16/10/2026
Apple Silicon didn't start with the M1. Its story goes back much further, to the 90s.
In 1990, Apple was a co-founder of ARM Ltd, together with Acorn Computers and VLSI Technology. Acorn had developed the ARM architecture. VLSI could manufacture the chips, and Apple was looking for an efficient processor for what would become the Newton. The early Newton MessagePads used the ARM610 processor. But progress on the processor side was limited, and as Newton OS and its hardware improved, the platform needed more speed.
That led to StrongARM, developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and ARM, with Apple’s Newton team closely involved. DEC brought the expertise from its Alpha processors: fast RISC chips from the workstation and server world. Apple brought years of experience with Newton and knew exactly where the ARM610 fell short: it needed much more speed without losing ARM’s low power consumption. Thanks to StrongARM, the Newton MessagePad 2000 and 2100 suddenly approached the processing power of Apple’s PowerBooks of the time, but in a handheld running on AA batteries.
After Newton was discontinued in 1998, StrongARM continued outside Apple and was eventually acquired by Intel, where its technology evolved and found its way into devices such as the Compaq iPAQ, one of the most important Pocket PCs of its era. Newton itself may not have been a commercial success, but its influence reached far beyond the product and continued into PDAs, smartphones, iPhone, iPad, Mac and ultimately Apple Silicon.
