A6

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on A6:

Secret Shipment Of New Apple TVs Arrives In The U.S. Ahead Of September 10th Event

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The next version of Apple TV may allow you to take your viewing with you wherever you go. Photo: Apple
The next version of Apple TV may allow you to take your viewing with you wherever you go. Photo: Apple

With all the hubbub about new iPhones and new iPads coming, it wouldn’t be surprising if Apple slipped a small Apple TV update in there too. Although Apple dismisses it as their “hobby,” the Apple TV usually inherits the previous generation A-series chip when a new iPhone or iPad comes out. In this case, it’s the A6. In addition, Apple’s been building up steam when it comes to the Apple TV lately, releasing a number of entirely new channels in the last few months. It would be natural to follow that wth an update.

These are all good reasons to believe that Apple might try to slip in an update to their set-top box on September 10th, and lo and behold, a new report seemingly confirms that new Apple TVs are already making their way into the country.

Apple Fires Samsung As MacBook, iPad Battery Maker

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Samsung is no longer supplying Apple's iPad batteries.
Samsung is no longer supplying Apple's iPad batteries.

Apple has reportedly further distanced itself from rival Samsung by switching its suppliers for iPad and MacBook batteries. The Cupertino company has been seemingly working to avoid Samsung’s components since the companies became embroiled in various legal battles all over the world.

Samsung Backs Apple Into A Corner With 20% Price Hike On All Mobile Processors [Report]

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Samsung currently supplies all of Apple's mobile processors.

Samsung has dealt Apple a nasty blow by increasing the price of its mobile processors — the ones built into every iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch — by 20%. According to a person familiar with negotiations between the two companies, Apple initially disapproved the price hike, but was forced to accept it with no replacement supplier available.

Apple’s Severing All Manufacturing Ties With Samsung, It’s Now Hate All The Way Down

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You mess with the bull, you’re going to get the horns. Google discovered this when they launched Android, their own competitor to iOS, a move which ultimately resulted in Apple jettisoning the search giant’s products almost entirely from iOS 6. Now Samsung is finding out the same thing: not only has it been found guilty of infringing Apple’s intellectual property and been told to pony up a $1 billion fine, but now Apple is now taking away their portion of Samsung’s multi-billion dollar manufacturing business.

Benchmarks Reveal New iPod Touch Isn’t Even Half As Fast As iPhone 5

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The iPhone 5 is way ahead of its siblings when it comes to Geekbench performance.
The iPhone 5 is way ahead of its siblings when it comes to Geekbench performance.

Geekbench benchmarks for the new iPod touch prove Apple has made lots of improvements to the fifth-generation device, with its dual-core A5 chip making it significantly faster than its predecessor. When compared with iPhone performance, however, the iPod touch is lagging far behind.

Despite the same 800MHz processor, the new iPod touch is still slightly slower then the iPhone 4S, and not even half as fast as the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 Even Faster Than Originally Reported, Due To Updated Benchmarking Software

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a6_hero

The iPhone 5 runs on an Apple-designed A6 chip, which has been widely reported as running at 1.0GHz. The software that performed that analysis, Geekbench, was recently updated to an iOS 6-enabled version, and the iPhone 5 was tested again. Turns out that the A6 CPU dual-cores are actually running at 1.3GHz, which is a bit faster than previously thought.

iPhone 5’s A6 Processor Is The First Manual Layout Chip To Hit The Market In Years

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A6

We already know a few details about the A6 chip thanks to iFixit’s immaculate teardown, but there’s still a lot to learn about how much hard work Apple put into custom designing their A6 chip.

iFixit teamed up with Chipworks to dive into Apple’s A6 processor to find out what makes Apple’s new chip so special. To their surprise, the team found out that Apple manually laid out each of the Dual Arm Corse, making it the first manual layout chip to hit the market in several years.

iPhone 5 May Not Have A Quad-Core CPU, But It’s One Of The Fastest Smartphones Money Can Buy

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That's a fast smartphone.
That's a fast smartphone.

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 last week, the company promised that its custom A6 chip deliver performance twice as fast as its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. But according to the handset’s first benchmarks, this isn’t just the fastest iPhone yet — it’s also one of the most powerful smartphones money can buy.

