Intel Germany executive reportedly confirms Atom-based iPhone
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.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
It may use an Atom processor, or not. I have my doubts because the source apparently indicated the new iPhone would use the Intel reference design. Being wrong on that makes me doubt the accuracy of the Atom info too.
- by xylouris May 15, 2008 2:20 AM PDT
- "I sent an e-mail to the author of the report hoping to get an official English translation". Not official, but still better than the Google translation:
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(4 Comments)As part of an Intel-Event for the 40th Birthday of the semiconductor company which took place in the BMW-World in Munich, Germany's managing director Hannes Schwaderer today confirms what has long been circulating as a rumor on the Internet: namely, that there will be an iPhone with Intel's new Atom chip. The device would be slightly larger than the current model, according to Schwaderer. This is not because of the Intel chip, but of the larger display used in the new iPhone.
This confirms the rumors that have been published since mid-April by switch-to-a-Mac. Apparently Jobs is expected to announce the new iPhone with a display resolution of 720 by 480 pixels during the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), which Apple organizes from June 9 to 13 in San Francisco.
However, iPhone models with the current design will also still be available. The launch of devices that support UMTS is imminent, since the current model without UMTS is already sold out in many countries and can no longer be ordered. More information about the new iPhone devices can be found in the article "UMTS, GPS and Exchange: This is how the iPhone 2.0 looks".