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  • saurabhr8here - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    A very interesting revelation. So there is a very high probability that we would be seeing an Apple A5X using Samsung's 32nm HKMG process very soon. About 40% reduction in chip area and hopefully, better battery life. It is possible that the 32nm HKMG process was not mature enough for the A5X or Apple decided to go for a low risk A5 single core first.

    The Chipworks article also mentions that the A5 single-core processor is actually dual-core with one core disabled. Its possible that Samsung's 32nm HKMG process is not mature enough with low yields, resulting in a large number of chips with a single working core.
  • tipoo - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    I wonder, does this mean a silent change to 32nm for the new iPad as well? The current design seems pretty power inefficient. I'd like to see if the 32nm jump changed the battery life on those iPad 2s.
  • tipoo - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Another thing, there was talk of an "enhanced" A5X for the next iPhone and iPod Touch, maybe this is it, 32nm would reduce the increased power draw from this chip.
  • pareklund - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Yes, I didn't believe the rumors before but given a 32nm HKMG process, it could actually be true, given decreased clock speeds in a similar fashion w/ the iPhone 4S vs. iPad 2.
  • ltcommanderdata - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    For the iPod Touch, I think this 32nm A5 is the most likely candidate. I'm still hoping for a true 32nm A6 for the next iPhone, but Apple would no doubt also be working on a 32nm A5X as a backup.
  • ajp_anton - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    I doubt the A5X will go into an iPhone. Even with its Retina, it's not in desperate need of rebalancing its CPU/GPU as the new iPad was.
    I think that when the iPhone gets a GPU bump, it will be together with a CPU bump as well.
  • tipoo - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Maybe this will be the first time the CPU in the iPhone is better than the iPad. The GPU is adequate for the iPhones resolution, but more CPU performance would be noticeable.
  • deepey - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Is there some way to tell at the store or even if ordering online from Apple's site? I'm thinking this will be the way to go - lighter, thinner, and just as fast as the new iPad but with even longer battery life than the original iPad 2 and none of the weird screen problems of the new model. Sounds ideal.
  • Brian Klug - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    I need to investigate more, and am trying to find one for myself honestly, but I believe there's still some chance involved.

    -Brian
  • ltcommanderdata - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Seeing Brazil seems to be becoming the new testbed for Apple with new Brazil specific Apple.com website features being reported today, maybe the iPad2,4 actually refers to iPad production at Foxconn's new Brazil plant, and the iPad2,4 is primarily available to the Brazil domestic market until production ramps? Chinese made iPad2,1 production could be continuing in parallel keeping the existing 45nm A5 and is what is currently feeding most of the world.
  • Brian Klug - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Ahh, now that's an interesting theory. I really hope there's some availability here in the US so I can find one, but I think there might be a chance the 2,4 is being sold under the same model number as the 2,1. Again, not 100% sure.

    -Brian
  • ltcommanderdata - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Presuming there are battery life improvements to be had in the new iPad2,4, I wonder why the 32nm A5 wasn't adopted for 3G iPad 2 models since they would need it the most? Maybe that's a sign that yields aren't where they should be yet.
  • Aries1470 - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link

    Simple answer, the CPU does not do communications. That is handled by a different chip altogether. So, in essence only if you were using a CPU hungry app will it make a difference.
  • peroni - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Just got myself an ipad2 wifi and it is a 2,1 according to the IOS update file itunes tries to download
  • Brian Klug - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Interesting, so it's still very possible there are "iPad 2 WiFi" models out there which are still 2,1, sort of a luck of the draw thing whether you get 2,4.

    -Brian
  • Stanly.ok - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    did anyone notice that Apple is doing* a "tick" and a "tock" at the same time? ((=

    *via its partners, of course
  • KingKuei - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    The model has served Intel quite well and it's one that Apple seems to have adopted in recent years, iPhone and iPad being prime examples. A5X is clearly a "tick", but 2012 iPhone should be a "tock". Perhaps Apple is staggering tick-tock schedules for SoC and other hardware. This would provide the benefit of allowing them to focus on "tock" design changes to the screen, body, antenna, etc., while implementing a more mature SoC architecture, then vice versa the following year. It reduces the number of unknown variables from year to year and each generation will still provide something worthwhile for people to upgrade for.
  • psychogmv - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    Would this processor eventually come to the New iPad? Isn't it a reference to a iPad3,3 in the iOS 5.1 already? This would make things interesting, with less heating and higher battery duration.
  • tipoo - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    I was under the impression the extra heat was from having two LED strips for the screen instead of the old single strip, the SoC is still under 2W in power so it shouldn't make that much heat.
  • Steelbom - Saturday, April 14, 2012 - link

    It's actually about 3w at full load, if I remember correctly.
  • btb - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    Not really a fan of these silent product updates. If I buy a product i like to know exactly what I get. And getting a new model with low power 32nm processor instead of some old 45 nm "junk" is IMO so big a change that it warrants a clear marking on the product box. Especially in light of the ipad 3 's heat issues, it could be worth it to wait the 6 months or however long it takes to get at all the old 45nm models cleared out of the market.
  • MrSpadge - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    Apple wants you to treat your device like a traditional TV, gaming console or whatever household device, not like a PC. Use it and never spend a thought about its internals..
  • Andrew.a.cunningham - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    If there are battery life improvements, they probably won't be massive - remember, you've still got a backlight, RAM, flash memory, wireless, and other parts in there that'll be sucking up just as much juice as they ever did.
  • name99 - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    This has ALWAYS been the case.
    When you buy a laptop, you may be getting a hard drive from Toshiba, or from Samsung. The screen may be LG or it may be Sharp. Likewise for the RAM.
    Can you honestly say that you track the WiFi chip or the baseband chip in your cell phone and would no if they changed in this fashion (ie no new capabilities, just new process)? Would you know if the CPU in your iPod had changed back when iPods were all the rage?

    The only difference now is that it's the CPU and you, personally, believe this CPU change is vitally important and needs to be trumpeted to the world --- but Apple doesn't this this change is a big deal and this is not an indefensible stance.
  • shank2001 - Saturday, April 14, 2012 - link

    You are crazy if you think the iPad 3 has a heat issue. While it does run warmer than the iPad 2 it certainly is NEVER, ever in any danger of overheating, or shortening its life in any way. Even when playing the most strenuous of games. And the only time I've ever noticed it actually getting noticably warmer than the iPad 2, was when I had the screen brightness turned up all the way to full. There are probably 8 million iPad 3s out in the wild right now...if there is an overheating issue you'd be hearing about it a lot more.

    All this heat-gate hype is all because of some idiots thinking "Wow this is actually getting warm, unlike the iPad 2" when the increase in heat is actually quite insignificant, and blowing it all out of proportion.

    It isn't because of heat that the move to the new process might be nice, it's that battery life would probably be better, not that it needs much improvement.

    -dictated on the iPad 3
  • chrnochime - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link

    And you're a authoritative source because you say so? What a joke.
  • ucozer - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    My personal favourite Apple product is Iphone 4 , i win one at http://winfreewithus.tk , i don't know if the offer is still alive but , i do the following i go to http://www.winfreewithus.tk after i clik on a button , after a complete a survey it was simple 1 minute , and i submit my email and i wait like 2 days , and yes i WIN a iphone 4 . If you do the same and win one of that just give a little thanks. And one more thing don't consider me a spammer if you think is fake just pass away.
  • Vegerot - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link

    I still have a question: is there a difference between these two chips?

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