PC Magazine: Apple’s iPhone 5 is ‘the fastest smartphone we’ve ever tested’

“The iPhone 5 looks to be the fastest smartphone we’ve ever tested at PCMag.com,” Sascha Segan reports for PC Magazine.

“With its mysterious, Apple-designed A6 processor, the iPhone 5 is unique in the world of smartphones,” Segan reports. “Most high-end phones nowadays run on one of two architectures: ARM’s Cortex-A9, which is used by Nvidia, Texas Instruments and others, and Qualcomm’s Krait. But the A6, as AnandTech discovered, is something completely different — an ARM-compatible system-on-a-chip designed, top to bottom, by Apple.”

Segan reports, “Based on these benchmarks, the iPhone 5 lives up to the promise of being twice as fast as the iPhone 4S. It’s also, for now, the fastest handheld computer sold in the US.”

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
AnandTech: The iPhone 5 Performance Preview – September 22, 2012
Apple A6 die reveals 3-core GPU – September 21, 2012
iPhone 5′s A6 SoC SunSpider performance fastest ever recorded on a smartphone – September 19, 2012
Apple’s custom A6 processor the result of years of effort, including a $500 million chip development program – September 18, 2012
iPhone 5 benchmark score outperforms every iOS and Android device to date – September 17, 2012
A6 is Apple’s first with custom-designed CPU cores; iPhone 5 memory size and speed revealed – September 16, 2012

48 Comments

    1. Exactly, speed is not what smart phone choices exclusively are all about anymore than screen size. Fandroids as we know only look at specs instead of practical application and overall user experience. And that is why they FAIL. Anyway nice to enjoy some minor bragging rights while they last and Apple leapfrogs over them again next year. I still can’t believe all the functionality built into my iPhone 5 in such a small package. Man it feels great in your hand.

      1. @gary

        it manufacturers but does not design

        you’re like saying the printer (samsung) did the book for the author (Apple), so the printer can write better novels than the author.

        the only way samsung competes with apple is when it as the printer copies the author’s writing (hence lawsuits).

  1. That’s OK. Speed won’t matter to Android fans as long as the Apple chip is faster. If it stays faster it won’t matter as long the iPhone doesn’t dual boot into Android. If Apple Bootcamps Android it won’t matter because an Android model they wouldn’t buy themselves is actually cheaper. If Apple starts selling Android phones too it won’t matter because the guy who works at the Apple Store is gay or was seen drinking a Latté.

    Then we’ll be back to saying it doesn’t have a hardware keyboard.

    1. and if they add a hardware keyboard…………..then it won’t matter because Apple will be a bunch of dual-booting, feature-packing, ancient clunky keyboard adding, over-sized screen making spec-hogs…………..(kinda like the current Android)…………. BUT luckily for me, that’s not the Apple way… iPhone 5 rocks!!

  2. 4G: I’m guessing that the higher speed is desirable now that the network speed has increased several-fold. Bragging rights over Android specs (per se) wouldn’t be a high priority for Apple, just a bi-product of striving to make the best possible smart phone on the market.

    It’s 64-bit in the next iteration so maybe Intel should be worried.. that Apple becomes a competitor.

  3. iPhone 5 is running on duo cores which beats Shamesung quad cores . The point is not who is the fastest with the latest CPUs . The point is who can run faster with least spec which really tests the power of the company .

    1. don’t you think that comparison is stupid? if you want, you should do with the same OS, the same phone. iOS & android is different. as a matter of fact, iOS & iphone 5 still can’t do multitasking at the same time. android can do. that’s why I can’t even argue with isheep or fanboys. they’re just blind. they can’t see the truth.

      1. It seems obvious that iOS CAN do multitasking. Apple chose to emphasize saving battery power over ripple effects on the springboard. It is sort of how you could write proper English if you wanted to communicate, but instead you chose to emphasize emotion and ill will over presenting a strong argument.

    1. Not so. Processor speed at the cost of battery life is exactly what is the most important thing in today’s mobile devices. That is why Apple acquired P. A. Semi for their lower power chip design technology.

  4. Gee when I run this information by the Fandroids they claim this information is wrong, can’t be, *gasp*, no way, I hear nothing, NOTHING! BWAHAHAHAHA! Over on Android Authority never have I run into such a wretched hive of scum and villainy (and clueless).

  5. The A.I.M. Alliance technology is alive and well. Long live the PowerPC chip. Apple went to the X86 architecture only as a temporary measure to hook all the sheep deluded by the Wintel hegemony. Next, they will roll out the A6 or 7 into the notebook and desktop.

    1. My fear is the possibility of an Apple processor inside a Mac will not let people also use Windows on their Macs, which some do need. This is probably inevitable at some point and Apple might look at it as Windows is now a thing of the past and doesn’t matter as much to people these days as their Mac market share has increased. But it’s a nice selling point to insecure switchers.

    2. It will be many years — if ever — for Macs to move away from the x86 instruction set. Apple would be abandoning way to much in terms of cross platform capabilities. Right now the Mac is the ONLY platform that can run ALL the major operating systems without significant hacking of the EFI/BIOS and boot loading software and drivers. Apple is not going to give that up in the foreseeable future.

      1. I agree, but remember, MDN (Steve Jack) is a Right-Winger. Though he’d not post a comment using language like ‘x’ above, he, no doubt, agrees with his comments sentiments.

        1. Clever! I think a lot of people must mistake the President’s biological father for him. Although he might have had an impact on the President’s upbringing, I’d say the time spent in Indonesia with a step-father, and with grandparents back in the States was more likely to have had an impact on him.

          If this was a spy novel he would be the ultimate Muslim Brotherhood sleeper. But, the real world isn’t that interesting. He’s just a smart guy with a skull full of mush that has been given a sad awakening by the real world.

          The President is as much a Kenyan as Mitt Romney is a Mexican. Can we get back to talking about important things like the iPhone please?

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