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Apple Working on Quad-Core iPhone, iPad?

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With a quad-core tablet in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer already out on the market and with quad-core smartphones likely on the way in February, it should come as no surprise to hear that hidden inside iOS 5.1 beta are references to quad-core iPhone and iPad chips which could mean that the Cupertino based company could be releasing a next-gen phone and next-gen tablet with a quad-core processor inside.

What has been found, courtesy of 9to5Mac, are references that come from a secret panel within the beta software that describe cores that are supported by Apple’s iOS hardware.

iPhone 4S

Here is how it breaks down:

Extremely reliable and knowledgeable people familiar with iOS’s inner workings explained to me that core references begin at “0.” For example: A single core device would be limited to  ”/cores/core.0,” and a dual-core device would come in at  ”/cores/core.1.” A “core.2″ (which is not referenced in iOS code) would be a triple-core processor according to this labeling method. iOS 5.1 beta 2 now includes core.3, a seemingly quad-core chip from Apple.

And while that reference can’t definitively prove that Apple’s next-generation hardware will have quad-core processors on board, it definitely leaves open the possibility of such a thing happening.

Quad-Core

Keep in mind, Apple moved from a single-core processor in 2010, to a dual-core processor in the A5 in 2011 and if it were to follow the same pattern, a quad-core processor could be next to debut.

It especially makes sense when Apple’s competition already has a quad-core powered device on the market, with more to come.

The iPad 3 has been rumored to be coming out in either February or March while the next iPhone, presumably the iPhone 5, is rumored to be out sometime this fall.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. DonJulio

    01/06/2012 at 6:13 pm

    I call bullshit. this is all rumor, and not even good rumors.

  2. Anonymous

    01/06/2012 at 8:52 pm

    Is it gona be better than a galaxy note?Nhoooo… Apple is certainly losing these days

  3. Anonymous

    01/07/2012 at 7:36 am

    I don’t think anyone other than Nividia actually has a quad core in production right now though… I’m guessing this won’t be available until whatever product launches in the fall. After all, there are already rumors of a refreshed iPad 3 (or iPad 4) coming out in the fall. 

    I am picking up a Prime. But I do not even think that Apple has to worry about the Android competition any more… if they’re smart, they have their sights set on Microsoft. I’m all over Win 8 and Clover Trail. Even if app development doesn’t heat up on Win 8 (which I think it will), the accessibility of REAL software made from the ground up for a tablet form factor is too great to pass up.

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