iPhone 5 Delayed to get Quad-Core A6 Ready?

[itsalexaye]

I dont really agree but if Apple does add a quad-core A6 chip, it could bring a lot of android fans over to the iSide! Because the most of them are about specs, and if iphone has the great specs of android then they will probably switch.

I was playing around with my friends droid x the other day, and honestly the whole phone sucks, touchscreen, OS, everything.

 

[nawras94]

A processor isn't like a car engine, it won't use more and more power with each core added. The main factor is the strain put on the processor, so more cores could do a lot of good by minimising the strain on each core.

Think of it like this. If you have a man dig 8 holes, he'll be exhausted, but if you have 4 men dig 2 holes each, the job is done faster and the men are not as tired at the end.

yeah but it still needs power too
but the best new feature i would want is better battery life its more useful

 

[russelldirect]

Apple will follow the same pattern they followed with the iPhone 4/iPad: release the iPad 2 with the A5, then later in the year the new iPhone has the A5.

My prediction: A6 will be in the iPad 3 in spring, followed by the iPhone 6 next fall.

 

[SooneratND]

I've been thinking about this for a while now and it makes more sense the closer we get to the end of the year. On the Android side of things, we are getting very close to seeing phones/tablets with dual core 1.5+ Ghz processors, and tablets with quad core by the end of the year. The first quad core Android phones will come early in 2012, and the next Nexus phone will most likely use a dual-core 1.5Ghz OMAP4460.

Would Apple push back the iPhone an extra 3-4 months just for cosmetic changes? Nope. Would they push it back just because they could? Probably not. If the phone was ready for a June/July release launch, they would have launched it. Period. Why wasn't it ready in June/July? The hardware.

Think about it. Why would Apple release the iPhone 5 in Sep/Oct with only a 1Ghz dual-core processor? Don't get me wrong, I know Apple doesn't like to play along with the whole specs race game, but they certainly wouldn't like to be outclassed for an entire year either. Apple has the R&D money necessary to get the A6 ready by Fall of this year, just in time for an iPhone 5 launch.

If the iPhone 5 released with a quad-core A6 processor, just imagine how far ahead it would be of nearly every smartphone on the market. It would dwarf Google's next Nexus phone and nearly every phone until late Q1/Q2 next year. Also, the A6 is going to be on a MUCH smaller die than the A5 which gives Apple much greater possibilities to make the device thinner.

It also makes sense for the next iPad. If Apple does in fact release an iPad 3/iPad Pro this year, it wouldn't be because they could stick a retina display on it. It would be because they have a massive hardware upgrade ready, being the next-gen A6 processor. That's the only logical reason for Apple to release a new iPad so early in the game. It's also the only reason why Apple would release a new iPad and iPhone SIMULTANEOUSLY outside of their usual release date time frames. I HIGHLY doubt Apple would release a new line of iPads simply because of a resolution increase. It would severely limit the regular iPad line and would confuse/piss consumers off.

Here's an interesting article about the A6 processor: http://blogs.computerworld.com/18629/apples_a6_processor_28_nm_3d_ic_and_made_by_tsmc

What do you guys think? If you know anything more about the A6 processor feel free to post it. My knowledge of it is pretty limited.

Or... Apple could have just delayed the new iPhone in order to get as many Verizon customers as possible to buy the 4 before getting them all to upgrade to the 5 later.

 

[LSUtigers03]

Sorry but I don't agree. Someone in another thread said it perfectly... Apple doesn't need to play the spec game because their software is specifically made to marry perfectly with their hardware. Google can throw a quad core in their next phone, and an iPhone running a dual core with iOS will STILL run smoother. It may not pass it up in a benchmark, but that's irrelevant because iOS will never run the choppy slop they call an OS over at Google.

And as far as most people are concerned, Apple is still testing the A6 - months away from a release in a current iOS device.

Hmm well then I wonder what OS is on my iPhone 4? Because it's choppy a lot. Weird I'll have to find out because as you say iOS would never run like that.

