A5

Newly discovered iBoot exploit makes A5(X) devices jailbreakable for life

"So looks like all my A5(X) devices are fully untethered and jailbroken for life now. :)" iH8sn0w, the developer behind Sn0wBreeze and other jailbreak apps, tweeted this afternoon. The comment has caused quite a bit of excitement, as we haven't seen anything like this in jailbreaking since LimeRa1n.

iH8sn0w says he doesn't have a bootrom exploit though, but rather a "powerful iBoot exploit." And although it doesn't look like he's going to do anything with it right now in terms of a public release, it sounds like he'll be able to use the exploit in future jailbreaks, and to find similar bugs in A6/A7 chips...

Inside 2013 Apple TV: redesigned power-savvy A5 chip, cost optimizations

Apple shipped five million Apple TVs last year for a nearly $500 million in additional revenue. That’s a very successful hobby and while talk of Tim Cook & Co. building a standalone HD TV set remains just that - rumor mongering - Apple has quietly retooled the $99 set-top box, with most of the under-the-hood tweaks aimed at optimizing production costs.

AnandTech took a peek inside the gadget and found some minor changes. The publication found a significant reduction in the new model’s power consumption, directly related to the optimized A5 chip, leading AnandTech to speculate that perhaps Apple could use this chip for another device, “perhaps one powered by a battery” (hint: iWatch)...

Apple actually removed one CPU core from Apple TV’s die-shrunk A5 chip

Silicon analysts over at Chipworks were able to conclude yesterday that the smaller A5 package, which was recently discovered inside a retooled Apple TV, is still being fabbed on Samsung’s 32-nanometer process rather than on TSMC's 28-nanometer technology, as some watchers speculate. Compared to its 2012 counterpart, the new A5 with a 2013 die is noticeably smaller, prompting questions on how Apple has managed to achieve a smaller die without changing fabbing technology.

The full A5 floorplan Chipworks published this morning reveals the culprit: the new die is smaller because the package contains just one ARM CPU core. Now, Apple has always rated the Apple TV as single-core, but previous implementations called for dual-core designs with one core intentionally disabled, though still present.

In removing one CPU core altogether, Apple's silicon team was able to shrink the die size without having to switch to a more sophisticated fabbing process technology...

Apple’s smaller A5 chip is still being fabbed by Samsung

As we reported Monday, a retooled version of Apple's $99 set-top box has been found to have a die-shrunk version of the iPad 2's A5 chip rather than the A5X package, as previously speculated. Some market watchers even thought the new package is fabbed on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) new 28-nanometer process. However, after conducting a thorough analysis of the silicon under sophisticated microscopes, chip wizards over at Chipworks and Silicon-IP have determined that the new A5 package is being fabbed on Samsung's 32-nanometer process after all...

Retooled Apple TV found to have die-shrunk A5, not A5X

Earlier this year, a software update for the Apple TV (5.2) revealed a new device labeled "AppleTV3,2." After digging through some FCC documents, and some code, it was discovered that it was just a tweaked version of the third-gen ATV with an A5X processor.

Or at least it appeared that way. The retooled set-top box has just begun hitting Apple Stores, and the folks over at MacRumors were able to pick one up and crack one open this weekend. And they've determined that its processor is actually a die-shrunk A5 chip...

Geekbench: the new iPod touch cannot hold a candle to the iPhone 5

Apple's fifth-generation iPod touch has arrived to some raving reviews, representing a major upgrade over the previous model with the same four-inch display as the iPhone 5 (sans a cheaper assembly), the thinner chassis (only 6.1mm), the new Lightning interconnect, a five-megapixel iSight camera with custom optics and the A5 chip, also found inside the third-generation iPad and iPhone 4S. First Geekbench benchmarks show that the new iPod touch is nearly as fast as the iPhone 4S, but not even half as fast as the iPhone 5, Apple's first iOS device to utilize the brand new A6 processor...

Apple now accounts for 8.8% of Samsung’s revenue

Despite a massive legal spat between Apple and Samsung over who copied whose tablets and smartphones, the two frenemies remain dependent on each other's business. Samsung makes Apple's in-house designed mobile processors and supplies the iPhone maker with massive amounts of displays and flash memory chips for iOS devices.

A new report suggests the Apple account is worth a whopping 8.8 percent of Samsung's revenue, making Apple Samsung's largest customer and perhaps giving Cupertino some added leverage in its business and legal dealings with the South Korea-headquartered conglomerate. The next biggest Samsung client? Read on...

Apple’s head mobile chip designer leaves for AMD

Back in June we learned that Bob Mansfield, Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware, would be retiring. Bob has been a familiar face on Apple's executive team for several years, and an integral part of the success of the iPhone and iPad.

And now it looks like Apple is losing another important piece of its iOS squad. A new report is out today claiming that Jim Keller, Apple's lead chip designer, is leaving the company to take a new position at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)...

New iPod touch said to feature a 4-inch display, A5 chip

Hot on the heels of last night's note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, comes a new report regarding the future of the iPod touch. If it holds true, the mp3 player could be getting quite the makeover this fall.

According to the new dispatch, the next-generation iPod touch will feature the same 4-inch display that the new iPhone is rumored to get, as well as an A5 processor and other internal upgrades...

How to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 using Absinthe 2.0 on Windows

Fret not Windows users, you can now download Absinthe 2.0 in order to perform an untethered jailbreak on your iOS device running iOS 5.1.1. The procedure is pretty much exactly the same as it was for Mac users, beside a few minor details like running Absinthe as an administrator, and the self extracting zip file. Outside of that, if you can follow the steps from our Mac tutorial, you should be fine to use our Windows tutorial as well.

Check inside for the full dedicated tutorial for jailbreak your iOS 5.1.1 device on Windows, because hey, we love our Windows readers and viewers!

How to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 with Absinthe 2.0

The iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak is now a reality with the release of Absinthe 2.0, and we've got the full tutorial that shows you how to jailbreak your device.

This jailbreak is compatible with most iOS devices capable of running iOS 5.1.1.

Check inside for our full step-by-step walkthrough that shows you how to use Absinthe 2.0 to perform an untethered jailbreak on your device...

Absinthe 2.0 released for iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak

Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over. Absinthe version 2.0 has been released to the public, meaning you can now jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 untethered.

Absinthe is compatible with most recent iOS devices running iOS 5.1.1, including the new iPad (iPad 3), the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4th generation, iPhone 3GS, etc.

A Mac, Windows, and Linux version are now available. Check inside for the full download!