Jobs Originally Wanted Intel In iPad According To Biography

Apple is a company that has been so successful in the technology realm that it's hard to believe just how well the company has done over the years. One of the most successful products that Apple has produced in a very long time is the iconic iPad. The iPad is by far the most popular tablet in the world today and according to the biography of the late Steve Jobs, he first wanted Intel to power the iPad.

According to the book in the early days of the Intel partnership that saw Intel's chips land in Apple notebooks and desktops, Jobs had planned for the Atom processor to power the iPad. Jobs was apparently set for a time on the Atom processor for the tablet even though Apple exec Tony Fadell thought that Apple should go with an ARM chip for its tablet. ARM chips power most smartphones and tablets today thanks in part to their power sipping nature whereas the Atom chips are still not as power efficient.

Eventually Fadell's ARM point of view won Jobs over. Jobs according to the biography had a number of complaints about Intel. One of the big complaints Jobs made was that Intel was a "steamship" and Apple was used to going fast. Jobs also complained that Intel was "not very flexible" and their "graphics suck" according to the book. It seems that what might be the biggest reason that Apple didn't team with Intel is the fact that Jobs feared they would teach Intel "everything" and then Intel would go and sell to their competitors. Ultimately, Apple purchased its own chip companies and made the A4 and A5 processors that are inside the iOS devices today.

[via PCMag]