Future iPhone To Use Intel Moorestown Processor?

[MacRumors]

The Inquirer posts what it claims is more evidence that Apple is planning to adopt Intel's Moorestown architecture for a future iPhone model.

DigiTimes was first to make such a claim in October 2007 citing the usual "OEM sources." The Inquirer now posts a slide from Intel's CeBIT presentation which depicts the iPhone as a Moorestown smartphone.




Image courtesy of The Inquirer

Of course, the use of the iPhone to represent smartphones may not mean anything, as the iPhone is currently one of the hottest-selling smartphones on the market. However the image does corroborate DigiTimes' previous claims.

The Moorestown platform is the successor to the Menlow platform due later this year. Both are based around the Intel Atom processor, which Intel expects to launch a new class of mobile internet devices. Moorestown is not expected until 2009, so its use would likely be for the third or later iteration of the iPhone, but could also find its way into the rumored Apple mini-tablet.

Update: Recent analysis by Anandtech suggests that Intel's Atom's processors (and therefore Moorestown) may not be headed to the iPhone until at least 2010.

Article Link

[D 5]

Let it be till it is...

[thejadedmonkey]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

<snip>Other rumors have pegged Intel's Atom (previously Silverthorne) as a likely candidate for Apple's next iPhone.

I thought Atom was a desktop CPU, not an ARM CPU.... So wouldn't that mean that if adopts Atom, they'd be creating a 5th platform to support? (OS X PPC, OS X x86, OS X x64, iPhone ARM, iPhone x64)

[Badandy]

Intel's Atom chip will not be in the iPhone.

How many times does this need to be said? The power consumption on the Atom is like 5-10 times what the current processor for the iPhone is. Stop perpetuating these ignorant rumors, please.

[rockstarjoe]

I don't think Atom will be in the next iPhone, since it's power consumption is pretty high... but it could definitely end up in the macintouch or whatever you want to call the new newton.

[AGSHender]

Originally Posted by Badandy

Intel's Atom chip will not be in the iPhone.

How many times does this need to be said? The power consumption on the Atom is like 5-10 times what the current processor for the iPhone is. Stop perpetuating these ignorant rumors, please.

A future revision of the iPhone, perhaps, but not the 3rd revision as the story suggests. In a recent article AnandTech theorized that maybe by 2010/2011 Intel might be able to bring power consumption down enough to be in an iPhone-type device, but ARM rules the roost for power consumption to performance ratio for at least the next few years.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=3254&p=2

[filmguy15]

Why did we need to know about this?

[aprilfools]

The Inquirer? I hope this is not the tabloid paper that has less than zero credibility. Oh wait........ That's the National Inquirer.

[AGSHender]

Originally Posted by aprilfools

The Inquirer? I hope this is not the tabloid paper that has less than zero credibility. Oh wait........ That's the National Inquirer.

No...you had it right the first time.

[longofest]

Originally Posted by thejadedmonkey

I thought Atom was a desktop CPU, not an ARM CPU.... So wouldn't that mean that if adopts Atom, they'd be creating a 5th platform to support? (OS X PPC, OS X x86, OS X x64, iPhone ARM, iPhone x64)

Atom supports the full X86 instruction set, but is meant for ultra-mobile devices. See previous rumors (note: Atom used to be named Silverthorne, and is part of the Menlow platform).

Originally Posted by Badandy

Intel's Atom chip will not be in the iPhone.

How many times does this need to be said? The power consumption on the Atom is like 5-10 times what the current processor for the iPhone is. Stop perpetuating these ignorant rumors, please.

You may disagree with the rumor, but the rumors are not necessarily "ignorant", as they are coming from reputable sources. The above link is from AppleInsider, which has a pretty good track record (minus all the coverage from analysts).

Originally Posted by aprilfools

The Inquirer? I hope this is not the tabloid paper that has less than zero credibility. Oh wait........ That's the National Inquirer.

Originally Posted by AGSHender

No...you had it right the first time.

Actually made a comment about that in a story once...

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/02/14/...d-for-mac-pro/

[the.snitch]

makes sense, as the aspen simulator only runs intel binaries of SDK compiled apps. When you build the app to run on the iphone, it compiles an ARM binary. So obviously the ability to create a "Universal" ARM/x86 binary already is in place

[AGSHender]

Originally Posted by longofest

You may disagree with the rumor, but the rumors are not necessarily "ignorant", as they are coming from reputable sources. The above link is from AppleInsider, which has a pretty good track record (minus all the coverage from analysts).

