Apple is now in the business of making its own mobile GPUs

Mixed in with the news out of Apple today that the company will release two new iPhone models (the iPhone 8 and the more expensive iPhone X, pictured) was a confirmation that the A11 chip powering both will have its own custom, Apple-designed GPU.

It's a notable move for the company, given that the market for mobile graphics has long been dominated by companies like ARM and Qualcomm.

Admittedly, this isn't a huge surprise; Apple has long licensed PowerVR tech for use in its mobile devices, but back in April TechCrunch reported Apple was working on designing its own GPU in-house.

"Apple has asserted that it has been working on a separate, independent graphics design in order to control its products and will be reducing its future reliance on Imagination’s technology," a representative of PowerVR parent company Imagination Technologies told TechCrunch at the time.

Curious devs can learn more about the new tech by digging into the A11 GPU reference docs recently published on Apple's developer hub.

Update:  An earlier version of this story mistakenly suggested Nvidia and PowerVR were a Big Deal in the mobile GPU market.