Next iPhone to get Multi-Core ARM Processor in 2010?

CNET News reports that ARM may be able to develop multi-core ARM chips by 2010, allowing smart phones like the iPhone possible to have multi-cores.

"You'll definitely see handsets shipping with a dual-core A9 in 2010," James Bruce, wireless segment manager for ARM, said in a phone interview earlier this week, referring to the next-generation Cortex-A9 processor from ARM.

While the iPhone 3G S is believed to have the ARM Cortex A8 Processor, it still remains as a single core chip. We have seen some noticeable improvements in speed compared to the previous generations with older ARM chips and we would obviously think that having a multi-core processor will decrease our battery life. However, an ARM representative has confirmed that the dual-core ARM A9 processor will actually be more power efficient than the Cortex A8 processor.

"What we've done on the A9 is actually make it more power efficient than the A8. The dual-core A9 will be coming out on 45-nanometer rather than the (current) 65-nanometer process," Bruce said. Generally, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power-efficient the processor is.
Bruce continued. "With the dual-core running at maximum load there's probably going to be an increase of about 10 to 20 percent in power consumption but in general day to day use you're actually going to see better battery life."