iPhone 5 and iPad 3 to Feature New A5 processor, iPad 2 will Come with Older A4

By dag | February 16, 2011 | 9 comments

If you’re waiting for the second generation iPad to be released to buy your first tablet, you may be in for some disappointments. While many expected the upcoming tablet to pack a slew of new major features, such as a new retina display, and a new dual-core A5 CPU, it appears that after all, none of them will make it into the iPad 2.

According to Taiwan-based tech news outlet DigiTimes, Apple just awarded the contract for the production of its next-generation A5 CPU, a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, to the Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC. While the iPad 2 already entered production several weeks ago, the first A5 chips are expected to be supplied to Apple later this year. In other words, the first device to sport the new CPU will be the iPhone 5, and the iPad 2 will ‘only’ offer an A4 CPU, similar to the one found in the first-generation iPad.

Everything’s not lost though, as the A4 that will come with the iPad 2 is expected to be enhanced, and should offer a higher clock speed. Still, the news will come as a major disappointment to folks in the market for a screamingly fast tablet, as the iPad 2 will not run much faster than its predecessor.

Also note that the iPad 3 rumor recently started by Daring Fireball and TechCrunch now makes more sense than ever: even though the iPad 2 has not even been officially announced yet, the websites believe that its successor will be released as early as the third quarter of this year. The alleged iPad 3 ‘rushed launch’ could very well be explained by the fact that the iPad 2 looks to be to the first generation iPad what the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G, the device will be faster and more polished, but will not offer dramatic changes, and will not allow Apple to stay ahead of the curve.

About dag: Certified geek

G

Does anyone really NEED more speed than the A4 offers? I consider myself a power multi-tasking business user(some gaming), and more power is like more sex – I’ll take it, any time it’s there. But, I can’t imagine being disappointed if it had the same processor. I think more storage offerings, cameras, and a thinner, lighter design are what WILL keep Apple ahead of the curve. Not like anyone is really nipping at their heels anyways…
Simply Curious

Good point, G.

What I’d like to know are people’s thoughts of the rumored iPad 3 being a 7″ (iPad Nano if you please), though Jobs previously said that’s too small. I only wonder because I’m hearing the 3rd release is to expand the tablet “family.” A bunch of 9.7″ tablets isn’t exactly an expansion, it feels more like a crowd. Or will the 3rd be packed with HD, retina display, HDMI, a much higher price point, etc.? I’m also dying to know what this big deal for the fall is all about, but I can’t wait for an announcement about iPad 2. Please let it be coming out this Spring. I’m only waiting on the front-facing camera before I purchase.
Quant

Apple would be insane, I repeat… INSANE… not to load the second gen with a dual core. They will fail miserably in the competition with all the latest Android honeycomb devices, and no amount of fan support will help here. I sure as hell won’t buy an inferior device for the same price, even though I’m waiting for the second gen iPad right now.
Ichigo

I totally agree with you Quant, that would be a major disappointment. I own the first gen iPad, I love it but like you said with all the android tablets coming out apple needs to step it up for the upcoming iPad. If not I’ll have to wait till the 3rd generation, I sometimes get tired of apple adding just a couple of features each year to sell more units. I know it makes sense for them but at the end of the day i wanna be a happy customer and I won’t drop 500 dollars if the upgrade isn’t worth it. Dual core and more RAM is a MUST.

Sean

What are you doing right now (or what cant you do that you would otherwise be able to with a RAM and processor upgrade), that is so processor heavy that you need these upgrades so bad? The iPad is a consumption device. It makes all the media and gaming in a person’s life a little easier to force in our already fat faces. You’re not (likely) programing the hit new PS3 game or rendering graphics. Really. I’m interested. What are you doing that the way the system is laid out, Apple is a complete know-nothing that is going to sink faster than the Titanic if they don’t increase the RAM and boost the processor?

I own the first gen iPad and I’d put myself into a category between your average owner and a power user (I’ve jailbroken it, and added some tweaks, and other processes) but still I haven’t hit the wall on it yet. That means for Joe Bob your average user who doesn’t even know how to use all the features the Gen 1 can do natively (believe me I’ve talked to people who “know” and the things they don’t know are astounding) there’s no reason to do any hardcore upgrades on the system hardware.

Also, with the Gen 1 on sale for less than a year and you to be looking to upgrade already shows you just have to stay at the forefront of the tech curve. Mine works beautifully. At this rate I play to be using the same one another year or two before seriously considering an upgrade.

http://www.iPhone5Rumours.com Ahmad Rashad

The iPad 3 rumors are completely baseless and just outright wrong. The originator of that rumor even say that he’s making a ‘calculated guess’ based on when they’ve released stuff in the past and has no other base for his claims.

cool, I could find a tech analyst that says that itll come out next year instead.
Valentino Villevieille

I agree with the post by G. Most users do not fall into the category that wants more speed all the time. For those most of us who are waiting for the second generation speed is not the issue. Since we do not have an I-pad right now speed is not a concern, since I’ve never seen a report trashing the original I-pad’s speed anyway. The inclusion of front facing camera for facetime was my biggest wish and that’s coming. I was also hoping for more storage and that also looks like it’s coming.
The ubergeeks are always unhappy, no matter what specs the device will have since it’s always obvious to them that all tech companies are always slow, incompetent and that if they (the ubergeeks) could just run those companies instead they’d show us…unaware of their near-irrelevance from the commercial point of view they keep forecasting failure for products that do not meet their wishes, not realizing that rest of us like ‘em just fine ’cause we don’t want these products to do a zillion things at a time, like most of the geeks do. Look at Quant’s post for an example…
Gary

I laugh at the people who talk about the iPad 2 still having the A4; not the new A5, as if every year, Apple has to actually create a new processor, instead of adding/improving features and speeding up the present-generation processor.
I haven’t hear anyone complaining about the speed of the A4 in the iPad. Perhaps the iPad 2 will be more attractive to the people who haven’t purchased an iPad yet, while the iPad 3 will be the kind of upgrade that will even have present owners upgrading. Do you all upgrade your computers on an annual basis; every time Apple upgrades their iMac of Mac Pro? If so, you have more money than you know what to do with and you should give some of it to me!
Gene

Apple are and always will be better than the competition according to them. They are at the moment, in my eyes, but will fall eventually as most tech leaders do as competition ramps up. Apples app store is one solid reason for apple ‘i’products and currently the iPad are doing so well. Slow that tech process down, however, and it will change drastically as the comp, again, ramps up to get in line and take on apple. The honeycomb 10.1′s are definitely a force to reckon with IMHO.