According to claims from Digitimes, Apple’s next-generation iPhone is said to be powered by a quad-core ARM processor based on Samsung’s Exynos 4 architecture. Other details such as clock speed and graphics processing capabilities were not presented though. An upgrade to a quad-core processor seems to make sense though as the new device would need it to compete with other smartphones in the market.
Last year’s iPhone 4S features a custom dual-core processor clocked at 800 megahertz, known as Apple’s “A5” chip. The chip was originally introduced several months before in the iPad 2, where it ran slightly faster at 1 GHz, due to having a larger form factor with a bigger battery. The third-generation iPad, which launched this year didn’t unveil a true next-generation chip, as Apple named the processor the “A5X,” suggesting an evolutionary upgrade over its predecessor. The new CPU is based around Samsung’s 45-nanometer low-power architecture, also found in the A5 CPU in the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2. The main change with the A5X was an updated integrated graphics processor, as the CPU remained dual core but the GPU was upgraded to quad-core in order to pump out the 3.1 million pixels that make up the tablet’s high resolution Retina display.
If the Cupertino California company was to introduce a quad-core ARM CPU for its next-gen iPhone, the upgrade could be significant enough to earn the title of an “A6” chip. The introduction of a quad-core iPhone would help “heat up” the competition with other quad-core smartphones. Currently Samsung, HTC, LG, and Meizu have all launched quad-core smartphones in the second quarter of 2012 and thanks to the volume production of chips from Qualcomm, more quad-core smartphones are expected to be introduced in the second half of 2012.
We’ll have to wait and see what Apple ends up deciding to go with on the next-generation iPhone come fall, when the company is expected to announce the device.
Source: Digitimes
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