Apple has just released its latest iPhones which sport the next-gen A9 processor and now, rumors are rife that the company's next-gen A10 SoC will have a hexa-core CPU.
The current-gen Apple devices deploy the triple-core and dual-core A8X and A9 architectures. The rumored hexa-core SoC architecture for the future Apple devices will undoubtedly be a massive leap.
The latest rumor comes courtesy of a source who spilled the beans on the A9 chipset prior to its accurate release. The China-based source posted the details on his Weibo account.
The supposed hexa-core A10 chipset will deploy a 14nm or 10nm semi-conductor technology. Apple may also have other OEMs such as rival Samsung, Intel or TSMC on board for its manufacturing.
"Apple is developing the next generation A10 architecture, will focus on the development of multi-threading, up to [hexa]-core is 10nm or 14nm, Samsung, TSMC, Intel 14nm process also rob on the order (translated)," stated on the source's Weibo post.
This will be the first time Apple is focusing on multi-threading since it began designing its CPUs. Even when the previous Apple chipsets were running up to a maximum of three cores, it still did not fare that well in multi-core benchmark tests against Android devices.
A possibility exists that Apple may be eyeing multiple manufacturers to create its impending A10 hexa-core chipset.
Apple's chipset's evolution bears testament to how it has grown over the years, progressing from a 32nm conductor used in the A6 SoC to a 28nm one in the A7 processor, and down to 20nm in the A8 and A8X chipsets.
The A8X deploys a single CPU and a triple-core architecture and the other chipsets are dual-core, it will be interesting to see how much more juice a hexa-core chipset will bring to iDevices. With a dual-core architecture being effective, one can only imagine how powerful a hexa-core A10 processor will be.
Whether the A10 chipset will be a game changer and make its way to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus remains to be seen.
