Prior to the unveiling of the new iPad 3, there was a lot of speculation and rumors about what processor would be on board and what features the new tablet. The older iPad 2 came with an A5 processor which included a dual core graphics processor and 512mb of RAM. The graphics processor takes care of all the display functions whilst the main processor handles all of the other functions. A lot of the rumors prior to the new iPad coming out centered around what processor it would have and an “A6″ processor was mooted a lot, with suggestions that it would feature both a quad core CPU and a quad core graphics processor as well, in addition to more memory.
Now that the new iPad has been unveiled, it became apparent that Apple had not quite lived up to the dreams of the A6. The new iPad features a processor called the A5X – an update on the A5, but still a dual core processor. However, the onboard graphics processor is now a quad core. This is a great performance boost if not quite as dramatic as the rumors originally suggested!
The new graphics processor is probably driven by the new retina display which has pushed the iPad’s screen resolution from 1024×769 to a massive 2048×1536. This resolution improvement gives 4 times the number of pixels the previous iPad had, which is a taxing task for any unit. The new quad core graphics processor makes this a lot more manageable.
The new A5 chip carries an increased cache and a slightly increased clock speed to boost the iPad 3′s performance and enable the new hardware to run smoothly. One interesting fact is that although the RAM has been increased from 512mb to 1gb, it’s no longer on board the processor chip but is over the other side of the unit. It’s been speculated that this could be in order to avoid issued with overheating.
So is the new Retina display and improved quad core graphics worth upgrading from the iPad 1 or 2 to the new model? Yes, definitely! The new iPad’s high resolution will allow HD movies and videos to be played. Photos will be crisp and clear. Ebooks are also likely to be much clearer to read and a great many apps are being upgraded to take advantage of the new processor and new display.
The new graphics processor brings benefits beyond just the screen display. The new iPad’s rear camera can now shoot video in 1080P High definition, and allows on board editing in iMovie rather than having to transfer it back and forth to your Pc or Mac. Also if you buy the newest version of Apple TV you can get AirPlay streaming at 1080P.
The new iPad 3 has some very big improvements over the previous models, and the quad core processor is a big part of those enhancements.
Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/new-ipad-quad-core-graphics/
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