I dont think you understand why ARM is so dominant in smartphones and other small devices. It owns the intellectual property that is at the centre of an entire product develpment cycle. That sub-culture has adopted ARM (as opposed to MIPS or other competitors) because, going back 10 or more years, it had the right technology, the right support tools and the right licensing and royalties models. Intel cannot simply swap cores and expect the rest of the $zillion economy to say – er, OK Intel, we’ll put everything on hold whilst you play catch up . If Infineon changes core then Apple will simply shop elsewhere. Intel might as well just flush $1.4 billion down the toilet.

My coverage is better under ATT, my plan is better under ATT, my customer service is better under ATT and there’s no way in hell I’d go back even if iPhone were released for that 1980′s, bass-akward network and company.

Give me 15 minutes extra and I’ll tell you how I really feel

I would think apple would have preferred to use an off the shelf (intel) processor in the iPhone, except for the suckitude (yes that is a technical term) of the processors available.

Apple has been a great partner to ATT, and vice versa. Yes, the network is the glaring problem for the iPhone, but the move to data-demanding mobile devices happened far, far faster than anyone anticipated once the iPhone came out. Demands on networks, even WiFi, has far exceeded most estimates. ATT needed to move faster to build up its network, but its not as easy as simply slapping up a few more towers. Verizon would not have fared any better, nor Sprint nor T-Mobile (the latter two may have been worse than ATT due to their size and financial troubles).

Not excusing ATT, but the iPhone really boosted ATT’s sales and customer retention rates, as well as stressing their network (the iPhone certainly exposed the holes in ATT’s coverage). Apple has gone WAY out of its way to praise ATT and state that ATT has been a good partner, which it has, because it took a leap of faith to sign on to carry the iPhone without having seen it first, and to initially try a very different compensation model.

Intel only wants people to use Intel chips. No more Nvidia chip sets.
I can see Intel changing Infineon’s radio chip to only work with Intel cpus.
Trying to force companies to use Intel cpus the way they are forced to used Intel integrated graphics (that suck compared to Nvidia)

MDN is right. I cannot remember any time that Apple was anything but a good partner for AT&T. Is he referring to Apple’s ending of the exclusivity contract or that the iPhone has put overwhelming demand on AT&T’s network?