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One core, dual core, quad core? Whats A6?

The Nokia Lumia 920 has a dual core Snapdragon S4 Krait processor made using the 28nm process. At first glance it seems like that the S4 is a much more powerful and efficient processor than the A6.
 
Apple returned to their practice of not touting spec specifics for iPhone

I'm sure Anandtech will be along with the details soon enough
 
It's not dual ARM A9's !

Half the answer is in the just released golden master SDK for iOS 6.

For the iPhone 5, the Xcode compiler is reported to specify a new ARM ISA (instruction set architecture) target. Not armv6, as for the ARM 1176 in the iPhone 3G. Not armv7, as for the A9 core in the iPhone 4. But armv7s, a newer and different ISA than required for the ARM A9.

Surely it's not just a faster ARM A9 CPU core in the A6 SOC, or Apple wouldn't require a new ISA type for the compiled code.

It's also not an A15, as that is reported to require the armv8 architecture.

So what is it?
 
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firewood said:
Half the answer is in the just released golden master SDK for iOS 6.

For the iPhone 5, the Xcode compiler is reported to specify a new ARM ISA (instruction set architecture) target. Not armv6, as for the ARM 1176 in the iPhone 3G. Not armv7, as for the A9 core in the iPhone 4. But armv7s, a newer and different ISA than required for the ARM A9.

Surely it's not just a faster ARM A9 CPU core in the A6 SOC, or Apple wouldn't require a new ISA type for the compiled code.

It's also not an A15, as that is reported to require the armv8 architecture.

So what is it?
Click to expand...

Custom, proprietary. Apple has the resources to do it.
 
firewood said:
Half the answer is in the just released golden master SDK for iOS 6.

For the iPhone 5, the Xcode compiler is reported to specify a new ARM ISA (instruction set architecture) target. Not armv6, as for the ARM 1176 in the iPhone 3G. Not armv7, as for the A9 core in the iPhone 4. But armv7s, a newer and different ISA than required for the ARM A9.

Surely it's not just a faster ARM A9 CPU core in the A6 SOC, or Apple wouldn't require a new ISA type for the compiled code.

It's also not an A15, as that is reported to require the armv8 architecture.

So what is it?
Click to expand...

CortexA15 still uses ARMv7, not 8. This could be it.
 
If this is A-15 then it will be futureproof, I really hope it is but I'm somehow doubtful. How could Apple mass produce A-15 for undoubtedly the biggest iPhone launch in history when no other manufacturer will be ready for several more months?
 
not to knowledgeable about these chips is this a good thing that they packed the IPhone 5 with this?
 
ja2ed said:
not to knowledgeable about these chips is this a good thing that they packed the IPhone 5 with this?
Click to expand...

heck yeah.

that means this phone sips on battery as the silicone die is smaller (28nm) which means it utilizes less power.

it's also utilizing an updated Qualcomm LTE chip (MDM9615)
 
A9 or A15 big deal. iOS is so minimal, you don't need anything close to quadcore to run it. Its just rows of icons that sit there. Its nowhere near as complex and in need of good processors to run it as an Android OS like JB
 
articulatefool said:
Apple really is bizzare in the fact that they never release RAM, Processor speed, or Processor type.

They just tell you it's twice as fast. Possibly showing a bar-chart with no verifiable data...
Click to expand...

Probably because when compared directly to an Android it appears anemic even though iOS will run more smoothly on a lower clocked SOC.

----------
articulatefool said:
A-15 is great news
A-9 is terrible news
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry to much over it, all the hands on I saw said it was VERY responsive.
 
aohus said:
probably a modified Samsung Exynos SoC (according to last rumor from digitimes, and they're normally accurate with their reporting)

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120705PD206.html



that would make it a cortex-a9 based SoC.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but WHAT???? Digitimes is just about the worst source for Apple rumours on the planet, they constantly get things wrong, report everything they hear and generally only manage to be right after they've exhausted every other possibility. Heck even Digitimes themselves admit this:

Digitimes has indeed reported much on Apple, and many of the products that we said would be launched have never been launched, or have had their launches delayed. But that does not mean that we were crying wolf or passing along gossip. In fact, Apple have a lot of its R&D projects and ideas tried out at its supply chain partners in Asia. Many of the prototypes created by the supply chain partners will never make it to the market after Apple’s assessments. This is one of the major reasons why a lot of the information we have disclosed has been seen by others as inaccurate, but is still valuable to our reader base in the supply chain. We understand the risks behind the kind of reporting we have been doing.

In the future we will implement even stricter requirements for verification of such stories. We will also add more analyses to such stories to provide readers with more valuable information.
Click to expand...

And a nice big chunk of fact checking that sparked that e-mail: http://techland.time.com/2012/05/14/digitimes-apple-rumors/

Anyway, on the subject of the processor... does it really matter? The important thing surely is that everyone that got hands on with the iPhone 5 has said it's noticeably faster, that performance across the board has improved and that graphic-intensive apps like Maps definitely perform very nicely indeed on the new hardware. So long as it delivers the promised performance and sips power what's the difference between somehow getting A15 into production this early or performing witchcraft on the A9?
 
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