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| Apple CPU lead Jim Keller heads back to AMD as chief architect |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-08-02 07:40:13 |
| "After leading the design of Apple's mobile processors, which have powered the iPhone and iPad over the last few years, chip architect Jim Keller is returning to AMD to head up its microprocessor core design team, the chipmaker announced today. Keller is an industry veteran who brought plenty of experience to Apple's mobile processors. He was previously vice president at P.A. Semiconductor, which Apple acquired in 2008 for $278 million, and he went on to serve as a director of Apple's platform architecture group." |
|
| Good |
| By Gone fishing on 2012-08-02 07:49:15 |
|
I've had AMDs in my personal computers since the K6-2. They always seemed to have a performance vs price sweet spot. However, its been a bit hard to justify not having an Intel recently. |
 - Score: 7 |
| RE: Good |
| By Chrispynutt on 2012-08-02 08:17:28 |
|
Agreed. I had a K6-2, I bought a board recommended in PC Pro and I am glad I did. Most K6-2 systems suffered from poorly made motherboards with low amounts of cache. I had double the usual amount and the board was well made. My sister had a cheaper board with the same K6-2 and it was night and day performance. AMD's CPUs have lagged (barely if not worse than the previous generation of AMD) whilst Intel has been on a purple patch. At the budget end of the market I would still double check the benchmarks. However i3/i5/i7 are just do good value. Buying ATI is the best thing they ever did. I really wonder where they would be now without them. |
| - Score: 6 |
| Competition is always good |
| By Chrispynutt on 2012-08-02 08:21:54 |
|
Would Intel be doing so well now if AMD hadn't embarrassed the P4 architecture? I don't know. It was good for consumers though. Our 64-Bit transition was far easier and a competitive Intel is producing some of it's finest chips. I really hope AMD gets back in the game, we need them to keep Intel on their toes. |
| - Score: 10 |
| RE: Competition is always good |
| By Nth_Man on 2012-08-02 11:06:18 |
| Yes. Having competition is very beneficial to everyone. |
| - Score: 5 |
| Two sides of a move |
| By bitwelder on 2012-08-02 12:14:35 |
| As often in this kind of moves, I wonder whether his primary wish was to leave Apple or to (re)join AMD. |
| - Score: 2 |
| Comment by smashIt |
| By smashIt on 2012-08-02 12:26:24 |
|
don't know where i read about it, but there was an article about who left apple and where they went had the vibe of rats leaving the sinking ship... |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Two sides of a move |
| By MOS6510 on 2012-08-02 12:36:00 |
|
Most of the times it's just money. Also he arrived at Apple via a takeover and it's often not easy to fit in if you're a high level person. Being used to have a free hand to a more restricted situation is something most people wouldn't like. Could you imagine Apple being taken over years ago and Steve having to report to someone else? So if AMD calls offers him money and certain freedom I'm not surprised he went for it. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE: Comment by smashIt |
| By MOS6510 on 2012-08-02 12:42:13 |
| Apple keeps growing and growing. If they end is really near a sinking ship isn't a fitting comparison, a sun going nova would more suit it. |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[2]: Comment by smashIt |
| By Chrispynutt on 2012-08-02 13:48:33 |
|
I kind of agree. However it probably has more to do with the kind of people that reach this level. They need a challenge and the smoothly oiled and slightly predictable Apple might seem dull compared to potential glory making of resurrecting AMD's CPU business. Especially if Steve did work out Apple's roadmap for the near future. |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[2]: Good |
| By dionicio on 2012-08-02 14:34:17 |
| Somewhere inside the boxes I keep a K6-II, I consider it the first multimedia CPU |
| - Score: 1 |
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