Apple Inc. will form a closer bond with once-rival Intel Corp. early next year when it begins building a new breed of ultra-mobile processors from the chipmaker into a fresh generation of handheld devices, AppleInsider has learned.

The two firms have been rubbing the sticks ever since the Spring of 2005, when Apple agreed to use Intel’s desktop and mobile class processors to further the development of its Mac product line, leaving behind an ailing relationship with PowerPC …