A6 CPU Reserved for iPhone 5, Source Says

Sources close to Apple are leaking numerous details regarding the company’s plans with the future iPad, a new Apple TV version reportedly launching later today, as well as information regarding the next major iteration in the A-series of Apple processors.

With only a few hours away from Apple’s special event in San Francisco, California, almost the entire Apple blogosphere is convinced that Apple’s iPad 3 will boast an interim upgrade to the A processor dubbed A5X. It was previously rumored that Apple’s third-generation of iPads will boast a quad-core A6 SoC (system on a chip).

The A6 chip was also said to be making its way into a future Apple television product.

While both the iPad 3 and the 3rd-gen Apple TV are reportedly on the table for today’s event, a source talking to The Verge says “neither of the new products would be receiving the next generation chip — rather, that Apple seems to be waiting for the launch of the iPhone 5 to introduce the rumored A6.”

It has been widely reported that the iPhone 5 was actually due out last year. However, Apple reportedly encountered some production roadblocks and was forced to introduce an incremental upgrade called the iPhone 4S.

This year, however, the iPhone 5 is a must-show. And Apple is equipping it with the next-generation A6 processor which, in all senses, should boast four processing cores, awesome graphical capabilities, good power management, and likely other enhancements as well.

It is still unclear whether Apple plans to keep the “broken” tradition of launching its new iPhones every other fall. Before the iPhone 4S was unveiled, Apple launched every new iPhone in summer, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The iPhone 4S launched in October 2011, one day before CEO Steve Jobs passed away.

Posted in: Hardware, Mobile Phone, Preview