The Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are only weeks past their release date, but rumor surrounding what might be going into the 2016 iPhone 7 have already started. It appears that Intel may have a big role preparing the next-generation iPhone 7, if a new report on the possible collaboration proves true.

Intel is purportedly putting a thousand or more of its employees on a new project in collaboration with Apple to supply the 2016 iPhone 7 with its 7360 LTE modem chip.

Intel could also be involved in the fabrication of the next Apple system on a chip (SoC), which could eventually be called either the A10 or A9x, depending on how closely Apple sticks to its naming conventions and development cycle.

That's according to a recent VentureBeat report, based on "sources close to the matter" that of course preferred to remain unnamed. Beyond its sources, for supporting evidence, the tech blog also pointed to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich's announcement in a recent earnings call, where he said that the company would start shipping the Intel 7360 LTE modem chip by the end of the year, and that new products with that particular Intel inside them would begin appearing in 2016.

It's unclear if the deal has already been made, as one of VB's sources said they didn't believe Apple had officially signed Intel as a supplier yet.

However, another source said the massive staffing assignment supported the claim, as Apple demands a lot from its manufacturing and component sources, and because Intel sees the Apple partnership as the key to the company's future in the mobile market.

In the past several years, Intel has fallen behind in mobile as more manufacturers went with ARM-based architecture (such as Qualcomm's Snapdragon series) for the SoC powering their smartphones.

One of the sources contended that Intel's LTE modem chip could eventually be included in a combination SoC consisting of Apple's next Ax processor and Intel's offering.

In such a scenario, Apple's designers would create the SoC and Intel would likely get the manufacturing job, as it's recently announced a new, fully 14-nanometer chip manufacturing process that could more densely pack processing power into a smaller area. Samsung and TSMC, Apple's current A9 chipmakers use a combination of 14-nanometer and 20-nanometer manufacturing.

Of course, nothing has been confirmed by official sources, and likely won't be until at least the run-up to the iPhone 7's unveiling (and probably only afterwards). But the report points to a possible big win for Intel, as well as an iPhone 7 that continues to push the fundamental limits of cutting-edge technology.