[cmrdporcupine]

Oh, just noticed I'd written "with ARM" when I meant to write Intel when talking about Apple being beholden. Fixed.

My understanding is Apple has an architectural license, broader than what some other licensees have, and it permits them to make architectural changes that people without that license cannot. And while I don't know the current business terms of this, I would speculate that by them being part of the original joint venture that created ARM in the first place they have at least some remaining better pricing on that than others would?

In any case, correct me if I'm wrong on that... but there's also the fact that by controlling the whole software stack Apple is also able to initiate changes that would be difficult for any other hardware vendor.

[klelatti]

Ah Ok. Agree with the amended version!

FWIW I think it’s unlikely that being a founder has any impact on current terms - we’re now thirty years on and several new licenses on now. Being a huge high profile customer will have an impact so Apple can probably get better terms than if you or me tried to buy an architecture license!