On Wednesday, Apple introduced its new processor for the iPad, called the A5X. Analysts, however, are sceptical about the A5X working with the next iPhone. It isn’t uncommon for iPad chips to be used in a new iPhone, like the A4 and the A5 chips, for instance. The A5X, on the other hand, focuses heavily on graphics. To suit a smartphone, Apple may look to build a chip that is highly power-efficient. The new A5X and the A5 are similar in that they both have two CPU cores. At the launch of its new iPad in San Francisco, Apple hyped the better graphics and performance of the new A5X. With four graphics cores, this chip should enhance the multimedia output and facilitate smooth operation of the higher resolution iPad (2048 by 1536 pixel display).
Linley Gwennap, founder and principal analyst, The Linley Group, reckons that Apple may have built the A5X specifically for the improved display of the new iPad and that they might have planned ahead for this. Gwennap added that in case Apple launches a new iPhone this year, it might choose improve battery life over the betterment of graphics. If so, he said, Apple may wait for a chip built on 28-nanometer manufacturing process. Besides being a comparatively cheaper process, it should render the chip more power-efficient. The number 28 indicates the size of the smallest circuits embedded into the chip. For devices with screens larger than the iPhone, however, say a smaller iPad, or the Apple TV, the A5X may be suitable, said Gwennap. On Wednesday, Apple released a new version of the Apple TV. But, it runs on an A5 chip with a single core.
Agreeing with Gwennap is Dean McCarron, principal analyst, Mercury Research. McCarron too is sceptical about the A5X making it to the next iPhone, as the processing power it requires for graphics is less compared to that for an iPad. Though the latest iPhone’s 326 pixel display density is much greater than the latest iPad’s 264, iPhone sports a display of only 3.7 inches. McCarron argued that the better display of the iPhone had no technical reason behind it. The A5X, the A4 and A5 are based on the ARM processor core. Such chips are manufactured via a 40-nanometer process, though 28-nanometer processes are expected to take over from them this year. Today’s chips sport ARM’s Cortex-A9, while chips based on a Cortex-A15, making them more power-efficient and fast, are due this year.
Analysts, however, praised Apple’s decision to use the dual-core chip instead of going for the quad-core as there are doubts as to whether the current software can handle the quad-core. Chip makers like Texas Instruments too are, for now, stuck with the dual-core ARM processors. McCarron also said that going with the dual-core was sensible, as the most of currently running software for Apple’s gadgets wasn’t designed for quad-core CPU’s.
