Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Photo of iPad 3 Logic Board with "A5X" System on a Chip

cg0def said:
pgiguere1 said:
Given the poorer efficiency of quad-core processors in general and the better efficiency of the A15 architecture over the A9, a dual-core Cortex A15 would have performed better than a quad-core A9 that's clocked slower.

Apple usually cares more about real-world performance than about having impressive spec terms anyway. Those that would like to brag about having a quad-core phone are generally more interested in Android-based phones to begin with.

I think it's safe to assume that the A5X will not be a quad-core. The number of cores was the only "spec" Apple has talked about when they presented the A5. Now that the new A5X SoC doesn't have more cores, it's hard for them to justify an A6 being significantly better than the A5 without getting technical and explaining the architecture difference between a Cortex A9 and A12, which Apple obviously wouldn't do. A5X makes it sound like it's the same old dual-core processor, just faster (like iPhone 4S vs iPhone 4).

Now there are two possibilities:

  1. The A5X is still just an A5. It uses the same Cortex A9 architecture but it is now clocked higher. That would be weird since the iPhone 4S also uses an A5 with a different (slower) clock speed, yet they didn't rename the SoC just because of this. The "X" would basically just be a marketing term to make people feel like the CPU is new, while it's not really. All they would need is a bigger battery to compensate and good heat management, which shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...


  1. What the hell are you talking about? There are about a million things that are wrong in your comment the largest of which being the fact that Apple has NEVER used a straight up ARM architecture for any CPU that went into an iPad. The CPU design is based on ARM's reference design but it is always an optimised one and is in fact considerably better than what they started off with. May I also remind you that the A5 used in 4S runs at mere 800 MHz yet manages to outperform processors running at 1.2 GHz in most benchmarks.
    Yes, a stock Cortex 15 design is considerably faster than a stock Cortex 9 quad core but at the end of the day that makes absolutely no difference when you are talking about Apple's designs. You have no way of telling how far they've taken the Cortex 9 design and considering the amount of time and energy that went into essentially creating a new CPU they would be mad to drop it for the supposed promise of Cortex 15 performance.

    So my money is definitely on a quad-core A5 CPU with upgraded GPU especially since they chose to name it A5X. You will get a Cortex 15 design, but that would take time. Don't expect Apple to pull a Tegra 2! But then again that's hardly the first time that Nvidia's messed up a hardware design ...
Click to expand...


  1. A million thing I said wrong yet the only one you point out is one I didn't say? :rolleyes:

    Good thing that Apple optimizes ARM's designs and thanks for adding this information, but how does that prove wrong anything that I've said?

    Are you implying that Apple would do a better job at optimizing the A9 architecture than the A15?
 
What I want:

Dual-Core A15 Cortex @ 1.5 GHz

or

Quad-Core A9 Cortex (A15 would be better :D) @ 1 - 1.5 GHz

just my "two-cents"
 
Ticktok said:
I'm betting on the X meaning Experimental.
Click to expand...

If the chip were an A6 it would say A6X using your logic.

Here's what I think.

Since Apple has been known to put phoney part numbers in OSX the A5X could be the same tactic.

They know pics are going to come out so they cover the chip with some fake part I.D. to confuse the tech sites.

and if that's what they are doing they have succeeded.
 
besweeeet said:
Then it's probably just going to be a higher clocked dual-core, probably at 1.5GHz or higher. Maybe the GPU will be quad-core?
Click to expand...

It can't have a Quad Core GPU without CPU as they are together / unified.

It's possible this has the Quad Core A5 and the SGX543M4 (quad CPU & GPU version of same processor in iPad 2) that is powering the PS Vita.

The chips are already being mass produced for that system, so that should reduce costs ? Who knows (other than Apple)...
 
I think the X means the following:

1. X marks the spot for buried treasure
2. X for X-MEN and it's powered by mutants
3. X means Xtra

I am going for option 2 as that would kick-ass lol
 
Maybe they are going to copy FCP and call it the iPad 2X ;)




or maybe not :)

I just want March 7th to hurry up and get here.
 
no matter what's inside, people will rush again to buy it, just because it will have at least 1 new feature compared to iPad 2

if the screen is better, that would just enough
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

So iPad 3
-32gb starting capacity
-1gb ram
-8mp camera
-retina display
-a5x chip

Starting at 500 dollars? Hmmm I'm thinking

iPad 2 16gb - 500 dollars
iPad 3 32gb - 600 dollars - 4g - 730 dollars
iPad 3 64gb - 700 dollars - 4g - 830 dollars
iPad 3 128gb - 800 dollars - 4g - 930 dollars

Either way I'm picking up an iPad 3 on launch day.
 
xraydoc said:
"If its not a quad core A6 then I wont buy it" complaints commence in 3... 2... 1...
Click to expand...

