Sure they have a lot of business at the moment. But their tech is limited and specialized. They killed their desktop business. They are losing ground in the tablet and phone market.
Investing in your own GPU is not the thing to do under those conditions. And only for mobile or just Apple products? Even with an assumption that Apple can produce something competitive it just doesn't make sense.
This smells a lot like Newton, John Sculley's pet project. Or CyberDog. Or the System Administrator's Tool Kit. Or the E-mate. Or the AV series of Macs. All products that were cool as heck- with no place in the market.
History repeats itself again.
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
they will either buy something, or steal something without paying royalties, knowing very well that most can't fight them in court, and trusting entirely in that their protectionist government and courts will keep them safe from those few that can. Apple will not develop a competitive GPU architecture from scratch, period.
It's not like Apple really cares about Macs anymore.
Agreed - Apple's latests offerings show that they are clearly lacking imagination and all this announcement does is make that official.
Ah no. Hiding the truth is not the way to go.
ITYM: "UK chip designer (that we don't bother to mention by name so that you need to click Click CLICK.. mm. moar clicks)"
And how much experience has Samsung had with that? None. In their own Exynos chip, they have only designed the core for Exynos 8 and Exynos 9. Prior models used ARM standard cores.
So in your story, Samsung doesn't have experience with chip design because after using other people's designs for a long time, they designed their own, and then the next model they again designed their own. So, you're admitting that you know that they do in fact have experience at doing the thing you claim they are too inexperienced to do.
I'm not going to provide any other analysis of what you said, because you simply contradict yourself in a way that shows you don't even understand what you said. So of course it is unlikely that you even understood what I said.
So in your story, Samsung doesn't have experience with chip design because after using other people's designs for a long time, they designed their own, and then the next model they again designed their own. So, you're admitting that you know that they do in fact have experience at doing the thing you claim they are too inexperienced to do.
Um no. Samsung has only been doing their own architecture ARM CPU work only for the last two version of Exynos. Previously they only used standard ARM cores. My assertion is they have ZERO experience with GPU designs. None. They have yet to design a single GPU even in Exynos because they still use other GPUs from other manufacturers.
I'm not going to provide any other analysis of what you said, because you simply contradict yourself in a way that shows you don't even understand what you said. So of course it is unlikely that you even understood what I said.
I'm going to let you research the history of Samsung design and how a GPU is not a CPU.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.