Apple hires key chip designer from ARM as own efforts ramp up

Apple retail employees work during a press preview of the new Apple Store inside the Carnegie Library, Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Apple Inc hired one of ARM Holdings Inc’s top chip engineers as the iPhone maker looks to expand its own chip development to more powerful devices, including the Mac, and new categories like a headset. 

The company hired Mike Filippo in May for a chip architect position, according to his LinkedIn profile. At ARM, Filippo was a lead engineer behind chip designs that power the vast majority of the world’s smartphones and tablets and was leading a new push into parts for computers. ARM, owned by SoftBank Group Corp, designs microprocessors and licenses technology that is fundamental to the chip development efforts of Apple, Samsung Electronics Co, Qualcomm Inc and Huawei Technologies Co.