So.... AMD, PowerPC, or did Apple port the whole OS to a third platform?

AMD seems unlikely without AMD making a deal about it, unless it's some unreleased AMD chip that they want kept quiet a few more months.

Porting to whole new architecture sounds unlikely--why bother, if PPC and Intel platforms exist already?

And PowerPC sounds unlikely too... but possible. G3?

According to this, it may be Portal Player:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11...ne_design_win/


I'm guessing that until this phone is officially released, Apple will not be divulging any information regarding it's internals so not to aid the it's competitors.

freescale?

Well, we know the OS is OS X.

I'd really like to know what chip is in there!

I'm assuming it's an Intel xScale chip, now courtesy of Marvell, like every other smartphone out there.

I daresay Apple has some experience with ARM chips, after all the newton ran on an ARM610. And it's RISC too.


That is, of course, unless Portal Player has an ARM-chip to go with the iPhone.

maybe it is using an Xscale which I believe intel sold a few years back..?

Transmeta is known for making very energy-efficient processors. They also happen to be x86 processors. So I think that would be a good option too.

I'd say it has to be something x86 or PPC compatible. I would be very surprised if Apple would port OS X to yet another new processor just for this.

Of course, the iPhone isn't running all of OS X. There's no Finder, no desktop, etc. Depending on how much they stripped away, maybe the remains are portable enough to target a new chip, but it still sounds unlikely to me.

One possibility is a non-Intel x86 chip. I've noticed that VIA is making a line of low power processors that may be very attractive for a PDA/phone type device. Their C7-M ULV processor only consumes 3.5W at 1GHz.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/...on=All+Stories

FBR Research also noted that Samsung appears to have won the combined video and applications processor socket in the latest video iPod, codenamed M45, which will launch in the third quarter. It replaces Nvidia in that role.