“Apple rolled out a die shrink of the A5 in the third-generation Apple TV last year, shifting from the original S5L8940 to the smaller S5L8942,” Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors. “According to Apple, this latest Apple TV update was designed to be invisible to users, offering no changes in features.”
“The original A5 chip introduced in 2011 for the iPad 2 was built on a 45-nanometer process, measuring 10.09 mm by 12.15 mm, while the first die-shrunk A5 introduced in 2012 for the third-generation Apple TV and the tweaked iPad 2 measured 41% smaller at 8.19 mm by 8.68 mm,” Slivka reports. “This new A5 found in the tweaked third-generation Apple TV is considerably smaller still, with our measurements putting the chip at just 6 mm by 6 mm.”
Slivka reports, “It is very possible that the company is piloting a 28-nanometer process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for this new chip. Such a move would be a major development, making this A5 the first iOS device processor to be manufactured by a company other than Samsung.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always, the more pain inflicted upon the serial patent infringer Samsung, the better.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
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