Apple continues its efforts to move towards using its own ARM processors on the Mac, it has hired a key designer from ARM. In May, Apple hired Mike Filippo to join its chip architecture team based out of Texas. ARM has confirmed the departure. Filippo worked at ARM for 10 years, serving as its Lead CPU Architect and Lead System Architect, according to his LinkedIn.
His experience bodes well for many Apple products, since Apple uses ARM-based chips not just as the heart of its mobile hardware, but as companions in Macs. You could see iPhones and iPads that continue to push boundaries. However, he may play a crucial role in expanding Apple’s use of custom processing power. Apple is rumored to be making custom ARM processors for Macs, not to mention an augmented reality headset. Both of those will need both a lot of computing power and exceptional battery life, and Filippo could help Apple achieve those goals.
