Apple could be looking into an open-source alternative for the Arm architecture that it has been using in its products over the past decades.
A job alert posted by Tom Hardware says that Apple is seeking an engineer who specializes in RISC–V. This open-source architecture instruction set allows device makers to create their own chips and not have to pay a license fee or royalty. Apple uses Arm architecture in its products and pays a royalty fee.
Apple's job description describes the role of an engineer in which they will provide "innovative RISC–V solutions and state-of-the art routines" for Apple's products. Apple specifically hopes that potential engineers can work with the RISC/V instruction set and have an understanding of Arm.
Tom Hardware suggests that Apple could save money if it adopted the open-source instruction sets of RISC–V. Arm would not have to pay a license fee to use its instruction set.
Apple must pay an Arm licensing fee for every core. As the number of cores used in smartwatches and SSD controllers increases, Apple will also have to pay Arm a licensing fee. Apple could potentially save millions every year by replacing some Arm cores with RISC–V cores.
This job listing confirms that Apple is looking into RISC-V. However, it remains to be seen if the company will implement the open-source technology. Apple's dependence on Arm has grown over the past year, as Apple is currently switching to Arm-based processors for its Mac lineup.
