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Apple Testing A5X Variant in iPhone Prototype Disguised in iPhone 4/4S Body?

macbook pro i5 said:
Fair point,just curious what smartphones have bought you have used ? just a bit curious to see what experience you have had.
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I have owned/used an iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS droid, nexus one, htc inspire, htc hd7, htc trophy, iPhone 4, htc thunderbolt, droid x, iPhone 4S and a Galaxy Nexus.
 
One person mentioned NFC. It can actually be built into the SIM card thus leaving more room for other hardware.
 
DeathChill said:
I'm hoping for the A6, as the A5X would be overkill in the graphics department. As well, they were working on the A6 at the same time as the A5X according to the references in the iOS code, so we can hope.

SOURCE: http://9to5mac.com/2012/02/26/apple-working-on-enhanced-a5-chip-a5x-and-completely-new-chip-a6/
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I think next year's iPhone will get the A6 and that won't be a issue for most people interested in upgrading their current iPhones this year. Many of them just care about showing off a different-looking iPhone to their friends and not the internal improvements.
 
Simplicated said:
Quad-core CPUs mean nothing. The entire system has to be fluid and pleasant to use, which most top-of-the-line Android phones still fail to achieve.
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You obviously never own a quad core android device. Honeycomb for example has its kernel optimized for multi core so it runs smoother not to mention a custom build of their browser making it more efficient on displaying web pages.
There were also some games tested and making the most of it, all this tech info is at anandtech.

It all depends on your goal of how you want things to be done, you can choose routes on powering up the GPU to obviously make use of the retina display versus something that relies on cpu integers. Either way you can optimize your software based on whatever hardware locked on.
 
kdarling said:
Why would anyone freak out? It's no different than using a credit card.
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No idea, just relaying what I've heard/seen/read so far on it. I'm not against it or anything, I just personally have no real interest in it, as taking my debit/credit card out of my wallet is pretty damn easy already.
 
It isn't a problem now!

Further if they can't manage a quad core for iPad they certainly wont mange it for iPhone. What Apple really needs is a process shrunk A5X to lower power in an iPhone. Power, thus battery life is far more important in an iPhone than just about anything.

Raftysworld said:
They mean nothing? Really? Are you also advocating that we go back to a single-core processor since the iPhone 4 also had a "fluid" and "pleasant to use" system?

I'm not saying specs are everything, and I'm not saying Android is more fluid than iOS. But as iOS and the apps for it continue to evolve, they will demand higher processing power, and the A5 chipset is going to be a year and a half old when the iPhone is released.
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This is all true but Apple can tweak a variant anyway they want. For example alter the number of GPU cores or bump clock rate. In any event I still say the number one issue for them is battery life. Nothing must be done that lessens that.
 
A15 is more of a high end chip than A phone chip.

Stridder44 said:
Exactly what I was thinking. I have a hard time believing this rumor, or that Apple would make a move that silly.
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The smart move for Apple would be a process shrink. At 28nm the could easily add 500MHz to the clock rate and still reduce power. By far the biggest issue with iPhone is power usage. So if the can reduce that while giving users a real performance boost that is the way to go.
Outside of being able to use your phone as a credit/debit card, I have yet to see any worthwhile example uses for NFC. And even then, a lot of people seem to be freaking out about NFC payments due to the security issues.
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NFC communications isn't anymore of a security issue than a credit card. I really don't understand this freaking out business, most of the security concerns can be dealt with via simple protocols. My concern is that I don't use credit cards to any extent so I would not be using NFC either, thus a big waste like the FaceTime cameras.
 
wizard said:
The smart move for Apple would be a process shrink. At 28nm the could easily add 500MHz to the clock rate and still reduce power. By far the biggest issue with iPhone is power usage. So if the can reduce that while giving users a real performance boost that is the way to go.


NFC communications isn't anymore of a security issue than a credit card. I really don't understand this freaking out business, most of the security concerns can be dealt with via simple protocols. My concern is that I don't use credit cards to any extent so I would not be using NFC either, thus a big waste like the FaceTime cameras.
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From my experience, I don't see anything in iOS 5 that appears CPU limited. I think the best thing they can do is throw 1GB of RAM at it like the iPad. Otherwise, increased CPU frequency shouldn't be a priority. Going to a more power efficient architecture and/or process would make the most sense, unless they want to make iOS 6 more taxing on the CPU.
 
wizard said:
The smart move for Apple would be a process shrink. At 28nm the could easily add 500MHz to the clock rate and still reduce power. By far the biggest issue with iPhone is power usage. So if the can reduce that while giving users a real performance boost that is the way to go.


NFC communications isn't anymore of a security issue than a credit card. I really don't understand this freaking out business, most of the security concerns can be dealt with via simple protocols. My concern is that I don't use credit cards to any extent so I would not be using NFC either, thus a big waste like the FaceTime cameras.
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Actually the Cortex A15 architecture is intended for smartphones as well as slates and other devices.

It's far better to have a 28nm Cortex A15 which will perform up to 40% better than the Cortex A9 at the same clock speed, according to ARM, and I expect it to use less power too. Imagine a 1.5GHz dual-core A15? That'd be fantastic.
 
Stridder44 said:
No idea, just relaying what I've heard/seen/read so far on it. I'm not against it or anything, I just personally have no real interest in it, as taking my debit/credit card out of my wallet is pretty damn easy already.
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Yep, for a lot of us, it's easier to whip out our wallets.

For people who always have a phone in their pocket or hand, NFC can be much quicker. Just touch it to the payment spot. My stepdaughter has a baby, and it's a lot easier for her to tap her phone than to dig out cards from a purse while juggling her child.

Also, in one way it's more secure: you usually have to enter a PIN on the phone for an NFC purchase over $30 or so. A newly stolen credit card doesn't have any such protection mechanism.

I look forward to the day when our driver licenses can also be on our phones. Then perhaps we could finally leave our wallets at home.
 
jasvncnt said:
Does it really matter what they call it or what is inside? Most people will buy it just because its new
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nope cause phones have peaked.. we dont need more power what WE NEED NOW IS A LARGER SCREEN TO DO MORE COOL STUFF ON WITH ALL THAT POWER.. i am tired of my thumbs blocking the whole screen when i play games..
 
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I thought the whole point of A5x was a better GPU, isn't CPU still a dual core, I was hoping for a quad core in the new iphone honestly. But wont make a difference anyway, still running an iPhone 4 and it doesn't feel slow at all.
 
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