Evidence of Quad-Core Chips Shows Up in iOS 5.1 Betas

MacRumors · Jan 6, 2012, 10:46 AM

9to5Mac reports that evidence of support for quad-core processors has shown up in beta versions of iOS 5.1, lending support to claims that Apple's forthcoming A6 chips will see a doubling in the number of processing cores.

Quote:

The references to quad-core iPhone and iPad chips come by way of a hidden panel that describes cores that are supported by iOS device hardware. The updated core management software includes an option of "/cores/core.3," and this represents a fourth available processing core...

The report notes that single-core processors such as the A4 found in the iPhone 4 and original iPad fall under a "cores/core.0" designation, while dual-core processors such as the A5 in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 are covered by a "/cores/core.1" designation. The "/cores/core.3" reference thus suggests compatibility with a quad-core chip.

Apple's A6 system-on-a-chip has been rumored several times to carry a quad-core processor, and has been presumed to be set for inclusion in the company's next-generation iPad and iPhone models. There have, however, been some questions about whether the production timeline for the A6 would support its inclusion in the iPad 3, which is rumored for a release around March of this year.

Article Link: Evidence of Quad-Core Chips Shows Up in iOS 5.1 Betas

Dowjohnny · Jan 6, 2012, 10:49 AM

Nice

I'd love to see that coming!

MacBookPro13" · Jan 6, 2012, 10:51 AM

Quad-core chip on the next-gen iPhone would be blindingly fast

Eauboy · Jan 6, 2012, 10:55 AM

Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference?

MacBookPro13" · Jan 6, 2012, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eauboy

Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference?

No, core.3 stands for Quad-Core. There is no such thing as "core.2"

GunZi · Jan 6, 2012, 10:57 AM

Release beta 3 already :/ or GM.. lol

Snowcat001 · Jan 6, 2012, 10:58 AM

Brilliant! My MacBook Pro has... 2 cores... Better by a phone I guess

kalex · Jan 6, 2012, 10:58 AM

Wait what? I thought apple didn't care about specs? Who needs quad core processors? Funny

GSPice · Jan 6, 2012, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eauboy

Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacBookPro13"

No, core.3 stands for Quad-Core. There is no such thing as "core.2"

based on the convention they've chosen, "core.2" would imply, um, tri-core.

ardy8888 · Jan 6, 2012, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eauboy

Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference?

cores.0 = single core
cores.1 = dual core
cores.3 = quad core

common sense would tell you cores.2 should be q tri core. as far as i know, there are no tri core processors out there.

I8P'CS · Jan 6, 2012, 11:01 AM

Nice, Glad i never got 4s, this will be sufficient for me for a long time if true (on an iPhone that is) Besides spec means nothing if the software is crap plus bloated some (Android,Blackberry), Apple is Good at software so will be a great device iPad & iPhone. Bring it on

mjschranz · Jan 6, 2012, 11:01 AM

Now this is an interesting rumor. Would be awesome to see if in the iPad 3 as I plan on making that one my first.

Would have more cores than my macbook!

ECUpirate44 · Jan 6, 2012, 11:04 AM

Honestly, it seems like more wasted heat and energy to me. What is the iPhone 4S limited to right now because of the dual core? If their going to put a quad core in it, there better be a killer feature that requires it.

george-brooks · Jan 6, 2012, 11:04 AM

Makes sense! That would be sweet! Anyone think this will make it into the iPad 3 or are we waiting for iPhone 5 or iPad 4 with this one?

tctony · Jan 6, 2012, 11:04 AM

Possibly something Apple threw in there to throw people off again?

Yvan256 · Jan 6, 2012, 11:06 AM

The A4 and A5 processors have their GPU in the same die as the CPU.

An iPad with a retina displays means four times as much pixels to draw, meaning it requires a GPU upgrade, hence a CPU upgrade too, it would make no sense to only upgrade the GPU.

Based on that, I'd be very surprised to see an iPad 3 without a quad-core CPU.

