ARM Holdings president Warren East confirmed the development of three ARM processor cores to power Apple iPhone. ARM architecture is no stranger to mobile phones and portable devices such as PDA and Multimedia Players, so it would be an easy choice for Apple to choose ARM to power its iPhone with ARM bringing its technology to the table. Rumor has it that iPhone is going to use Marvel¹s PXA320, a fork of StrongArm processor which indirectly similar to ARM architecture, but Apple has not disclose any information yet regarding what goes under the hood of iPhone.

Intel has recently announced a new embedded CPU called Tolapai which is an embedded CPU capable of running IA-32 OS, however its availability (not until late 2007) makes it impossible for iPhone to use it on the first production unit. If Apple ever chose Tolapai it would be easier to port OSX over to iPhone, however it will be a redundant development cost if Apple went ahead with ARM on first production of iPhone. Although it will cost Apple less using x86 embedded CPU, the cost of software development does not justify the options.

Intel jumping back into embedded market after selling off its XScale might have something to do to iPhone or they just believe embedded processor is part of their future.
CEO confirms “at least three” ARM processors in iPhone [EETimes.com]