Ars Technica reports that support for Marvell's quad-core Armada XP processor has recently been added to the version of Apple's "Clang" compiler used in its Xcode developer tools. It is unclear, however, why support for the ARM-based processor has been included.
A developer who works on low-level ARM assembly coding for security products was the first to alert Ars that support had been added for Armada's Cortex A9-compatible processors in the latest version of Xcode (a claim that we later confirmed first-hand). The source code for a part of Clang that interprets what CPU type is being targeted for optimization includes a definition for an architecture type of "armv7k" and CPU type "pj4b". PJ4B is a specially optimized CPU design used in Marvell's quad-core Armada XP embedded processors.The reports suggests that while the inclusion of Armada XP support could point toward potential adoption of the processor in a future iOS device or even a MacBook Air, it is more likely that Apple is using the processor in prototypes simply for testing purposes as it continues work on its own ARM-based chips.
Several reports have indicated that Apple's next-generation A6 system-on-a-chip will offer a quad-core processor, although Ars Technica's report suggests that the A6 is primarily being designed as die shrink of the existing dual-core A5 design.
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