Some recent poking around inside Apple's third-generation TV unit show that there's actually a dual-core A5 processor inside, and not the single-core CPU listed on the spec sheet. It's possible Apple's just reusing iPad 2 parts that have a bad core, and simply disabling it. Further investigation shows that the chip was actually made using a 32 nm process, compared to the standard 45 nm found elsewhere in Apple products.

The last teardown we had seen of the new Apple TV revealed extra RAM to handle 1080p video playback. The third-gen Apple TV also introduced a new user interface, though apparently the venerable Steve Jobs wasn't a huge fan.

It's entirely possible that this new manufacturing process will actually be squeezed into the iPhone 4S to save space and improve battery performance, perhaps with an Apple A5X variant we heard about previously?

Source: Chipworks

UPDATE: According to some digging around in a restore image, there are already plenty of iPad 2 models out there using the same processor.

Some early benchmarks of the new iPad show that though there's been a bump in RAM up to 1 GB (from 512 MB in the iPad 2), the processor maintains the same 1 GHz clock speed.  These figures were pulled up from the Geek Bench app on a new iPad acquired a bit early by some folks in Vietnam. The tests also give us some idea of the power of the new Apple A5X quad-core graphics processor by assessing floating point performance and graphic streams. The memory managed about 300 MB/second read speeds, and 1 GB/second write.

While it's a little sad for gadget geeks that the new iPad won't be upgrading the CPU, it does have a lot more graphical horsepower for gamers, and the added RAM will help performance across the board. Specs aside, there's no doubt that Apple will be providing a smooth and enjoyable user experience on the new iPad; after all, it's not the size of your processor that matters, it's what you do with it.

Source: Tinh te

New tests conducted over at AnandTech reveal that Apple has chosen to underclock the A5 system-on-a-chip nestled inside the iPhone 4S to ~800MHz, just slightly slower than the iPad 2's 1GHz, but still far better than the iPhone 4's A4 SoC -- by margins as high as 73%.

Using some of the integer and fp tests of published Geekbench scores we can already conclude that Apple is shipping a lower clocked A5 in the iPhone 4S than it does in the iPad 2 [...] Based on the Geekbench results it looks like the iPad 2 is clocked around 25% higher than the iPhone 4S, pegging the latter's clock speed at 800MHz.

They go on to speculate that the reduction in processor speed is attributed to power-saving methods used by Apple, just as they did with the A4 chip in the iPhone 4 when compared to the original iPad.

The tests also reveal a slightly lower-clocked SGX 543MP2 GPU chip, but it's safe to say that the iPhone 4S is easily the fastest smartphone on the planet -- we just can't wait to see how games like Infinity Blade 2 perform on this thing!

Source: AnandTech

We love it when a plan comes together. What plan? How'bout Apple buying super low-power fabless chip design firm Palo Alto Semiconductor (PA Semi) back on April 23, which Steve Jobs later said would make "system-on-chips" for the iPhone and iPod? How about PowerVR graphics cores reaching a mega-licensing deal with an unnamed company? (Which might just rhyme with Snapple...) And how about now, a Mr. Wei-han Lien, formerly of PA Semi, updating his Linked[In] profile to read: "Senior Manager Chip CPU Architect at Apple", and more specifically, "ARM CPU architecture team for iPhone"? (ARM having reportedly also reached a long term licensing deal with an unnamed company)

Put them all together, and what do we get? A scary hardcore look at what will drive the next (and/or next after next) iPhone v3. And according to Macrumors:

By developing its own ARM variant, Apple could create a processor that meets the specific needs of the iPhone and iPod, building support for functions such as the touch screen or scroll wheel into silicon and possibly savings on costs by reducing the number of processors needed in each device. In addition, Apple’ will be able to maintain tighter controls on who knows what about its future products by disposing of an outside chip supplier.

Wanna bet Steve calls them "screamers"? And Carmack claims PS2-class gaming?

Got an iPhone or iPod Touch? Then you've already got a PowerVR graphics core crunching your eye candy. This week, however, Imagination Technologies revealed that an "unnamed company" has acquired a new mega-license for their current and future tech.

While this could be Apple and could just mean incremental adaption of new graphics cores going forward, tie it together with some other recent news and rumors, including the equally "unnamed" deal with current iPhone/iPod Touch processor licensor, ARM, and Apple's more public acquisition of fabless chip design firm Palo Alto Semiconductor (PA Semi), and MacRumors thinks something bigger could be in the works:

Apple is positioning itself to deliver custom chipsets based on existing iPhone technologies for future devices.

We agree. iPhones and iPods aren't the Mac, where a unique chipset (PowerPC) lacking the volume needed for competitive pricing led to Apple's famed Intel switch (and the rebirth of the black/grey market clones). Handsets and iPods, and whatever else becomes part of Apple's new Mobile WiFi Platform could just leverage some custom hardware not only for differentiation, but to deliver that advanced, "unmatchable" technology Apple keeps harping on about.