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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

You don’t need to watch the Apple keynote — you already know there’s a new iPhone coming, it’ll be called the “iPhone 5,” and will be accompanied by a new iPod touch and a new version of iTunes. You also know now that the device will be packing an A6 processor and LTE connectivity, thanks to the latest pictures of its logic board.

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.

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.