Questionable report has Samsung in talks with ex-Apple engineers to develop custom chip architecture

According to a rumor found on South Korean language forum Cien.net (via AppleInsider), Samsung is talking with former processor engineers who worked for Apple and AMD. The goal would be to create a custom architecture that Samsung could use to develop custom chips. Apple engineers who worked on chip-related products including Apple Silicon are often considered catches.

In January, Qualcomm paid $1.4 billion for a start-up firm called Nuvia that was created by three ex-Apple engineers who worked on the A-series chipsets used to power iPhone and iPad models. Qualcomm reportedly made the purchase to enhance the 5G capabilities of its Snapdragon chipsets employed on Android devices. Nuvia CPUs are expected to be used in Qualcomm products that help drive flagship phones and other mobile devices.

The forum post mentions that talks between Samsung and a former Apple employee who lead the development of the company's architecture are almost over. It also states that an ex-Apple employee is demanding from Samsung the right to create a project team selecting his own team members. It isn't totally clear whether this former Apple engineer is the same person mentioned at the start of this paragraph.

Samsung does own a chip manufacturing foundry unit that produces its own Exynos line of chips and Qualcomm's 5nm Snapdragon 888 chipset that powers current flagship Android phones. While Samsung's Exynos chips are based on ARM's Cortex architecture, the post on Cien.net suggests that Samsung is turning to a custom architecture to improve the performance of its home grown chips.

Considering the source of this rumor, and the variations that might have occurred in translation, we would warn you to take the report with a grain of salt.