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by bryanlarsen 4274 days ago
And it sounds like Apple is using a separate unspecified ARM processor (probably a Cortex-A5 since that's the cheapest possible one) to gain access to an existing A7 or A8 core.
1 comments

In Apple's case, they use the ARM ISA but implement their own micro architecture and from vvhn's comment seems to also use a co-processor specifically for the secure enclave. But the link above on TrustZone hardware architecture mentions that this isn't a requirement.

"TrustZone enables a single physical processor core to execute code safely and efficiently from both the Normal world and the Secure world. This removes the need for a dedicated security processor core, saving silicon area and power, and allowing high performance security software to run alongside the Normal world operating environment."

I guess since Apple use the ARM ISA, it's still binary compatible with ARM but with a different implementation. AMD uses an x86/ARM hybrid where the ARM part is an off the shelf Cortex-A5 which already contain TrustZone.

I highly doubt they use their own micro architecture. It'd be a lot cheaper to license Cortex-A5. Using their own micro architecture for the main processor gives them a huge competitive advantage. For the security co-processor, COTS would work fine.