Came here to post this, but I was way too late :D The iPad 2 already feels faster than every other tablet out there, whatever CPU/GPU upgrade they do will only continue to make it better.


pmz said:
Maybe it's a dual core A15 that has been branded A5X. Makes sense to me.
Click to expand...

I don't think so, I think a fundamental architecture upgrade would account for a "full number" step rather than "X".

Either way, we still don't know if this is the real deal or just a board from a prototype.
 
Let's make bets: I bet it's going to be branded iPad 2S and not iPad 3 because of the general perception of the public.

The case being almost exactly the same, the chip being just an update, the camera being just an update as well, and no other changes but the retina display...people will feel fooled if it was call an iPad 3.
 
Interesting nobody has mentioned this. The A5X got me thinking about the naming scheme for the AX chips altogether. Is anyone sure what this is based on? Most interestingly, is A4 the name of the first because it appears in the iPhone 4? Then we have the A5 which appears in the 5th generation iPhone (4s), so could it be that A5X means nothing more than that it will not appear in the 6th generation iPhone? That may mean that they are switching to A15, with a quad core planned for the iPhone 6? Or it may not mean anything... I guess we'll see soon enough.
 
All I want is RETINA!
If it does indeed come with a retina display then I will surely upgrade my iPad2 and my eyes will thank me!
 
JoEw said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

So iPad 3
-32gb starting capacity
-1gb ram
-8mp camera
-retina display
-a5x chip

Starting at 500 dollars? Hmmm I'm thinking

iPad 2 16gb - 500 dollars
iPad 3 32gb - 600 dollars - 4g - 730 dollars
iPad 3 64gb - 700 dollars - 4g - 830 dollars
iPad 3 128gb - 800 dollars - 4g - 930 dollars

Either way I'm picking up an iPad 3 on launch day.
Click to expand...

close.. I altered it to meet what I think is more likely:

iPad 2 16gb - $450 ($50 price cut) - 3g - $580
iPad 2 32gb - $550 ($50 price cut) - 3g - $680
iPad 3 32gb - $600 - 4g - $730
iPad 3 64gb - $700 - 4g - $830
iPad 3 128gb - $800 - 4g - $930
 
daleski75 said:
As long as it's as slick and smooth as the ipad 2 with no slow downs or stuttering then who really cares what's underneath?

Android users get hung up on spec's quad core this quad core that but does it make an excellent user experience? no the software does that.

A point in case my friend brought a Transformer Prime and the next day he took it back and kept his iPad 2 which is only a lowly 'dual core' ;)
Click to expand...

Apple users aren't into hardware specs? This is post 170+ a little over 3 hours after the thread was started obsessing over the processor.

People are into specs no matter what device the own or prefer....
 
Augure said:
Let's make bets: I bet it's going to be branded iPad 2S and not iPad 3 because of the general perception of the public.

The case being almost exactly the same, the chip being just an update, the camera being just an update as well, and no other changes but the retina display...people will feel fooled if it was call an iPad 3.
Click to expand...

It already has a new case, new screen, new camera, new chip and possibly new RAM.

What do you think it would need to not be a 2S?

A screen on each side? Four cameras? A hidden keyboard?

An iPad is so minimalist that it's hard to change it much without affecting the core functionality.
 
longofest said:
close.. I altered it to meet what I think is more likely:

iPad 2 16gb - $450 ($50 price cut) - 3g - $580
iPad 2 32gb - $550 ($50 price cut) - 3g - $680
iPad 3 32gb - $600 - 4g - $730
iPad 3 64gb - $700 - 4g - $830
iPad 3 128gb - $800 - 4g - $930
Click to expand...

I don't think Apple is going to increase the price of the base model of the iPad.

Especially with iCloud and iTunes Match.

Base model iPad 3 16GB - $499
 
Photoshopped... The A5X is too clear

Look at the actual photo of the A5 on iFixIt http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-4S-Teardown/6610/2.

JCcASd1O1i2jQnOe.medium


See how the chip looks different and the marking on the chip looks not very clear. I say this photo is photoshopped and the chip doesn't even look real... The only reason why there should be metal on the chip is if they plan to put a fan on top of it. Whoever heard of a fan on a tablet CPU?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back