Apple to develop graphics processors for iPhone, iPad

Apple had success with internally-designed CPUs, so there’s hope that the company can make its own high quality graphics chips by next year. Image INQUIRER.net stock photo

For the longest time, Apple had outsourced the PowerVR graphics processors used in iPhones and iPads. A recent development sees the company parting ways with this partner to develop its own graphics processors.

Imagination Technologies is Apple’s provider of Power VR graphics chips. Moving forward, Apple has decided that it will no longer rely on another company’s chip technology, reports The Verge.

About half of the revenue generated by Imagination Technologies comes from Apple. It’s not difficult to imagine how big of a blow this latest move will be to the former. Apparently, Imagination will also stop receiving royalties from iPad and iPhone devices that will be launched between 15 and 24 months from today.

On the other hand Imagination is skeptical that Apple will be able to come up with a chip that would not infringe on its patents.

Going by this piece of information, next year’s iPhones and those that come after could be radically different under the hood. Whether it will be for better or worse is anyone’s guess at the moment. Alfred Bayle/JB

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