Future 'Pres' and 'iPhones' to Include Dual-Core ARM Processors

ARM, a worldwide leading smartphone chip maker, stated recently that future smartphones were very likely to come to the market sporting more than one core inside their processors. According to the company, the move will be driven both by the fact that handsets tend to mimic the hardware features of personal computers, and by the need to handle more complex applications that have started to be developed for them.

As such, the company expects that high-end smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone or the Palm Pre, will soon include processors with more than one core, which is a natural progression in the handset area. “You'll definitely see handsets shipping with a dual-core A9 in 2010,” stated James Bruce, wireless segment manager for ARM, cited by Cnet. He was referring to the next-generation Cortex-A9 processor from ARM.

While Palm Pre currently uses a processor based on Cortex A8, a single core processor, and the iPhone an Apple-branded chip developed on an ARM design, the next-generation A9 will come with a dual-core design, and “all the way up to quad-core to give smartphones an even bigger performance boost,” Bruce says.

Those who fear that a dual-core processor might shorten the life of the handset's battery should know that things are the other way around, as the upcoming A9 seems to be more power efficient than the existing A8 chip. Given the fact that A9 will be based on the 45-nanometer process technology, it will be both faster and more energy efficient when compared to the 65-nm A8 processor.

Although A8 is already able to offer increased performance when compared to previous ARM processors, the upcoming one will be even better. “You're getting a 2X increase (over the previous ARM design). It's a superscalar design but it's also an out-of-order design as well. There is some out-of-order aspects with the A8 but the A9 is a very aggressive out-of-order processor,” Bruce said.