Apple's iPhone soon to be powered by the Intel Atom processor?
In what might be a high-profile case of career suicide, an Intel Germany executive has reportedly confirmed that Apple plans to use Intel's Atom processor in a future iPhone.
The report, from our sister site ZDNet.de, is in German. I don't speak German. Google's translation service says "As part of an Intel-Events for the 40th Birthday semiconductor company BMW in Munich, Germany-World's managing director Hannes Schwaderer today confirms what has long been a rumor on the Internet kursierte: namely, that there is an iPhone with Intel's new nuclear-chip type." Atom, in the German version, is spelled the same way as the English word, so I think it's safe to assume that "nuclear-chip type" means Intel's Atom processor. I sent an e-mail to the author of the report hoping to get an official English translation.
Rumors about Apple deciding to throw all of its eggs into Intel's chip-making basket have been persistent ever since Intel started talking about its Silverthorne processor, which is now known as Atom. The problem is that the current generation of Atom is not quite right for smartphones like the iPhone: it gives off too much heat to be practical in a device the size of the iPhone.
The report says the Atom-based iPhone would be larger, and uses the reference design for a mobile Internet device that Intel created for its Fall Intel Developer Forum. That design was a mockup of what MIDs using the next-generation of Atom, code-named Moorestown, might resemble, rather than an actual product blueprint. A switch to Intel's chips is certainly possible for an iPhone released around the 2009-2010 timeframe expected for Moorestown, and it's also possible that Apple has an Atom-based tablet-like device in the works, but it's far from clear.
An Intel representative said he was looking into the report, but doubted that the Intel executive had actually confirmed such a plan, or even whether the executive in question — who is head of Intel's German operations — would even be aware of such a thing, assuming it existed. Throw another log on the iPhone rumor pile.
SirToby
16/05/2008 11:03 AM
Here's a translation of the article: As part of an Intel event, celebrating the 40th birthday of the semi-conductor company in Munich's BMW-World, Intel-Germany's boss Hannes Schwaderer acknowledged a rumour going making its rounds on the Internet: There will be an iPhone with Intel's Atom chip. The device will be a bit larger that the current model, according to Schwaderer. That's not because of the chip but a larger display, which will be used for the new iPhone. This confirms rumours, which were made public by Switch-to-a-Mac in mid April. Presumably, Steve Jobs will present the new iPhone with a screen resolution of 720 x 480 pixels during the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), held by Apple from June 9th to June 13th in San Francisco, to the public The current iPhones will still be available though. Introduction of UMTS (3G) capable devices should be imminent, since the non-UMTS iPhones are sold out in many countries and can not be back ordered. Further information to the new iPhones can be found in the (linked) article UMTS, GPS und Exchange: So wird das iPhone 2.0 aussehen. Update 15/05/2008 Intel has in the meantime denied the ZDnet article. More info available here: Intel dementiert ZDNet-Bericht über größeres iPhone. 2. Update 15/05/2008: The colleagues from "PC Games Hardware" have confirmed the ZDnet article though.
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sami
19/05/2008 05:18 AM
ver gud
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