From The Inquirer:

BRITISH CHIP SHOP ARM today announced development of two Cortex A9 dual core processors that are capable of running at up to 2GHz.

The processors, which feature hard macro implimentation, are built using the TSMC 40nm-G process and draw less than 250mw per CPU under full load, making them ideal for embedded applications and portable devices where heat, size and battery drain are crucial issues.

ARM, which doesn't actually fabricate chips itself, has licensed the Cortex A9 designs to 15 chip makers over the last 18 months. It's not a wild stretch of imagination to posit that the company has already licensed the chips to Apple's recently acquired processor design company, PA Semi. The Santa Clara based company, which has strong historical ties with Cambridge-based ARM, is widely thought to be working on custom processors which would service Apple's future needs, so it would be remiss of us not to add some wild speculation to the mix.

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