iOS 5.1 Hints at New iDevices With Quad Core Processors

With an iPad 3 announcement expected sometime within the next two months, we’ve seen an increase in gossip surrounding the tablet. Will it feature better cameras, a retina display, a faster processor, or all three?

Well it seems that evidence of the latter has just been uncovered in the latest version of iOS. The folks over at 9to5Mac are reporting that they’ve uncovered A6 quad-core processor references in the beta release of iOS 5.1

Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac reports:

“Hidden deep inside the latest iOS 5.1 beta is updated processing-core management software that not only supports the dual core processing enabled by the A5 iPhone and iPad chip, but also quad-core processing. The references to quad-core iPhone and iPad chips come by way of a hidden panel that describes cores that are supported by iOS device hardware…

…Apple leaving references to quad-core chips in the iOS 5.1 beta is notable because iOS 5.1 is the software currently being tested against the third-generation iPad. In addition, as we previously revealed, Apple is currently testing an unreleased “iPhone 5,1″ against the iOS 5.1-beta software.”

Gurman goes on to note that this isn’t concrete evidence that the iPad 3 will feature the A6, but a quad-core processor would certainly fit Apple’s product pattern. If 2010 was the year of the A4 and 2011 was the year of the A5, then you would think 2012 would be the year of the A6.

An iPad 3 with a Retina display, a quad-core processor and an 8MP camera? All that is missing now is LTE.

As it sits, what do you think of Apple’s upcoming tablet?