5 ms·

Intel has 1,000 people working on chips for the iPhone

50 points by happyscrappy 11y ago

nacs 11y ago
"If all goes well, Intel may" "will likely be the iPhone 7" "sources don’t believe Apple has officially signed Intel as a supplier" "it could be just the beginning of a much deeper Intel involvement in the iPhone" So this article is basically rumor and speculation. The only factual thing about this article is that Intel is working on a SOC (no surprise) which they hope Apple will buy.
- lucky_cloud 11y ago
  It's probably not the greatest bet either. Apple seems to be moving as much of their chip design in house. I'd bet many of these things will be on custom SOCs and Apple-designed chips a few years from now. Related: http://stevecheney.com/on-apples-incredible-platform-advantage/ http://stevecheney.com/on-apples-incredible-platform-advanta...
  - klodolph 11y ago
    Is Apple moving their chip design in-house, or just CPU design? Because the article is about the LTE modem and manufacturing.
- fieldforceapp 11y ago
  The article has some pretty good details, and while speculative, second sourcing LTE modems would make a lot of sense, no? The comments seem to be missing the SIP[0] aspect of modern electronic device manufacturing which Apple and others are pursuing[1]... it allows for some "strange bedfellows" and would explain a joint TSMC / Intel solution. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_in_package https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_in_package [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/hon-hai-loses-battle-to-control-taiwan-chip-company-1444909241 http://www.wsj.com/articles/hon-hai-loses-battle-to-control-...
sxates 11y ago
It's not for Apple, it's for Microsoft.
- tdicola 11y ago
  That's a heck of a bet for Intel to make considering Windows phone is 2% global market share and shrinking. Not trying to bash Windows phone either (I owned a WP7 device), it's just the reality that even MS is starting to come to grips with.
  - LoSboccacc 11y ago
    http://cdn.bgr.com/2015/04/computer-shipments-2015.png?w=624 http://cdn.bgr.com/2015/04/computer-shipments-2015.png?w=624 intel needs a way out of the shrinking pc market. gonna be profitable for a long time, but the tablet/smartphone market is a pie so big establish a foothold is gonna be strategic, even if the r&d cost is high (still article was mostly - but the writing on intel wanting mobile was on the wall for a long time ) also http://www.zdnet.com/article/intel-details-new-processors-aimed-at-cracking-the-mobile-market/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/intel-details-new-processors-ai...
    - klodolph 11y ago
      Intel is already out of the shrinking PC market. Servers are incredibly popular. Even cloud servers use Intel CPUs, and when people buy more cell phones, companies buy more servers. A strategic foothold for x86 might be out of the question now, even given Intel's deep pockets, but that doesn't mean that they can't manufacture ARMs on their 14nm process, and the investors know this.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
- macintux 11y ago
  Apple won't do anything with x86 in mobile, sure, but Intel is (or wants to be) more than a one-trick pony.
  - rdsnsca 11y ago
    Intel's Atom chips were Steve Jobs first choice for the iPad project ( and remember the iPhone project is an off shoot of the iPad project, not the other way around as many think ) But Intel's take it as it is attitude and the fact that an ARM prototype got almost double the battery life, eliminated them as a choice.
- klodolph 11y ago
  This comment is completely, utterly off the mark. Intel doesn't just make x86 chips. They have most of the best fabs in the world and produce lots of other chips, too. Not just CPUs, but things like LTE modems, which is what the article is talking about. The idea is that Apple would take their CPU design, bundle it with Intel's LTE modem to make an SOC, and then manufacture the stuff in Intel's fabs.
  - guan 11y ago
    The article is about LTE modems. Apple could continue to use their Samsung/TSMC made ARM chips as application processors, alongside an Intel LTE modem. The article also speculates that it would be a single die or package with an Intel-designed LTE modem and Apple-designed processor. My impression is that Intel’s fabs don’t do that many chips for other companies, especially compared to someone like Samsung. They have been a fab for Altera even before the acquisition, and I’m sure there are a few other customers like that, but I believe the bulk of what Intel fabs produce is Intel chips, whether it’s x86 CPUs or other stuff (chipsets, wireless, networking, flash, etc).
    - 11y ago
neals 11y ago
This really reads like a computer generated text.
x5n1 11y ago
Hell with a couple of billion phones out there... you better want a big piece of that market in this world. Whether those chips go in iPhone Android or whatever. They need to exist.

