Apple's Job Listing Unveils New Processors and Video Processing for iPhone!

Apple has recently put up a job listing looking to hire a high performance or low level programmer with great understanding of the ARM processor including its NEON vector unit.

The successful candidate will have excellent understanding and knowledge of processor architecture, specifically ARM and its vector unit NEON. Additional Intel SSE or PowerPC AltiVec is also very helpful. Being able to use processor micro-architecture to write and deliver fast routines is an essential attribute.

NEON is an extension used to accelerate multimedia applications in the ARMv7 Cortex processors. Currently, Apple is using the ARMv6 processor in the iPhone and iPod Touch and apparently, it does not have support for NEON. This obviously means that Apple will be upgrading the iPhone and iPod Touch processors for the next generation and will be optimizing the new iPhone OS.

The ARM Cortex processor is also capable of multi-core processing but it is completely unknown whether this will be implemented into the next generation iPhone and iPod Touch. In another one of Apple's job listing, it reveals that Apple is looking for someone to "deliver cutting edge embedded video processing technologies." With that said, Apple seems to be trying to optimize the next generation iPhone and iPod Touch as much as possible to stay in the lead above other handheld devices.