Apple Confirms iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Top Two Million In First 24 Hours

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Who said this was a
Who said this was a "disappointment?"

Apple has issued a press release this morning confirming that iPhone 5 pre-orders topped two million units during its first 24 hours of availability. That’s more than double the record held by the handset’s predecessor, the iPhone 4S, and Apple has warned that while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered on launch day, September 21, “many” are scheduled to be delivered in October.

The iPhone 5: Everything You Wanted Or A Major Disappointment? [Poll]

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The iPhone 5 is going to be huge.
How do you feel about this?

Apple’s iPhone 5 is almost everything we expected it to be. If you’ve been following the rumor mill in recent months, it’s probably safe to assume everything you saw at yesterday’s event regarding the iPhone, you already knew. But does that make the iPhone 5 any less incredible? With its 4-inch display, A6 processor, improved cameras, and LTE connectivity, could you label iPhone 5 “disappointing” because there are no surprises?

I don’t think I could, but I’d like to hear what you think. Leave your answer below.

Apple Unveils A6 Processor In New iPhone 5, 2X Faster Than A5 [iPhone 5 Event]

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Following the announcement that the iPhone 5 features LTE networking, Apple’s Phil Schiller unveiled the phone’s new A6 processor. According to Schiller, the A6 chip is 2x faster than the previous A5 in both CPU and GPU computing.

“It’s a huge jump in performance, but 22% smaller,” noted Schiller.

Per tradition, Apple invited EA onstage to demo the upcoming Real Racing 3 game on the iPhone 5’s A6 chip. EA explained how the A6 allows for “”full console quality” gaming on a mobile device.

Image: The Verge

iPhone 5’s Logic Board With Possible A6 Processor Revealed?

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Is that an A6 chip I see?
Is that an A6 chip I see?

I’ve lost count of the number of iPhone 5 parts that have leaked out of Apple’s Chinese factories. But one thing that’s been notably absent from those leaks is the device’s new processor. We’ve questioned whether it will use the same A5X chip that features in the new iPad, or whether it will get an all-new A6 processor.

Thanks to the latest leak, that has become a little clearer.

Foxconn Recruiter Claims iPhone 5 Will Arrive In June

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The iPhone 5 probably won't look like this... or arrive in June.
The iPhone 5 probably won't look like this... or arrive in June.

Apple broke away from its traditional June iPhone unveiling last year, delaying the iPhone 4S announcement until early October instead. The company is widely expected to do the same with the iPhone 5 — likely to be called the “new iPhone” — this year, but according to one Foxconn recruiter, it’ll arrive in June like many of its predecessors.

Apple’s New A5X Processor May Not Be Suitable For The iPhone [Report]

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A5X-chip
Image courtesy of Engadget

Apple introduced its new A5X processor in the third-generation iPad yesterday, and based on the company’s previous moves, we’re expecting the chip to appear in its next iPhone. However, that may not be the case. According to analysts, the chip requires too much power to be used in the iPhone, and Apple will need to create a more power-efficient chip with a new manufacturing process for its next smartphone.

What We Expect From Apple’s iPad 3 Announcement Today [Updated]

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Screen Shot 2012-02-29 at 12.27.20 AM

Apple has officially confirmed that an iPad event is set to take place today, Wednesday, March 7th, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California. “We have something you really want to see. And touch,” teases the press invitation.

Months and months of rampant speculation and conspiracy stories have built up to next week’s event, and no one really knows what Apple has planned, other than a new iPad. The Retina display is widely expected to make its way to Apple’s tablet. Will it even be called the iPad 3? Will it be offered at a new price point? Let’s take a look at the rumors and examine what we think we know.

Apple Working On Revamped A5 Chip And Totally New A6 Chip At The Same Time [Rumor]

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A5X

With the announcement of the iPad 3 lurking in the shadows, the web has been buzzing with rumors and leaked parts as everyone tries to solve the puzzle of what the next iPad 3 will look like, and what new hardware it might have. Some have claimed the iPad 3 will sport a new quad-core A6 processor, while others claim it will merely get an improved A5 dual-core chip. It appears the confusion over which processor will actually be included in the iPad 3 stems from the fact that Apple is working on BOTH processors at the same time.