50 points by happyscrappy 11y ago

nacs 11y ago

"If all goes well, Intel may" "will likely be the iPhone 7" "sources don’t believe Apple has officially signed Intel as a supplier" "it could be just the beginning of a much deeper Intel involvement in the iPhone" So this article is basically rumor and speculation. The only factual thing about this article is that Intel is working on a SOC (no surprise) which they hope Apple will buy.

lucky_cloud 11y ago
It's probably not the greatest bet either. Apple seems to be moving as much of their chip design in house. I'd bet many of these things will be on custom SOCs and Apple-designed chips a few years from now. Related: http://stevecheney.com/on-apples-incredible-platform-advantage/ http://stevecheney.com/on-apples-incredible-platform-advanta...
- klodolph 11y ago
  Is Apple moving their chip design in-house, or just CPU design? Because the article is about the LTE modem and manufacturing.
fieldforceapp 11y ago
The article has some pretty good details, and while speculative, second sourcing LTE modems would make a lot of sense, no? The comments seem to be missing the SIP[0] aspect of modern electronic device manufacturing which Apple and others are pursuing[1]... it allows for some "strange bedfellows" and would explain a joint TSMC / Intel solution. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_in_package https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_in_package [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/hon-hai-loses-battle-to-control-taiwan-chip-company-1444909241 http://www.wsj.com/articles/hon-hai-loses-battle-to-control-...

sxates 11y ago

It's not for Apple, it's for Microsoft.

tdicola 11y ago
That's a heck of a bet for Intel to make considering Windows phone is 2% global market share and shrinking. Not trying to bash Windows phone either (I owned a WP7 device), it's just the reality that even MS is starting to come to grips with.
- LoSboccacc 11y ago
  http://cdn.bgr.com/2015/04/computer-shipments-2015.png?w=624 http://cdn.bgr.com/2015/04/computer-shipments-2015.png?w=624 intel needs a way out of the shrinking pc market. gonna be profitable for a long time, but the tablet/smartphone market is a pie so big establish a foothold is gonna be strategic, even if the r&d cost is high (still article was mostly - but the writing on intel wanting mobile was on the wall for a long time ) also http://www.zdnet.com/article/intel-details-new-processors-aimed-at-cracking-the-mobile-market/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/intel-details-new-processors-ai...
  - klodolph 11y ago
    Intel is already out of the shrinking PC market. Servers are incredibly popular. Even cloud servers use Intel CPUs, and when people buy more cell phones, companies buy more servers. A strategic foothold for x86 might be out of the question now, even given Intel's deep pockets, but that doesn't mean that they can't manufacture ARMs on their 14nm process, and the investors know this.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

macintux 11y ago
Apple won't do anything with x86 in mobile, sure, but Intel is (or wants to be) more than a one-trick pony.
- rdsnsca 11y ago
  Intel's Atom chips were Steve Jobs first choice for the iPad project ( and remember the iPhone project is an off shoot of the iPad project, not the other way around as many think ) But Intel's take it as it is attitude and the fact that an ARM prototype got almost double the battery life, eliminated them as a choice.
klodolph 11y ago
This comment is completely, utterly off the mark. Intel doesn't just make x86 chips. They have most of the best fabs in the world and produce lots of other chips, too. Not just CPUs, but things like LTE modems, which is what the article is talking about. The idea is that Apple would take their CPU design, bundle it with Intel's LTE modem to make an SOC, and then manufacture the stuff in Intel's fabs.
- guan 11y ago
  The article is about LTE modems. Apple could continue to use their Samsung/TSMC made ARM chips as application processors, alongside an Intel LTE modem. The article also speculates that it would be a single die or package with an Intel-designed LTE modem and Apple-designed processor. My impression is that Intel’s fabs don’t do that many chips for other companies, especially compared to someone like Samsung. They have been a fab for Altera even before the acquisition, and I’m sure there are a few other customers like that, but I believe the bulk of what Intel fabs produce is Intel chips, whether it’s x86 CPUs or other stuff (chipsets, wireless, networking, flash, etc).
  - 11y ago

neals 11y ago

This really reads like a computer generated text.

x5n1 11y ago

Hell with a couple of billion phones out there... you better want a big piece of that market in this world. Whether those chips go in iPhone Android or whatever. They need to exist.