From the Wired Gadget Lab comes an interesting story on the A4 chip. Wired claims that the chip is a SOC with the following components:
- ARM’s Cortex A8 single-core processor – http://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a8.php
- Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX GPU – http://www.imgtec.com/PowerVR/sgx.asp
Here is a quote regarding PA Semi’s role in the chip development:
If the A4 SOC’s parts were outsourced, the role of PA Semi, a semiconductor manufacturer that Apple acquired in April 2008, remains unclear. Stokes speculates that the PA Semi team may have helped optimize the A4 to extend battery life for the iPad, which Apple claims will last 10 hours with active usage and one month on standby.
Read more at the Wired’s site here.
