Apple's iOS 4.3 contains evidence that iPhone 5 will sport A5 chip

Within hours of the official release of iOS 4.3, developers have found further evidence that Apple plans to use its dual-core A5 processor in the next-generation iPhone.

Developers have found references to the A5 processor in a kernel file for a device codenamed N94AP, widely assumed to be the iPhone 5, within the code for iOS 4.3, as reported by iClarified.

iOS developer Filippo Bigarella posted to Twitter the below screenshot of his findings, along with the declaration, "Hereâ€™s the proof, iPhone 5 will run on the S5L8940 (A5 dual core processor) too!"

According to the report, the A5 chip is referred to as S5L8940 in the iOS 4.3 code and, as expected, is also listed as the processor for the Wi-Fi, GSM and CDMA versions of the iPad 2.

Apple released iOS 4.3 on Wednesday, ahead of Friday's iPad 2 launch and two days earlier than originally expected. The software update improves JavaScript performance in the mobile Safari web browser, features third-party support for AirPlay wireless streaming and adds the Personal Hotspot feature first introduced on the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4 in February.

The Cupertino, Calif., iPad maker took the wraps off the new A5 processor last week when it unveiled the faster, thinner and lighter iPad 2. A recent rumor suggested that Apple has turned to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to produce the A5 chip, rather than staying with Samsung, its original partner for the A4 processor.

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14 Comments

ltcommander.data

said about 13 years ago

Have they been able to figure out from sifting through iOS 4.3 whether the A5 is actually a Cortex A9, what the GPU is or how much RAM the iPad 2 has?

oc4theo

said about 13 years ago

It is common sense to expect that A5 will be in the next iPhone. Apple is not going to debut the next iPhone with same A4 it used last year, when other phone makers are already ahead in speed.

mdriftmeyer

said about 13 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltcommander.data

Have they been able to figure out from sifting through iOS 4.3 whether the A5 is actually a Cortex A9, what the GPU is or how much RAM the iPad 2 has?

There are no multi-core A8 processors. It's not in the design. They surely aren't A15's either.

jeffdm

said about 13 years ago

If it's true, it's not really surprising, that's the same pattern they had last year. Probably going to use it in the Touch too, and that makes the most sense, to try to use a lot of shared elements between their products.

suddenly newton

said about 13 years ago

It's like "The Bible Code": if you search for patterns of strings in the Kernel file, you'll supposedly find predictions of future events, but you don't recognize it until the event has happened, because you don't know what to look for. In this case, we know about the A5 being called "S5L8940". This file probably contains prophecies of many exciting future Apple iOS products! If only we knew what to look for...