Apple is working on something big. But it's too soon to know what, exactly, Steve Jobs & Co. are doing. But it is not too early to know who is doing it. And that, ultimately, may be more important.

That's because it was the software people Jobs brought with him to Apple ( AAPL - news - people ) from his start-up, Next, who have helped make Apple's turnaround into a lasting renaissance.

When Jobs rejoined Apple in 1997, the computer company's operating system was a mess. To buy time, Jobs moved fast to update the company's dowdy hardware. Meanwhile, Jobs put the software gurus from Next to work on Apple's next big thing: OS X, introduced in 2001.

Of course, Apple's hardware designs have long been distinctive. But with the adoption of Intel ( INTC - news - people ) processors, announced in 2005, Apple's computers have become so much like PCs that they can run Microsoft's ( MSFT - news - people ) Windows software as well as anything sold by Dell ( DELL - news - people ) or Hewlett-Packard ( HPQ - news - people ).

Instead it has been OS X that has set Apple apart, putting it at the center of the high-end personal computer business and giving it a shot at dominating the next big thing: smart phones.

That effort was defined by Next veterans such as Avads "Avie" Tevanian, Bertrand Serlet and Scott Forstall. The trio brought the stability and networking smarts of Next's Unix-based operating system to the mass market.

While Tevanian retired from Apple in 2006, Serlet remains as senior vice president of software engineering. Forstall, meanwhile, leads the development of the firm's iPhone software.

Now Apple is looking for ways to make another fundamental piece of its products more distinctive: its chips. While Apple's iPhone, for example, has sold well, it relies on processors based on designs licensed from the UK's ARM to Samsung, making it relatively easy for the electronics giant to ape the iPhone's capabilities.

That situation won't last long, however. The first move came last year, when Apple purchased chip designer PA Semi for $278 million in cash (see "Apple Buys Chip Designer"), obtaining the services veteran microprocessor designer Dan Dobberpuhl and a team of chip designers who specialize in wringing power out of processors.

The next move came when Apple wrestled Mark Papermaster away from IBM ( IBM - news - people ). The chip designer turned blade server honcho will go to work at Apple this week, where he will lead the group in charge of the company's iPod and iPhone hardware.

Finally, Apple has hired graphics chip guru Bob Drebin, former chief technology officer of Advanced Micro Device's graphics products group and designer of the Nintendo ( NTDOY.PK - news - people ) GameCube's graphics processor. Drebin has also worked as chief engineer at Silicon Graphics ( SGIC - news - people ) and was an employee at Pixar.

So what does it mean? Speculation abounds. It is not speculation, however, to note that the resumes of the trio of processor designers Apple has beamed aboard is heavy on experience building chips for powerful, low-cost devices such as game consoles and phones. And then there are Steve Jobs' words: "PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods," Jobs told The New York Times last year.

So why speculate. Sooner or later, Apple is going to start designing more of the iPhone and iPod's innards itself, taking its hardware, and software, in a radical new direction.