Apple Thoughts: Apple Versus Intel?

"Given how much engineering effort the company has focused on its iOS-based products—to the point where most of the CPUs in Mac hardware have fallen a full generation behind—it's hard to imagine that Jobs isn't feeling similarly betrayed by yet another Apple partner's full-court press into the smartphone market. I'm talking, of course, about Intel, which just hired former Apple and Palm VP Mike Bell to head up its smartphone efforts, and which is rumored to be contemplating a purchase of key baseband chipmaker Infineon. Intel is jumping into the smartphone market with both feet, and the company's goal isn't just to create a direct iPhone competitor—no, Intel wants to empower a whole ecosystem of iPhone competitors based on x86."

Ars Technica goes through the recent history of Apple and Intel and they do a good job of laying out potential points of contention between the two companies. Yesterday's update to the iMac and the upcoming Mac Pro update seem to derail Ars Technica's argument that those lines are a generation behind, but both lines were overdue for an upgrade. The fact that Intel is entering the smartphone market is sure to cause tension between both companies in the future. While I don't see Apple dropping Intel chipsets any time soon, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Do you think that there is a rivalry between Intel and Apple, and if so, what will be the end result?