According to The Information, Apple paid less than 30 cents per chip patent fee to British chip design company Arm. Apple licenses the underlying technology used in iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and HomePod from Arm. Although Apple is one of Arm's largest and most important customers, it accounts for less than 5% of annual revenue, and the company pays the smallest fee among Arm's smartphone chip customers.
Apple pays a flat royalty of less than 30 cents for each chip used in its devices, regardless of how many cores the chip has.
In 2017, the CEO of SoftBank, the company that owns Arm, called out Arm executives and explained that Apple was paying more for the plastic sheets it used to protect new iPhone screens than it was for licensing Arm's intellectual property. SoftBank tried to renegotiate Arm's agreement with Apple to increase patent rates, but apparently failed.
While Apple is unlikely to sever ties with Arm, the company has apparently explored the long-term possibility of using competing open source technology RISC-V in its chips. Apple's current licensing agreement with Arm was signed in September and "extends beyond 2040," but the chip architect is said to have been trying to renegotiate its financial terms.