 

[Govern1]

A cellphone was meant as a means to communicate via voice. Companies added extra features and functionality to make it better and much more attractive, but in the end it is still a CELLPHONE.

Cellphones work just fine with 50 MHz CPUs to do talk and text. Everything is has always been luxury and will always be that.

As technology has advanced, a cellphone no longer represents only a voice communication device, but rather social, video and other forms of communication that have become perhaps even more prevalent than voice contact in this rapidly changing age. For that reason, more than a phone, the iPhone is a wireless communications device and for many a "computer" in their pocket.

My point is that it would be ridiculous to frame the context of what the iPhone should do and have based on past forms of communication from when it was originally built.

 

[Reach9]

We won't be seeing the A6 in this revision. Apple might actually launch the A6 (if it is a Quad Core) for the next major iPad and iPhone revision.
I can see that the iPhone 6 will emphasize big on battery life while maintaining LTE. Think about it.. a quad core, under clocked = amazing battery life, even with LTE.

We'll have to settle for Dual core, for now

Last year it was...

A4 chip, iOS 4, 4th generation iPhone = iPhone 4

This year..

A5 chip, iOS 5, 5th generation iPhone = ?

 

[Ksizzle9]

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Again, didn't read all post, bc frankly I don't need to. For one, they want u two buy a dual core ip5, and have to upgrade to ip6 quad core. Second: they wouldn't make the iPhone twice as powerful as the iPad.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

Or... Apple could have just delayed the new iPhone in order to get as many Verizon customers as possible to buy the 4 before getting them all to upgrade to the 5 later.

this would be my guess. Verizon customers would have been up in arms if the iPhone 5 was released just a few months after the iPhone 4 became available to them. By waiting for 6+ months, Apple won't have nearly as many early adopters whining about being ripped off. I think they learned their lesson when they dropped the price of the original iPhone shortly after its release.

But to all of the people saying we will never need quad core in a phone, etc..... do you not remember when people used to say I will never need more than 512mb of storage? or more than 128kb of RAM? Needs will always progress in the future. Just because there may not be a need for a quad core today, doesn't mean there won't be one tomorrow.

 

[SerrQ]

Quad? LOL, its a phone.. doesn't need to be more powerful then most laptops... YET!

I think they'll go with the A5 chip or some 1.5GHz dual core.

 

[jz7410]

A6 would be great but im with the majority thinking it'll be the a5. The delay is curious but I feel it is a combination between ios5, the "world mode" iPhone (simless or whatever it's gonna be, and will be one device that works on either AT&T & Verizon) & the announcement of more carriers. Imagine when apple holds there keynote and they release a modest upgrade but say now avaiable on tmobile, sprint, Verizon & AT&T. 4 to pick from 16/32gb blk or white. It would b a huge announcement to go along with the release

 

[jz7410]

& available on china mobile as well

 

[vitzr]

Again, A6 uses 50% less power than A5 does!

I predict the experienced tech enthusiasts will take a pass on the A5, instead waiting the short time difference between the two releases. There's no way I'm waisting money on an A5. Conversely, even if the wait time is much longer than predicted the iPhone 4 I have is worth more to me now than ever. The money I'll save by skipping the 5 will fund a new Android & second line to enjoy.

The web had several write ups talking about the A6 today. It's going to get more and more attention, effectively reducing the A5 to a temporary place holder. Apple will cleverly redirect attention elsewhere untill they unload the A5's. Apples been so successful, they're overdue for a hiccup. The A5 will fill that role. They'll still sell massive quantities to those who don't know any better. It's a win/win.

 

[Trius]

But not the A4, which is being currently used. And the A5 has dual cores (two 543s), pipes or number of SIMDs is an entire different thing please be informed before rolling eyes.

Gaming is never CPU bounded. It always GPU bounded. You really don't. The games we now enjoy are a luxury. A cellphone was meant as a means to communicate via voice. Companies added extra features and functionality to make it better and much more attractive, but in the end it is still a CELLPHONE.

