15Jan2011

Rumor: Apple’s iPhone 5 to sport new A8 processor, Qualcomm baseband

Apple’s forthcoming fifth-generation iPhone will sport a new, faster custom processor dubbed the A8, as well as a baseband processor from Qualcomm, according to a new report.

Hong Kong-based newspaper Apple Daily reported Friday (via Google Translate) that parts for the new “iPhone 5,” expected to arrive this year, will come from Taiwanese supplier Kinsus. The company is said to be working on a new custom processor, dubbed A8.

Apple’s first custom portable processor based on the ARM architecture debuted in the iPad last year. Known as the A4, it includes the CPU, GPU and RAM.

The A4 also appeared in the iPhone 4, iPod touch, and new Apple TV. The creation of custom chips became possible through Apple’s acquisitions of chipmakers Intrinsity and PA Semi.

Friday’s report also notes that the iPhone 5 will include a baseband from Qualcomm, the company that built the first CDMA-based cellular base station in the early 1990s. Qualcomm’s radios may also already be present in the forthcoming CDMA iPhone 4, set to debut on Verizon’s network on Feb. 10.

The impending launch of the Verizon iPhone has led to some speculation that Apple may not make the so-called “iPhone 5″ available in a CDMA variant until as late as early 2012. But Friday’s report could suggest that Apple intends to introduce a new CDMA fifth-generation iPhone, along with a new version of the longstanding GSM model, right on schedule this summer.

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