iPhone 5 part identifies A5 by name as tests go up

A post on China's Weibo has shown a reputed iPhone 5 mainboard that, for the first time, shows its use of the A5 processor. It resembles an earlier parts leak and is distinct in looks both from the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 mainboards, ruling out the A4 or the tablet implementation of the A5. The shot also appears to show a 1,430mAh battery, up very slightly from the 1,420mAh lithium-ion pack in the iPhone 4.

The capacity is slightly unusual given that Apple isn't known to have marked the milliamp-hours directly on the battery for the iPhone 4, instead putting the voltage and watt-hours. Apple isn't necessarily locked into providing the same details as before.

Most rumors have pointed to the A5 reaching the iPhone 5, going as far back as Apple's own iOS 4.3 code references. Until now, however, it had mostly been extrapolated from design changes and Apple's device release patterns.

When it does arrive, the iPhone 5 is expected to outrun even the Galaxy S II. Recent benchmarks show that the A5 in the iPad 2 is roughly twice as fast in the graphics-focused GLBenchmark 2.1 than the Samsung phone's 1.2GHz Exynos processor and Mali-400 video, according to AnandTech. Apple has historically detuned processors to let them run properly in the tighter spaces of a smartphone but is still likely to get noticeably faster performance through the PowerVR SGX 543MP2 video.

Samsung does plan a counter in the 1.5GHz Galaxy S II LTE, but without a fundamental change to the graphics core or processor design might not outpace Apple's work. [via Phone Arena]

By Electronista Staff