An earlier claim that an updated Apple TV would contain Apple’s A5X processor has been refuted by a recent teardown of the device. The tweaked Apple TV instead houses a smaller version of the Apple’s A5 chip, believed to be a 28-nanometer version of the prior design, a component that likely consumes less power and certainly less space while performing the same tasks as before.
Originally spotted as Apple TV3,2 in iOS 6.1, this tweaked Apple TV does not feature any notable changes for users, according to Apple. [via MacRumors]
Update: Chip experts at Chipworks have discovered that despite the A5 billing, the chip is a new 32nm design, and not just a 28nm shrink of the earlier design.
That Apple would develop another, smaller version of the A5 and test it inside the otherwise unchanged Apple TV suggests that it plans to use the chip in future devices. [via MacRumors]
Update x2: A further update suggests that the new chip has been designed to include only a single ARM CPU core, rather than the previous design, which contained two cores, one of which was disabled.
