Many manufacturers of Android terminals are preparing to launch smartphones and tablets with quad-core processors, and Apple seems to to test already iDevices with similar processors. Information was found in iOS 5.1 indicating that Apple is currently testing quad-core processors with its iDevices. The information was discovered in the management program of the iDevice's processor and the entry can be found in it /cores/cores.3 next to the identification code of the cores of a processor. At first glance, you would say that this entry denotes the fact that an iDevice with 3 cores could be tested, but Apple numbers the cores from zero in iOS and the mention core.3 indicates the existence of 4 cores in the iDevice's processor. A core.2 entry that would suggest the existence of 3 cores does not exist, so we stick to the theory with 4 cores.
Beta versions of iOS generally reveal valid information about what Apple is testing on current or future iDevices, and considering the fact that Samsung, HTC or Asus already have quad-core products in development, it's only natural that Apple does the same. An iPad 3 tablet with Retina Display could fully benefit from the existence of a quad-core processor, but it is unlikely that the new tablet will be equipped with such hardware. Regardless of what Apple will release this year, it is as clear as possible that quad-core processors are under discussion for the development of future iDevices.
