Apple has struck a deal with chip design firm Arm that extends beyond 2040. As I mentioned Reuters. A disclosure referring to this arrangement has appeared in new documents provided by Arm as part of its planned initial public offering.
The statement on the deal doesn’t contain many additional details. “We have entered into a new long-term agreement with Apple that extends beyond 2040, continuing our longstanding relationship of collaboration with Apple and Apple’s access to Arm architecture.” Arm said in the document. But given how much Apple has relied on Arm’s designs for the custom chips that power its most popular and profitable products, like the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch, as well as the upcoming Vision Pro, that suggests that Apple plans to continue using Arm’s technology platform for a very long time to come.
It’s not just Apple that has a long-standing interest in Arm. Arm also said in its documents that some major technology companies, including AMD, Apple, Google, Intel, Nvidia, Samsung and TSMC, have “indicated interest” in buying up to $735 million in Arm shares.
Arm’s IPO comes on the heels of Nvidia’s failed attempt to buy it from parent company SoftBank. The deal was announced in 2020 but canceled in 2022 due to “significant regulatory challenges”, as it faced intense scrutiny from regulators in the UK, EU and US.
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