Posts Tagged ‘Processor’

Apple to Merge iOS and OS X via Custom A6 Processor in 2012?

It is all just guesses and speculation at this point, but if Peter Misek from Jefferies & Co is correct, Apple may be considering a merge of their Mac OS and iOS operating systems into one consolidated platform. This may sound like crazy talk, but he is predicting that this may happen as early as 2012 and begin with the MacBook Air, though he does suggest that a full conversion involving the more powerful Apple machines like the MacBook Pro may continue until as late as 2016.

A move like this would be made possible by the upcoming A6 quad-core app processor which Apple has recently started testing.

Migration of all Apple machines and devices to ARM processors, away from the more traditional x86 option that most currently use, will take time and testing but it seems very possible with the 64-bit versions coming soon. I am sure that this kind of alignment would appear logical to Apple, a company well known for streamlining their hardware offerings –something often criticized even though it seemingly increases stability.

I really believe that smartphones and tablets are increasing our expectations. With so many options for accessing our data and using our applications, we want our user experience to translate across all of our devices seamlessly and easily. We’ve had our appetites whet with promises of the iCloud, but we’re going to need more. One look at the recent release of Mac OS X Lion should tell you that Apple feels the same way.

Add to this the well documented tendency for users to become brand loyal once they adopt an Apple product, and the stage is set for a single, unified operating system to slide into place. Apple shouldn’t be too arrogant though, with the announcement last May that Google’s Desktop Android is being developed, it is clear this vision is shared and there may be competition.

[via AppleInsider]

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Apple Rumored To Have Begun Trial Run On Next-Generation iPad and iPhone Processor

According to new reports, Apple and Taiwan-based manufacturer TSMC have begun trial manufacturing of a non-Samsung processor chip, dubbed the A6 processor.

Since the launch of the original iPhone, Samsung has been the manufacturer of the processors that power iOS devices, but Apple and Samsung have been fighting a patent war for quite some time now and the iPad maker is trying to distance itself from its biggest tablet competitor. Apple’s biggest hurdle will be creating a new chip that will not infringe on Samsung’s patent.

Analysts have previously predicted that TSMC was likely to become Apple’s next processor manufacturer. According to Reuters, unnamed sources were quoted to have said, “TSMC has got all the authorization and details ready. Whether Apple puts in a formal order will depend on the yield rate.”

The new processor is likely to debut in 2012 as part of a rumored third generation iPad release, and will follow up as an addition to the next generation of iPhone and iPod Touch, as is the company’s Modus Operandi.

[Via: Reuters]

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Intel to Build Next Generation Processor for iOS devices?

According to a new report from EETimes, Intel could soon become one of the main manufacturers of the processor used to power iPad, iPod touch and and iPhone.

Currently, the iOS devices processors are designed by Apple, but since Apple does not have any factory, it relies on Samsung and TSMC to build them. Things could change soon, as Intel is giving signs that it may start its own foundry business, in order to build non Intel-branded processors.

”Based on a number of inputs, we believe Intel is also vying for Apple’s foundry business,” said Gus Richard, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co., in a new report.”It makes strategic sense for both companies. The combination of Apple’s growing demand and market share in smart phones and tablets gives Intel a position in these markets and drives the logic volume Intel needs to stay ahead in manufacturing,” Richard said.

”Intel’s manufacturing lead gives Apple an additional competitive advantage in these markets and distances it from Asian competitors that are knocking off its products,” he said. ”Furthermore, it would also serve to weaken Samsung who is a significant competitive threat to both companies.”

According to the article, Samsung will remain Apple’s main foundry for now, but Apple will most likely push for a switch within a year or so, as the Korean company is increasingly becoming a competitor.

Intel already designs and supplies various processors to Apple, mainly for the Mac product line.

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Apple A5 Processor Teardown Pictures now Available

Last year, the folks at Chipworks took a first generation iPad apart to see what the Apple A4 looked like, and posted incredible pictures of the architecture of the processor. This time around, Chipworks destroyed an iPad 2 to see what the Apple A5 looks like, and find differences between the iPad 2 processor, and its predecessor.

Chipworks‘s amazing shots – taken with an electron microscope – confirm most rumors heard about the processor: Apple managed to cram a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, a dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU, and 512 MB of memory, in a footprint barely larger than the A4. To put things in perspective, the A4 comes with a single-core CPU, a single-core GPU, and only 256 MB of memory.

