Tony Fadell, former vice president of Apple known as “the father of the iPod”, does not seem to have any intention of retiring anytime soon. After founding his own company and then selling it to Google, Tony Fadell joins the board of British semiconductor company Arm, the originator of the eponymous processor architecture widely used around the world. .
Tony Fadell now works for Arm
As CNET reports, Tony Fadell joined Arm’s board on Thursday to help the company improve its processor designs as Arm expands its technology to more devices than just smartphones. .
But Tony Fadell’s history with Arm goes back long before this new role. In the past, he was responsible for promoting the use of ARM chips in the iPod, and consequently in the iPhone, which took over the technical bases. The ARM architecture has proven to be so effective that it is now used for computer processors such as Apple’s latest M1 and M2 chips. AMD recently admitted to working on an Arm chip as well.
The main reason why the creator of the iPod preferred ARM designs over others is the emphasis on low power consumption. Performance cannot be obtained at the cost of poor battery life. With energy now a major constraint for PCs and servers (but also the world at large), Arm’s focus on low power consumption is even more important, Fadell said during his induction.
The executive explained that he expects to “bring a more system-level mentality” to Arm because he thinks “of the end consumer.” Mr. Fadell was invited to work with Arm by the company’s CEO, René Haas, who introduced him as the new member of the board of directors during the WebSummit 2022 in Lisbon – a conference that also hosted two Apple executives as speakers.
He convinced me that I should join the board because there are some very creative things they are working on.
I can’t say anything more. But I am very excited for the next chapter.
The importance of Arm in the world
We don’t know what exactly Tony Fadell will be doing at Arm, but the announcement comes at a crucial time for the company. In 2020, Apple announced that it was going to upgrade its Mac computers from Intel processors to its own ARM chips. ARM chips are also widely used by smartphones and tablets, and not just those from Apple.
Also in 2020, Nvidia announced plans to acquire Arm for over $40 billion. However, the company pulled out of the acquisition earlier this year, following numerous antitrust issues surrounding the union. Now, Arm is planning an IPO. The partnership between Arm and Apple is now more important than ever, as the Cupertino-based company is set to complete the transition of all Macs to Apple Silicon chips with the upcoming 2023 Mac Pro.