Atom-powered iPhone, the sequel
Remember the fuss stirred up last month when an Intel exec talked about a future iPhone that would be powered by one of Intel’s Atom chips? (See Anatomy of a Rumor: The Atom-powered Newton iPhone.)
What gave the rumor legs — and generated more than a dozen headlines on Techmeme — was the kind of iPhone that the Atom was alleged to be powering: a mini-tablet device like the ill-fated Apple Newton.
Well, the story is back, but this time in a form that makes more sense — and may shed light on what that Intel exec was really talking about in May.
On Thursday, JoAnne Feeney, an analyst with FTN Midwest, reported in a note to clients that the next generation of iPhones will in fact be powered by one of the CPUs in the Intel Atom line — a class of microprocessors designed for use in ultra-mobile PCs, smart phones and other portable and low-power applications.
As Barron’s Eric Savitz helpfully notes, Feeney is not talking about the iPhone 3G set to go on sale July 11. That one is still powered, as far as anyone outside Apple or Hon Hai knows, by the same Samsung ARM that drives the 2G model. She’s talking about a new and presumably better iPhone, due to arrive in 2009 or maybe 2010.
Neither Feeney or Savitz say anything about a mini-tablet.
Neither, for that matter, did Intel Germany CEO Hannes Schwaderer, speaking at an Intel event on May 14. Here’s the passage that set off last month’s rumors, as reported by ZDNet.de and translated by MacRumors:
“As part of an Intel event for the 40th birthday of the semiconductor company at Munich’s BMW World, Germany managing director Hannes Schwaderer confirmed today what has long been a rumor on the Internet: namely, that there is an iPhone with Intel’s new Atom chip. The device is slightly larger than the current version, Schwaderer said. That is not, however, because of the Intel chip, but because of the larger display used in the new iPhone.” (link)
Intel later denied that Schwaderer mentioned a larger display — or said anything about any future Apple (AAPL) products, for that matter.
Which makes a next-generation Atom-powered iPhone important news for Intel (INTC) and, presumably, Samsung (SSUN.F). But for the rest of us, not so much.
I meant “But they can always resort to ARM, Infineon, Broadcom or NVIDIA” for the ASICs. I’m not confusing the application processor with the communications processor, some of these companies have both integrated in the same ASIC together with FM + Wi-Fi + Bluetooth + 3.5G radio…
Apple’s Steve Jobs could eventually forgo the investment he has made in P.A. Semi for the power hungry and expensive Intel Atom chip if - and only if - Intel would decide to replace their 80.000 XP System with Macs. They have decided not to upgrade to Vista, that has been on the news (see CNBC Jim Goldman’s “One Small Step for Intel; Giant Leap for Apple?” article here http://www.cnbc.com/id/25392824 ).
That move would be so significant, IBM would maybe follow through, that there would be the tipping point for the consumers and corporations to rush to buy the Macs in droves.
Otherwise I don’t see this article as more than rumor of a speculative rumor with little chance of coming to fruition.
Notwithstanding, I have little doubts that Apple *may* eventually source the Atom for their mini-tablet / Newton, a handheld computer with phone capabilities to fill the gap between the iPhone and the MacBook. But they always resort to ARM, Infineon, Broadcom or NVIDIA. That is, while P.A. Media isn’t churning out their own chips/ASICs…
friggin conjecture and speculation at best.
gee should I sell some apple stock?
wonder why apple bought a chip manufacturing company?
gee should a sell some apple and sell all my intel?
Didn’t Jobs state that the recent acquisition will design chips for mobile apple devices?
PED,
Its far from certain which chip, at least for those not in Apple’s decision making team, will power iPhones. Steve Jobs himself has said in a New York Times interview that Apple should make the chips that power these and similar devices. The acquisition of PA Semi earlier this year would indicate that they are serious about that.
Most observers feel that ARM chips are much better at power conservation than the current Atom chips so I believe that ARM will continue in the iPhone until Atom is manufactured at the 32 nm process. At that point Apple may look and see how that version of Atom would work in an iPhone. However Atom probably won’t be moving to 32 nm until 2010, if I remember correctly.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where Apple is heading. A larger “tablet” that’s touch-screen, wired, has a sophisticated operating system and a slew of available applications is pretty much a foregone conclusion. It’s called “convergence”.
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
We at Intel made the ARM chips for years, we know them inside and out. Now we make the Atom at my Fab and I ask you, would we really go and drop a good product for a bad one? The Atom is a huge step up from Arm.