MacBookPro13" · Jan 6, 2012, 11:06 AM

The next 13" Macbook's should have a quad-core processor then if the iDevices can make use of them

Taz Mangus · Jan 6, 2012, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eauboy

Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference?

I could be wrong about this but I think CORES 0 and 1 represent dual core processor, CORES 0, 1, 2, 3 represent quad core processor. This is why cores.0 is a single-core, cores.1 is a dual-core and cores.3 is a quad-core processor. cores.2 would be a tri-core processor which does not exist.

GSPice · Jan 6, 2012, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ECUpirate44

Honestly, it seems like more wasted heat and energy to me. What is the iPhone 4S limited to right now because of the dual core? If their going to put a quad core in it, there better be a killer feature that requires it.

If engineers asked that throughout history....

anyway, a quad core could easily allow similar processing power at a lower clock speed. Which could easily be "cooler" core for core.

nunes013 · Jan 6, 2012, 11:08 AM

makes sense. if the next iPad does have a high resolution display it will need a powerful GPU and also a powerful CPU to run some new applications that will be designed for it. Apple will probably under clock it a bit from the A5 though. maybe 800 MHz for the iPad and 600-700 MHz for the iPhone if they include it in the iPhone.

FaustsHausUK · Jan 6, 2012, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eauboy

Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacBookPro13"

No, core.3 stands for Quad-Core. There is no such thing as "core.2"

That's actually not a bad question. Marvell released a triple core ARM processor: http://gizmodo.com/5646025/marvells-...-on-one-charge

MultiMediaWill · Jan 6, 2012, 11:09 AM

Quad core to power the Retina iPad 3? Anyone?

cvaldes · 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalex

Wait what? I thought apple didn't care about specs? Who needs quad core processors? Funny

Sorry, but caring and publicizing are two different concepts.

Apple does not publicize many specs for its iOS devices. And they are right: Joe Consumer really doesn't care how MFLOPs the CPU can handle or how many polygons the graphics unit can paint in a second.

Remember that Apple is a software-driven company whose software and services run best on their proprietary, high-margin hardware.

The key with handheld devices is optimizing the software to run efficiently on the hardware. This is where Apple's tight control is advantageous. Android handset manufacturers do not have that control and often their devices which exceed Apple's on a spec sheet, don't perform as well in real world usage. In fact, they may need to beef up the hardware to get similar results.

The biggest concerns in throwing in more hardware performance is battery life and bulk. There are some very important design considerations that need to be made, particularly in the design of handheld devices.

Joe Consumer cares about how quickly the camera starts up and whether or not his favorite game stutters. Stuff like that. Joe Consumer does not care that smartphone X has a Tegra running at 1.2GHz whereas the iPhone 4S is probably underclocked to 800 or 900MHz.

diamond.g · Jan 6, 2012, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardy8888

cores.0 = single core
cores.1 = dual core
cores.3 = quad core

common sense would tell you cores.2 should be q tri core. as far as i know, there are no tri core processors out there.

There are tri core x64 CPUs. Technically the 360 is a tri core CPU.

Lone Deranger · Jan 6, 2012, 11:12 AM

Assembler code? Are parts of iOS written in that? I always thought it was 100% Objective-C.

Jan 6, 2012, 10:49 AM	#2
Dowjohnny macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Germany	Nice I'd love to see that coming! __________________ Mid 2011 Macbook Air 13" 128GB; Ipad I 3G+WIFI 16GB; Ipod Nano 2.Gen 4 GB "product red"; Apple TV 3. Gen.;
	0

Jan 6, 2012, 10:51 AM	#3
MacBookPro13" macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ireland	Quad-core chip on the next-gen iPhone would be blindingly fast __________________ Macbook Pro 13" \| iPad 3 \| iPhone 5
	5

Jan 6, 2012, 10:55 AM	#4
Eauboy macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Washington, DC	Wouldn't there also have to be a cores.2 reference? __________________ 15" UMBP (2009) Original nano
	-4

Jan 6, 2012, 10:57 AM	#6
GunZi macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2012	Release beta 3 already :/ or GM.. lol
	-3

