&gt; Your assertion that their license will not permit them to alter the architecture is wrong. This is true of the vast majority of ARM licenses, but not Apple&#x27;s.<p>&gt; They can take the ARM ISA and extend it in any way they want, and they can take ARM cores and adjust them, or design their own-- they have already done all of this (though to a small degree, not enough to be called a &quot;new ISA&quot;.)<p>What is your source for this?  As far as I know ARM do not permit modification of the designs they sell or alterations to the architecture.  After all allowing such things could lead to the errosion of their business (e.g. by letting apple slowly slide to a non ARM architecture).