Cellphones work just fine with 50 MHz CPUs to do talk and text. Everything is has always been luxury and will always be that.

So with this logic, your computer is simply a CALCULATOR and everything else is simply a "luxury"..

 

[boss.king]

yeah but it still needs power too
but the best new feature i would want is better battery life its more useful

Yeah, but the power required for an idling processor vs a processor at 50% load is very different. Again, it's how it deals with the load that matters, and the more cores, the less strain put on each one, meaning less power used.

 

[lilcosco08]

Apple could go the Vita route and use a quad variant of the current chip

 

[Gix1k]

Not a chance. Apple wants your dual core money and then your quad core money....

 

[finnybean]

My prediction is that for the launch of Iphone 5 to avoid any other performance issues Apple will continue to use Dual core as it is already tried and tested for the previous version of iphone 4. As others said may be they can upgrade it afterwards with Quad core.

 

[weckart]

Think of it like this. If you have a man dig 8 holes, he'll be exhausted, but if you have 4 men dig 2 holes each, the job is done faster and the men are not as tired at the end.

Four men will eat more food than one man, though.

 

[boss.king]

Four men will eat more food than one man, though.

Which is why I left that out of the analogy

 

[dontworry]

Four men will eat more food than one man, though.

Only if the four men do the same work as the one man; in this case they are not.

 

[JetBlack7]

Quad? LOL, its a phone.. doesn't need to be more powerful then most laptops... YET!

I think they'll go with the A5 chip or some 1.5GHz dual core.

I have to agree. A phone does not need to be more powerful than laptops. The iPhone 4 is good as it is and the 5 should be better, but that's it.

 

[boss.king]

I have to agree. A phone does not need to be more powerful than laptops. The iPhone 4 is good as it is and the 5 should be better, but that's it.

A phone processor will never be more powerful than a laptop processor until such a time as they can can use the same hardware. Even then laptops have other things (RAM, GPU) that make them far more powerful. Laptops will get more powerful every year, just like phones, but laptops will stay ahead for a long while yet.

 

[twitt3r]

Why do you need a Quad core? Why?! Are you trying to be the guy who can reach the next highest pi decimal on the phone? Or, are you trying to be that guy who gloats on having 4 cores on a cellphone?

I don't get what is the obsession with 4 cores on a CELLPHONE. One core is enough, two cores is already too much. I can see dual core for the GPU being just fine and four cores the next thing, but the CPU? No.

Why, why do people need 1080p? Why do people want 1080p? Waste of time, really expensive and can't tell much difference from 720p... Well, that was then, this is now, and most panels are now 1080p, and most people saying 1080p is pointless now have them.

I take it you will never buy a phone with such technology that you find pointless? Riiiiiiight.

 

[JulianL]

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TSMCs proposed chip for the A6 only went into testing a few weeks ago and reportedly won't be ready for volume production before end of year. With 30% increase in performace and 50% decrease in power consumption, it is a very nice chip. I would love the readiness of an A6 to be some misdirection on Apple's part, but I don't expect to see it in any products for another six to eight months.

Do you have a link for the above? Does the article have any more info as to exactly what the A6 is?

My suspicion is that part of the iPhone delay might be down to a new chip, but not quad core. The iPad A5 is still 45nm (same as iPhone 4 A4) and I believe that it is physically a bigger package than the A4. If the rumours of the iPhone 5 getting thinner are true, and if Apple want to preserve enough internal volume in the case for a battery big enough to give decent battery life, then I would have thought that increasing the size of the SoC is not a good idea.

I wonder if the SoC in the iPhone 5 will essentially be an A5 but shrunk down to 28nm. This would be somewhat like Intel's tick-tock strategy where they alternate CPU releases, one year's big launch being a new architecture and then the next year's revision being a geometry-shrink of the existing architecture before releasing another new architecture for the next year's release cycle. It's quite a sensible way of containing risk by transitioning to a new geometry while not at the same time releasing significant architecture revisions.

- Julian