Jan 6, 2012, 10:58 AM	#8
kalex macrumors 65816 Join Date: Oct 2007	Wait what? I thought apple didn't care about specs? Who needs quad core processors? Funny
	-25

Jan 6, 2012, 10:58 AM	#7
Snowcat001 macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Belgium	Brilliant! My MacBook Pro has... 2 cores... Better by a phone I guess
	3

Jan 6, 2012, 11:01 AM	#11
I8P'CS macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jul 2010	Nice, Glad i never got 4s, this will be sufficient for me for a long time if true (on an iPhone that is) Besides spec means nothing if the software is crap plus bloated some (Android,Blackberry), Apple is Good at software so will be a great device iPad & iPhone. Bring it on
	4

Jan 6, 2012, 11:01 AM	#12
mjschranz macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	Now this is an interesting rumor. Would be awesome to see if in the iPad 3 as I plan on making that one my first. Would have more cores than my macbook!
	0

Jan 6, 2012, 11:04 AM	#13
ECUpirate44 macrumors 603 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NC	Honestly, it seems like more wasted heat and energy to me. What is the iPhone 4S limited to right now because of the dual core? If their going to put a quad core in it, there better be a killer feature that requires it. __________________ 2012 RMBP 2.3/8/256. 16Gb iPhone 5 Black & Slate.
	-2

Jan 6, 2012, 11:04 AM	#14
george-brooks macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: New York, NY	Makes sense! That would be sweet! Anyone think this will make it into the iPad 3 or are we waiting for iPhone 5 or iPad 4 with this one? __________________ Mac Pro 3,1: 8 Core 2.8 GHz\|16GB\|Radeon 5870\|2TB+120GB SSD MacBook Pro 8,2: 2.5 GHz i7\|16GB\|750GB+240GB SSD iPhone 5, iPad 4, 11" Macbook Air, 12" Powerbook G4
	0

Jan 6, 2012, 11:04 AM	#15
tctony macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2009	Possibly something Apple threw in there to throw people off again? __________________ iPhone 4S (6.0), iPad 3 (6.0) MBP17 (OSX 10.8.1) 2.8 GHz C2D, 64 GB SSD/500 GB HDD, 8 GB RAM Apple TV 3, iPod Classic 120 GB "no hot no sweat screen no heavy" - iphonetoday
	0

Jan 6, 2012, 11:06 AM	#16
Yvan256 macrumors 601 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada	The A4 and A5 processors have their GPU in the same die as the CPU. An iPad with a retina displays means four times as much pixels to draw, meaning it requires a GPU upgrade, hence a CPU upgrade too, it would make no sense to only upgrade the GPU. Based on that, I'd be very surprised to see an iPad 3 without a quad-core CPU. __________________ The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time. -Tom Cargill, Bell Labs.
	5

Jan 6, 2012, 11:08 AM	#20
nunes013 macrumors 65816 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Connecticut	makes sense. if the next iPad does have a high resolution display it will need a powerful GPU and also a powerful CPU to run some new applications that will be designed for it. Apple will probably under clock it a bit from the A5 though. maybe 800 MHz for the iPad and 600-700 MHz for the iPhone if they include it in the iPhone. __________________ 15" 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, 2.3 Ghz Intel Core i7, 8 GB Ram, 256 GB SSD; iPad mini; iPhone 5 "As for the competition...they released a dairy product" -Scott Forstall
	0

Jan 6, 2012, 11:09 AM	#22
MultiMediaWill macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Illinois	Quad core to power the Retina iPad 3? Anyone? __________________ Click here for the iPhone 5 iOS 6.0 Jailbreak! MacBook Pro 15" 2011 , 2.2 GHz Quad i7, 750GB HDD, 8GB RAM, Anti-Glare iPhone 5 32gb iPad 3 16gb
	0

Jan 6, 2012, 11:12 AM	#25
Lone Deranger macrumors 65816 Join Date: Apr 2006	Assembler code? Are parts of iOS written in that? I always thought it was 100% Objective-C. __________________
	0

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