The Possibility Of Qualcomm Processors Powering The Cheap iPhone 

Forbes:

That’s what the analysts at Detwiler Fenton think is happening. They contend that checks find that Apple is working on “a new product” aimed at the low-end of the market that will be built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

Whilst it would be very weird for Apple to go back to using third-party processor designs, in light of their investments into their own SoCs, I suppose it isn’t an impossibility.

At the end of the day, Apple would rather sacrifice its personal pride to create a better product. Also, Apple’s own processors are designed to hit ever-higher levels of performance. In a lower-end product, that kind of power (and cost premium) would simply be a waste.