The current Atom runs on the "Menlow" platform, and requires an external southbridge, I/O units, memory controller, RAM, etc. The second generation Atom will be part of the "Moorestown" platform which integrates all these necessary parts onto the CPU die as a System-on-a-chip. This will allow power requirements to drop dramatically, especially during idle times and should allow its integration into smartphone size devices.
I don't think Apple will use Atom until this 2nd generation for a device similar in size to the iPhone or a bit larger.
I agree that the iPhone is a huge step above, but those tens of millions of Blackberrys and Treo owners would certainly disagree with your statement. You might mean the consumer world, but smartphones were certainly popular in business.
The most recent indications are that PA Semi was acquired due to a chip set they where working on for Apple at the time they where acquired. Now what that chip set is has not been disclosed. It is completely possible that they had PA working on a highly integrated low power ARM chip.
While I agree that shrinking the current iPhone would lead to usability issues, if any thing Apple needs a larger iPhone, that does not eliminate the possibility of Apple making a smaller easier to use cell phone. Further multi Touch does offer Apple a lot of alternatives for an even smaller screen some of which they have already patented. The potential if there for a more limited but smaller iphone device. Sure the web will suck there but that still is not a big draw for many.
But back to ARM and ATOM. It is interesting that Apple has yet to publicly say that they have intentions to use ATOM on the iPhone. ATOMS only current advantage is its 64 bit nature, which makes sense long term. ARM though can be very competitive in the short term, especially if PA Semi can com up with a highly integrated iPhone on a chip implementation. Apple could potentially drive the cost of an iPhone down to something like $75. That would be nice
Dave
Yes, they could indeed have been working on an ARM variant. I should have better stated that.. "PA SEMI was not acquired for their POWER technology".
Anyways, Intel is obviously large enough to be a big competitor with the Atom, but ARM is by no means standing still. The iPhone is not using anything close to the highest performing ARM cpu. ARM's new line is the Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9. These chips scale to dual-core and over 1.0Ghz, easily enough power for a future iPhone and do not take more power than the ARM11 in the current iPhone. Coupled with the newest PowerVR/SGX video chip from Imagination, that would make for a great iPhone upgrade in the future.
I guess it all depends on the future revision of Atom, and what x86 has to offer Apple since they already ported everything over to ARM. I'm not sure how much 64-bit x86 matters, or if ARM has a 64-bit mode, or the implications of that. I think Apple will most likely stay with ARM for the time being and maybe introduce Intel CPUS in a few years or so.
