Instead of an ARM-15 based processor like previously reported, it’s now known that the A6 processor is actually Apple’s first attempt to custom design a processor. The A6 is claimed to have twice the computing and graphics processing power compared to the previous A5 processor. Apple is known as among a few licensees that are vested with the legal permission to design a custom ARM processor. By designing its processor, Apple can fine tune the chip to fully serve its strategy, interest and goal.
It’s also possible for the company to significantly reduce wastage as the processor only runs features and functions that Apple has. Though any in-house processor design is often billed as a costly effort, this could be beneficial for Apple in the long run and reducing dependency to external firms, including Samsung. Industry watchers and hardware enthusiasts will still need to wait until later this week to understand how A6 works and how many cores it constitutes, although it’s reported that the A6 is actually a 1GHz dual-core processor.
