A8

Rumor: 4″ iPhone refresh to be named ‘iPhone 5e’ and run A8 chip with 1GB of RAM

The rumored refresh of the four-inch iPhone is widely expected by multiple sources to include Apple’s latest A9 chip with two gigabytes of RAM, but now a new rumor published Monday by Chinese-language MyDrivers is pouring cold water on those claims.

According to the site, the handset will actually run the previous-generation A8 processor that powers the iPhone 6 series and won’t include twice the RAM as previously suspected. In addition, Apple will apparently market the device under an ‘iPhone 5e’ moniker, like to suggest that it’s actually an enhanced version of the iPhone 5s.

Apple’s rumored 4-inch iPhone 6c apparently won’t run A9 chip after all

Reliable analyst who have been calling for a refresh to the now discontinued four-inch iPhone 5c may have gotten one detail wrong: it sounds like the device, expected to be branded under the ‘iPhone 6c’ moniker, will run Apple’s A8 processor used in last year’s iPhone 6 rather than the latest A9 chip powering the new iPhone 6s.

That’s what Japanese blog Macotakara, which has a pretty good track record when it comes to Apple leaks, said this morning citing “credible sources” familiar with the device.

iPhone chips infringe University of Wisconsin’s tech, Apple faces $862M in damages

The Apple-designed, TSMC/Samsung-manufactured A7, A8 and A8X mobile chips that power the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices released since 2013 have been found to infringe technology patents owned by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

As a result, Apple is now facing a damages payout of $862.4 million, Reuters reported yesterday. The aforesaid chips power the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini with Retina display, iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 4.

iPad mini 4 performance: faster than last year’s model but slower than the iPad Air 2

I think we all pretty much expected the iPad mini 4 to be a little slower than Apple’s still top of the line iPad Air 2, and some new benchmarks from Ars Technica back up that expectation. The iPad mini 4, which received little fanfare during last Wednesday’s iPhone 6s event, ships with a new A8 processor and 2GB of RAM.

With its new specs in tow, the iPad mini 4 can benefit from one of the major changes in tomorrow’s iOS 9 release—side-by-side multitasking. True, the iPad mini 4 may still come in second place when compared to its larger sibling, but this refresh is a marked improvement over its predecessors.

Report: Apple TV lacks 4K video streaming, 8/16GB prototypes tested and more

The allegedly upcoming Apple TV refresh will file as the most detailed overhaul of the device’s hardware, but it doesn’t seem that the new box will support 4K streaming, as per 9to5Mac’s sources.

The publication reported today that even though the fourth-generation Apple TV will be powered by Apple’s sped-up A8 processor (likely overclocked, as there will be no battery bottlenecks), it purportedly won’t support video streaming and AirPlay in 4K.

This is something of a surprise considering that the A8 processor inside the iPhone 6 was found capable of rendering 4K 3,840-by-2,160 pixel footage without a hiccup.

iPhone 6c with A8 chip, Touch ID and Apple Pay coming in time for Thanksgiving?

Apple’s rumored ‘iPhone 6c’ boasting an in-house designed ‘A8’ processor, a four-inch Retina screen, Touch ID fingerprint scanning and Apple Pay mobile payments could be with you in time for Thanksgiving, according to latest reports from Apple’s supply chain.

Assuming the reports are true, the mythical device will pose a significant jump in terms of hardware versus the iPhone 5c, which runs the iPhone 5’s three-year old A6 processor and has no biometric authentication or NFC.

Here are some interesting tidbits about Apple’s ‘best iPod touch yet’

Apple yesterday refreshed its aging lineup of iPod-branded music players. By and large, the iPod touch has received its most substantial upgrade yet as Apple really went all out with upgrades on the hardware front.

Not only does the new iPod touch run the latest Apple-designed “A8” processor as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but includes the M8 motion coprocessor, a much-improved eight-megapixel camera on the back, three times faster Wi-Fi and the latest in Bluetooth networking.

Here are some interesting tidbits related to the iPod touch’s hardware surprises.

Following record Q4, TSMC migrates to finer 10nm tech and allegedly picks up A9X orders in 2015

Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Thursday announced record profits in the fourth quarter of 2014 buoyed by its lucrative chip-making deal with Apple for the new iPhones.

In addition, the firm announced migrating to a much finer 10-nanometer process technology this year after being among the first to adopt 20-nanometer chip-making technology in 2014.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, TSMC would not only pick up 100 percent of orders for Apple’s “A9X” chip, which should be used in an iPad refresh this Fall, but also get to produce an “S2” processor for a second-generation Apple Watch and an “A10” chip that should power a 2016 iPhone model, likely to be called “iPhone 7”.