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Thanks to a leaked presentation slide belonging to Intel, there is much speculation on the rumor that the iPhone may be destined to switch from its current Samsung-based roots to Intel’s Atom architecture in the near future. However, since Intel’s Atom architecture is only in its first generation, the evidence suggests that the transition will not take place until the second revision of the ultra-mobile Atom platform, code-named “Moorestown,” is released.

This would see the speculated third-generation iPhone pick up Silverthorne’s smaller, and more refined successor sometime in the future (possibly 2009), while the Silverthorne chip itself serves an initial and important role in Apple’s tablet-like extension of the iPod touch platform, frequently referenced as a reincarnation of Apple’s discontinued Newton MessagePad.

Along with many other things, the move to Intel’s Atom architecture will allow Apple to better solidify the codebase of its handheld devices with that of its remaining business segments, mainly its Macintosh computer line and digital media products, such as Apple TV. It will also serve to help Apple form a tighter shield around its intellectual property, preventing information leaking through the press and the Internet as it has many times in the past, given that the company’s disclosures and future product plans will be in the hands of one less partner.

During Intel’s Fall developer forum last year, its executives mentioned an unnamed “Moorestown” processor, describing it vaguely as the “chip the iPhone would have wanted.” Expect the future of the iPhone to be based on Intel’s Atom architecture.