The iPhone Will Have a Tri-Core Processor

Just when everybody thought we knew everything there is to know about Apple's miracle communication device that "is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone" (as Steve Jobs has declared), the rumor machine has started working again and I now have in my hands a piece of information many of you will find quite intriguing.

Even if not yet officially confirmed by Apple or by its processor manufacturer ARM Holdings plc, I came across a declaration made by Warren East, the CEO of ARM Holdings, when asked about how many cores will be in the iPhone's ARM processor: "ARM is in 90 percent of the world's [mobile phone] handsets; we're in WiFi, baseband processors and applications processors and most of the world's MP3 players. So it's at least three".

That's where the tri-core processor rumor started from. Although it is not yet official, this can easily classify as a 99% rumor because the man behind the above statement, ARM's CEO, is probably one of the few on the planet that know exactly what type of processor the iPhone has. Him and a number of people that you can count on one hand's fingers.

So it seems the iPhone will not only feature a revolutionary interface, but also a tri-cored processor, one more thing on the long list that makes it so desirable in the eyes of so many people.

If East's answer was only a misleading declaration or an unintended slip up, we are going to find out eventually because, once the rumor machine is up and running, facts start to build up and the end result is either the total disclosure of the subject or, in the worst case, the rumor being killed in its diapers.

Whatever we'll find, in the end one thing is sure: we will not know anything certain about the iPhone. And, I suppose, this is yet another thing that makes it such a wanted device.