Apple signs multi-year license agreement with Imagination Technologies

Apple began the new year with the signing of a multi-year license agreement with the British company, graphics processor Imagination Technologies. The latter confirmed the news in a brief press release stating that the new agreement is based on the previous deal between the two companies, 

which dates back to the year 2014 and gives Apple access to Imagination Technologies patents against the license fee.

The partnership between the two companies dates back to the first iPhone phone that used the PowerVR MBX graphics processor. In 2017, 

Apple decided to develop its own graphics processor and include it in the Apple A11 Bionic processor that was first used in the iPhone X, effectively signaling the end of the alliance. Apple's decision to develop its graphics processor had a major impact on Imagination Technologies,

 as the latter lost half of its revenue due to the end of its commercial relationship with Apple.

In 2017, Imagination Technologies was acquired by a Chinese company called Canyon Bridge, and in the same year, Apple was accused of violating its intellectual property rights. Recently, Imagination Technologies announced its latest GPU for mobile devices called “GPU Of Everything”,

 which are graphics processors designed to be used in the areas of mobile computing, cars and IoT devices. It remains to be seen if Apple plans to reuse PowerVR processors in its upcoming products.