Let's call them "premature," at the very least. Intel is trying to position a low-power x86-compatible CPU into as many devices as they can, but they have years to go before they can meet the power requirements needed to run the devices they want to power without draining the batteries extremely quickly.

In the end, Apple might stay with ARM's RISC architecture as it advances. ARM's chips are solid, reliable, and draw next to nothing in terms of power. Inel's architecture is based on proven technology, but still introduces a huge X factor into product development. Who knows, though? That's years down the line. Saying that they will make it into the iPhone is just pure speculation.

Originally Posted by the.snitch

makes sense, as the aspen simulator only runs intel binaries of SDK compiled apps. When you build the app to run on the iphone, it compiles an ARM binary. So obviously the ability to create a "Universal" ARM/x86 binary already is in place

Well, that could be attributed to the fact that the development machine and simulator runs on Intel-processor based Macs, could it not?

[SirOmega]

Its likely, but not until 2011 or later like Anandtech says.

The complex instruction decoder in the x86 chip is one of the power hogs, and probably the most difficult one to deal with since it cant be removed. Unless Intel manages to make a x86 instruction subset that doesn't involve any of these (and therefore getting rid of that decoder), ARM will always have the Performance/Watt ratio in its favor.

That doesn't mean it wont be the case some day where Intel gets the chip to such low power consumption (23nm fabrication perhaps in 2011) where its possible for Apple to choose the x86 chip over ARM because it wont matter from a bullet-point list perspective - the difference between 4 and 5 days at idle and 10 vs 12 hours of talk/data time isn't a big difference when compared to the cost savings of having both OSX and OSX Mobile operating systems running on the x86 platform.

[fanbrain]

Originally Posted by rockstarjoe

I don't think Atom will be in the next iPhone, since it's power consumption is pretty high... but it could definitely end up in the macintouch or whatever you want to call the new newton.

"TouchIntosh"

[tpouliot]

I work for a large company where we use the iPhone in presentations as representation of smart devices, mobile devices, etc. This does not mean my company is working on iPhone apps, or exclusively working on the iPhone platform...

Its pretty to look at therefore, it will be used to represent mobile devices in general...

[Badandy]

Originally Posted by longofest

You may disagree with the rumor, but the rumors are not necessarily "ignorant", as they are coming from reputable sources. The above link is from AppleInsider, which has a pretty good track record (minus all the coverage from analysts).

To be honest, I don't care about their track record. The Atom processor will not work in an iPhone, unless you want half an hour of battery life. It's too power consuming, statistically.

[twoodcc]

whatever works best. makes sense to use Intel though, since they do in their computers, but just use whatever is the best fit

[mike12806]

sounds like page 2 news to me....

[angelodmhl]

Poor intel... Don't they know that no one announces anything before The Steve does? Now they will probably use AMD processors on future iphones

[Marx55]

The full Mac OS X 10.5.2 experience on your pocket; I mean, on your hand... is around the corner. We just cannot wait.

[Hattig]

Originally Posted by Badandy

Intel's Atom chip will not be in the iPhone.

How many times does this need to be said? The power consumption on the Atom is like 5-10 times what the current processor for the iPhone is. Stop perpetuating these ignorant rumors, please.

Damn right. Quite why anyone would want such an unsuitable CPU, nevermind the bulky chipset and the rest of it in the iPhone is beyond me. Some sort of mentally deficient Church Of Intel infatuation I think.

Moorestown + Supporting Chipset is way too large as well.

Edit: Mac Rumours should create a Page 3 category for these rumours.

[longofest]

Originally Posted by Hattig

Damn right. Quite why anyone would want such an unsuitable CPU, nevermind the bulky chipset and the rest of it in the iPhone is beyond me. Some sort of mentally deficient Church Of Intel infatuation I think.

Moorestown + Supporting Chipset is way too large as well.

I really don't get why you and others are thinking that Moorestown won't be suitable for the iPhone. Obviously, some folks have reservations about whether the current or near-future line of Atom processors will be able to keep power consumption at a low enough level, but Intel's roadmap clearly designates the platform to head towards smartphones.

[UCLA-Bruin]

will the next iPhone make its debut in June? my TMobile contract expires in August.

[UCLA-Bruin]

Page 2 news all the way!

[idonotliketostu]

I wonder when the nexy iphone will come out! will it be on the 1 year cycle like the ipods? hmm