SAN FRANCISCO—The third generation of Apple Inc's wildly successful iPad media tablet, which hit store shelves this week, features a modified version of Apple's A5 processor, A5X, which has a larger floorplan to include quad-core graphics, according to a teardown analysis performed by UBM TechInsights.
According to UBM TechInsights, a sister company to EE Times, the A5X measures roughly 163 square millimeters, compared to about 120 square millimeters for the standard A5. Both chips use identical ARM processor cores, but the A5X adds four PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics cores, which are paired in groups of two and then symmetrically opposed to each other on the floorplan.
The A5X, like the standard A5, features two application processor cores and operates at 1 GHz., UBM TechInsights said. But the A5X includes more DDR interfaces and more architecture added for the handling of quad-core GPU, according to the firm's analysis.
Diffusion image show the floorplan of the new Apple A5X processor. Click to enlarge.
Diffusion image show the floorplan of the standard A5 processor. Click to enlarge.
The PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU is the same graphics processor core found in the Sony Inc's Playstation Vita, according to UBM TechInsights.
UBM TechInsights' teardown analysis of the new iPad, like a separate analysis conducted by iFixit Inc, revealed multiple design wins for long-time Apple partner Broadcom Corp, as well as key wins for Qualcomm Inc, Cirrus Logic Inc, Skyworks Solutions Inc, and Triquint Semiconductor Inc.
The third-generation iPad became available in U.S. stores Friday (March 16). The release featured the usual hoopla surrounding iPad and iPhone releases, with willing consumers lining up hours in advance in hopes of getting their hands on the new device.
According to UBM TechInsights, by the end of 2010 Apple had sold more than 15 million iPads. Despite strong competition from products released by Motorala and Samsung, Apple held a 75 tablets share of overall sales of tablets, according to the firm.
For a detailed photographic account of UBM TechInsights' teardown analysis and its findings click on the slideshow link below. More information about the new iPad teardown can be found on UBM TechInsights' website.
Click here to view the slideshow.
This story was originally posted by EE Times.