A recent article penned by former Apple executive, BeOS founder, and PalmSource executive Jean-Louis Gassée has stirred the internet by predicting that Apple could break up with Intel at any time and swap its entire product line over from x86 to ARM-based chips by using future iterations of the A7 SoC.

It’s an interesting argument, and it brings up some good points, particularly given that Intel charges Apple a high premium for the laptop chips it uses — from Apple’s perspective, it could pocket that revenue itself. Unfortunately, the article — published by Quartz — also reprints some laughably untrue assertions about the ARM-x86 comparison, writing “The aging x86 architecture is beset by layers of architectural silt accreted from a succession of additions to the instruction set. Emerging media formats demand new extensions, while obsolete constructs must be maintained for the sake of Microsoft’s backward compatibility religion.”

It’s a pretty story, but it’s not true. Independent research has demonstrated that the power consumption differences between ARM and x86 come down to architectural choices, not intrinsic inefficiencies in the ISA. Furthermore, power consumption at the device level is driven by multiple components, not just the CPU.

In an exclusive interview with ExtremeTech a couple of years ago, Intel’s then-mobile chief Mike Bell clearly stated that the concept of an “x86 tax” simply isn’t true. “There is nothing in the instruction set that is more or less energy efficient than any other instruction set,” Bell said. “It’s all about the implementation and the process technology; whether you target power, or speed, or both.”

None of this means you can’t build an ARM processor that’s more efficient than the x86 competition — but it means that doing so will be a function of the chip’s design or its process technology rather than an intrinsic property of the proposed instruction set. And yes, Apple’s newest A7 Cyclone SoC is a beast — but it’s a long, long way from being in any way competitive with Intel’s Core chips in terms of performance.

That aside, there are three good reasons why Apple won’t adopt ARM across its entire product line anytime soon — and one good reason why Intel should be worried about the long-term roadmap.

Next page: Three reasons Apple won’t dump x86 for ARM any time soon