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A new rumor Monday has shown that Apple might be examining the effect of the A5X chip in an iPhone. The 9to5 claim has a version of the new iPad's chip was reportedly sitting in the existing iPhone 4S body as a test mule. The design, codenamed N96, reportedly has the same 1GB of RAM, although no mentions were made of what might be different.
A fresh comparison has validated many of the suspicions that the new iPad's A5X may well be faster than NVIDIA's Tegra 3 processor in a large number of tests. Apple's slate, despite competing against a quad-core chip from a company considered an expert in graphics, was faster in visually-oriented tests conducted by Laptop. While a standard GLBenchmark test showed it about 13 percent faster, a texture fill rate test in the same suite showed it having almost five times the processing power in that area.
The new iPad is borrowing familiar parts and suppliers to reach its goals, Chipworks and UBM TechInsights found separately in new examinations on Friday. Apple's back camera is using the OmniVision OV5650, the same five-megapixel CMOS sensor used in the iPhone 4. Any improvements in image quality come mostly from the lens elements, which come from the more recent iPhone 4S.
(Update 2: more details) Following the new iPad's Australian launch, iFixit has been conducting a teardown of Apple's tablet. The early look so far validate rumors surrounding the design, proving that Samsung is the initial LCD supplier and that a different display connector sits inside that prevents simply swapping in an older screen. Even more so than before, the inside is dominated by the three-unit battery, with the mainboard just a fraction of the inside.
Well-known for its pre-release Apple access, Vietnam's Tinhte in a pair of posts has gotten early access to the third-generation iPad and answered some of its core questions. Apart from proving that the box will be very familiar, the site confirmed that the new iPad has an LTE toggle to save power. Most Android devices often won't allow this without a third-party app or hack.
A UBM TechInsights preliminary breakdown of the new iPad's costs has suggested Apple is at least taking a slight price hit to build it. It believed that a 16GB, iPad 4G model cost about $310 in raw components. While it represented a 51 percent margin over the $629 price before many other factors came into play, it was significantly less than an equivalent 3G iPad 2's 56 percent margin when it was new in 2011.
Samsung had an immediate reaction to the new iPad where it crafted a skewed comparison between Apple's new hardware and the Galaxy Note 10.1. The argument contends that Samsung's tablet is better primarily because it has native pen input, which would let it draw, edit photos, and write with a pressure-sensitive pen. "Popular" demand for aftermarket iPad pens at Amazon was portrayed as a sign users wanted the feature, Samsung said.
Another rumor surfacing less than a day before Apple's next-generation iPad event may have filled in some of the in-between details of the future iPad and the Apple TV. While recapping most of the common beliefs, such as the 2048x1536 display and sped-up A5X dual-core chip, The Verge understood there would be more RAM. How much wasn't mentioned, although 1GB is most likely given Apple's tendency to double RAM and the need to hold large art assets in memory.
An uncommon instance of two dovetailing rumors may have divulged the final name of the next iPad. Both CNET and VentureBeat understood from sources that it would be called the iPad HD to emphasize the high-resolution 2048x1536 screen. While still going mostly on word, it came just after accessories had turned up making an association with the name.
Mounting rumors of the next iPad carrying LTE built steam Monday. A new claim from iMore, which accurately pegged the March 7 event date, maintained that LTE would be part of the launch event on Wednesday. Details were still left out of the loop, such as whether it would involve a unified LTE chipset for everyone or if there would need to be separate versions for AT&T, Verizon, and other carriers.
Various part leaks for the next iPad came full circle on Sunday after a project successfully melded several parts together. MIC Gadget was able to get the front, back, and glass of the future Apple tablet assembled to prove that they were part of a cohesive design. As already suspected, the new iPad's case was just slightly thicker than its predecessor, although a more gradually tapered back could make it feel thinner in the hand.
Apple's A5X chip might still be joined by a full-fledged A6, based on an investigation of code. A deep dig by 9to5 into the iOS 5.1 beta code has shown both a more modest upgrade, the S5L8945X (possibly A5X), as well as a previously undiscovered S5L8950X. With the existing A5 known as the S5L8940X, it hints that Apple has been working on two chips at once for the first time.
An apparent discovery Sunday has shown what's purported as the iPad 3's mainboard with an unexpected A5X, not A6, processor name. The WeiPhone details don't directly indicate what this would imply, but they imply more of an evolution than a major overhaul. A date code on top suggests it was made in 2011 week 46, or about November 14-20 and the timeframe when iPad 3 production may have started.
