A forum post on Chinese site WeiPhone revealed an image of what they claim to be the logic board of an iPad 3 sporting an ‘A5X’ system-on-a-chip (SoC). The iPad 3 has been rumored to receive an upgrade in processing power, likely quad core, and is widely expected to be called the A6 chip.
Apple introduced the A4 chip with the iPhone 4, which was also leaked prior to its announcement, followed by the announcement of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S with the dual-core A5 chip. If this photo is to be believed, then rumors of Apple releasing an A6 chip could be considered incorrect and Apple could be releasing an upgrade in processing power for the iPad 3.
The A5X chip is branded with a date code of “1146”, suggesting that it was likely manufactured during the 46th week of 2011, anywhere from November 14-20. Part numbers of the processors also reveal information about its progression, with Apple’s A4 coming in at S5L8930X, the A5 as the S5L8940X and the new iPad processor as S5L8945X, hinting at a minor upgrade from the current A5.
Other details on the leaked logic board suggest that this in fact, may be genuine, including 16 GB flash memory chips from Hynix and a rectangular Apple-branded chip. Apple is expected to announce the iPad 3 release date at a media event on March 7th with a higher resolution screen, possible 4G LTE networking, as well as a more tapered design, and has also been rumored to receive the same 8 megapixel camera as in the iPhone 4S.
{via MacRumors}
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