This week we told you that Nvidia made a new demonstration of the Kal'El quad-core processor that it intends to produce in the second half of this year. This processor will be implemented in tablets launched both at the end of 2011 and in those launched at the beginning of 2012, but not in smartphones for now. Considering this information, those from Barrons speculates that Apple could work on an A6 processor for the iPad 3 that would be quad-core and more powerful than Kal'El. Last year, Apple released the A4 single core 1Ghz chip that ended up in the iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G and Apple TV 2G. This year Apple launched the A5 dual-core chip that will probably end up in the iPhone 4S/5, iPod Touch 4G and Apple TV 3G.
The other big point Gwennap makes is that the The roadmap for Apple's chips may become more complex. It's safe to assume Apple will make the next processor, presumably the A6, as a quad core part, sometime next year, in order to compete with quad core chips from Nvidia and others. But that chip will likely be too hot and too large to run in an iPhone, he surmises. That might mean Apple has to use a different chip for the 2012 version of the iPhone, perhaps a shrink of the A5 chip.
Next year, Apple could launch the A6 quad-core chip for iPad 3, according to Barrons, in order to be one step ahead of the competition that will surely implement the Kal'El processor from Nvidia. Of course, we are talking about much higher performances in the quad-core chips that could be even more powerful than some laptops now available on the market and as powerful as some desktops. Those from Barrons say that Apple will not implement these A6 chips in the iPhone because of the very small space and overheating of the terminal.
Considering the way Apple's processors have evolved in the last 2 years plus the fact that Nvidia is launching a quad-core processor, I think Apple could do the same. The A5 chip is superior to the Nvidia Tegra 2 according to tests carried out by certain American websites, and if Apple wants to stay in first place, it must bring a powerful processor next year, maybe even a quad-core one. The technology for mobile terminals has evolved at an alarming rate and the fact that we will have quad-core processors in Android tablets next year seems really remarkable to me. I just hope that Apple has the courage to surpass the technology that Nvidia is currently developing.
