a5x

Rumor: Apple to include quad-core A6 in next iPhone

Sources in the industry speaking with DigiTimes (via AppleInsider) have reportedly been expecting the competition in the smartphone world to heat up around the adoption of quad-core processors as early as this year's holiday quarter.

HTC, Samsung, LG, and China's Meizu already have quad-core processors in their phones, leading industry sources to believe that indeed, Apple will have to include a new chip to stay competitive.

That new iPhone is largely expected to be released this fall.

While its competition is mostly using Qualcomm's dual-core technology (quad-core is forthcoming later this year), Apple is expected to use … Read more

That $399 budget iPad 2 has precious silicon inside

Think the new $399 iPad 2 is just a cheaper knockoff of the original? Think again. There's some premium silicon inside.

The $399 Wi-Fi iPad 2 -- the only new iPad 2 that Apple now sells -- uses a more advanced version of the dual-core Apple A5 series chip, according to chip review site Anandtech.

That more advanced A5 chip is built on a cutting-edge Samsung manufacturing process, Anandtech says. Hardly a trivial difference.

As a chip's geometries shrink -- going from 45-nanometer to 32-nanometer, for example -- a lot of things can happen. All of them good. … Read more

Fresh iPhone 5 rumors: Modified chip, new body, bigger screen

More next-gen iPhone rumors surfaced today pointing to a modified Apple chip, more memory, new chassis, and a bigger screen.

Display and chassis: Let's start with a report at Business Insider, which cites a research note from Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White (returning from a tour of component suppliers in China). White says the next iPhone will have 4-inch screen and "sleek look that we believe will require a unibody case."

The upcoming iPhone is also expected to have 4G (presumably he means LTE) capability, like the new iPad, according to the analyst.

Big launch: White … Read more

Third-gen iPad raises a few red flags

There are a few troubling technical aspects of the new iPad that give me pause about the post-Jobs Apple.

I'll skip the obligatory praise of the new iPad's Retina display. And for those readers who want to call me a whiner, idiot, or Apple hater, go ahead, take your best shot.

On launch day, while I was pleased to find that the new iPad was only slightly thicker than the iPad 2, this raised the first red flag for me.

Dilution of Jobs Doctrine? The design decisions that led to a chunkier iPad are a little worrisome and … Read more

New iPad's performance gets iPhoto reality check

The new iPad's performance is less than stellar on iPhoto and lags the Asus Transformer Prime tablet in some tests because of Apple's aging central processing unit, according to a chip review site.

Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 chip -- used in the Asus Transformer Prime tablet -- is faster in some key tests than new iPad's A5X chip, according to tests conducted by Anandtech.

While Apple touts the A5X chip's quad-core graphics processing unit (GPU), it is silent about the CPU. The reason is pretty simple: the A5X sticks with an aging dual-core Cortex A9 … Read more

Evidence of Apple chip design change in iPad teardown

Apple has changed the design of the main chip in the new iPad with tweaks to accommodate a higher-performing chip, according to teardown analysis. That would be necessary, of course, to drive that pixel-dense screen.

There are two significant changes:

Separate DRAM: Apple's A5X chip package does not "stack" system memory (aka, SDRAM), like the A5 did in the iPad 2, as seen in an analysis by Chipworks. Instead, the DRAM resides in "discrete" devices, according to Anandtech. And note that the new iPad has 1GB of memory. The iPad 2 had half that much. … Read more

What makes the new iPad tick: A peek inside

The new iPad isn't waltzing into a competitive vacuum. That wow-worthy display notwithstanding, Apple still has to go head-to-head on performance.

Chip-review site Anandtech confirmed with Apple that sitting right next to the A5X's quad-core GPU (graphics processing unit) is a dual-core CPU (central processing unit).

Apple had nothing to say about the CPU (which typically garners the most attention) when it announced the new iPad, because the CPU really hasn't changed from the iPad 2.

The upshot is that Apple is pitting the A5X's quad-core GPU against a quad-core Nvidia CPU.

So, how does it … Read more

New iPad: Why quad-core graphics?

Apple has just elevated the graphics chip to superstar status. Why focus on the graphics?

Apple announced today at the iPad event in San Francisco that the new iPad has a quad-core graphics processing unit (GPU). (So much for the central processing unit, or CPU, which typically garners all of the attention.)

So far, chip review site Anandtech offers the best educated guess about the graphics engine. Anandtech cites graphics chip technology from Imagination (PowerVR SGX543MP4) and CPU tech from ARM (Cortex A9).

"Our guess? Dual-core Cortex A9 [CPU] plus a PowerVR SGX543MP4 [GPU], an upgrade over the 543MP2 … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1584: BOL special coverage: iPad announcement (Podcast)

Brian Tong and Molly Wood give you blow-by-blow analysis on the new iPad announcement, including rewriting the lyrics to John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland," specifically to accommodate the new iPad. Which, in case you haven't guessed by now, is just called "the new iPad."

PART 1 PART 2

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