Based on markings inside the chip, the A5 seems to be built by Samsung, just like the A4. Meanwhile, UBM Techinsights just posted a full blown spec sheet for the new chip:

The firm confirms that Samsung is indeed the chip manufacturer, and gives more insights about the new processor:

Based on analysis performed by UBM TechInsights Lab and Process Analysis personnel, we can say that the A5 in our possession is definitely manufactured by Samsung using their 45nm process. UBM TechInsights used optical die and SEM cross-section images to analyse important features such as die edge seal, metal 1 pitch, logic and SRAM transistor gate measurements. These features were then compared to other manufacturers in our database, including other Samsung 45nm parts. The previous generation Apple A4 processor was also fabbed on Samsung’s 45nm process.

Finally, Apple seems to have included even better power management features inside the chip. According to a report from iOSnoops, the A5 seems to run at variable speeds, right below 1 GHz, in order to conserve power. In comparison, the A4 runs at a constant 1 GHz.

While doing some early iPad 2 benchmarks, the iOSnoops team discovered by chance an interesting tidbit: the A5 doesn’t run at 1 GHz like the Apple A4, but is instead clocked around 890 MHz (the speed of the A5 does not seem to be constant, and varies depending on the apps running on the iPad 2).

[Via MacRumors]

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Multiple A5 Chips for iPad 2 – A5 Processor in iPhone 5?

Earlier today, as anticipated, Apple released iOS 4.3 for iPad which is the same version of iOS that the all new iPad 2 will ship with starting this Friday. Developers quickly dug into the firmware to see what they could find and they were able to dig up some interesting information.

According to their findings, it looks like the new A5 Dual Core processor will not only be used in the soon to be released iPad 2, but the iPhone 5 as well. The current iPhone 4 uses the single-core A4 processor and although many predict the A5 processor will be used in the iPhone 5 which is expected to be released this summer, these developers now offer up some proof.

@chronic was able to find the version of A5 processor (S5L8940) for the upcoming CDMA, GSM and WiFi iPad 2 models.

• iPad2,1 (K93AP) = WiFi.
• iPad2,2 (K94AP) = GSM.
• iPad2,3 (K95AP) = CDMA

The S5L8940 is the same processor type listed for the N94, which is believed to be the code name for the upcoming iPhone 5. FilippoBiga provided a screen shot of some of the iOS 4.3 N94 code where the S5L8940 is listed.

Now we’ll just have to wait and see what the summer brings.

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iPhone 5 and iPad 3 to Feature New A5 processor, iPad 2 will Come with Older A4

If you’re waiting for the second generation iPad to be released to buy your first tablet, you may be in for some disappointments. While many expected the tablet to pack a slew of new features, such as a new retina display, and a new dual-core A5 CPU, it appears that after all, none of these features will make it into the iPad 2.

According to Taiwan-based tech news outlet DigiTimes, Apple just awarded the contract for the production of its next-generation A5 CPU, a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, to the Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC. While the iPad 2 already entered production several weeks ago, the first A5 chips are expected to be supplied to Apple later this year. In other words, the first device to sport the new CPU will be the iPhone 5, and the iPad 2 will ‘only’ offer an A4 CPU, similar to the one found in the first-generation iPad.

Everything’s not lost though, as the A4 that will come with the iPad 2 is expected to be enhanced, and should offer a higher clock speed. Still, the news will come as a major disappointment to folks in the market for a screamingly fast tablet, as the iPad 2 will not run much faster than its predecessor.

Also note that the iPad 3 rumor recently started by Daring Fireball and TechCrunch now makes more sense than ever: even though the iPad 2 has not even been officially announced yet, the websites believe that its successor will be released as early as the third quarter of this year. The alleged iPad 3 ‘rushed launch’ could very well be explained by the fact that the iPad 2 looks to be to the first generation iPad what the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G, the device will be faster and more polished, but will not offer dramatic changes, and will not allow Apple to stay ahead of the curve.

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iPad 2 Expected to Sport a Dual-Core Processor

A new report released by analyst firm Rodman & Renshaw earlier today indicates that the next generation of the iPad is expected to feature a dual-core processor, in order to keep the tablet’s raw performance levels on par with what the upcoming Android tablets are expected to offer.

The author of the report, Ashok Kumar, predicts that the new processor featured in the iPad 2 will be based on a pair of ARM Cortex A9 cores, similarly to RIM’s PlayBook, and the Motorola tablet expected to be announced at the CES trade show early next year.

While the current generation of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch hasn’t shown any specific shortcomings when it comes to raw performance, the addition of another core would help the iOS-powered devices run more applications simultaneously without hiccups, as tasks would be spread across several cores, instead of one.

Eventually, applications supporting multiple threads would also be able to leverage the additional processing power, the same way some Mac and PC applications use Intel and AMD’s multicore processors – for instance, the infamous encoding suite HandBrake uses several cores at the same time to dramatically increase the speed at which it encodes videos.

The analyst believes that Apple is on track to refresh the iPad by March 2011, and expects the iPhone 5 to be released during the summer. Both devices will sport the new processor, whose codename is currently unknown.

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