Next-Gen Apple A10 Chip Rumored To Come With Hexa-Core CPU

Not long ago, Apple launched the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus powered by the new A9 chipset, alongside the humongous iPad Pro and the smaller iPad Mini 4. However, the devices have not hit the store shelves yet. But now, a new rumor from China said that Apple might consider using six cores for the upcoming Apple A10 SoC.

Every time Apple releases an iPhone, the chipset housed in the handset garners quite a lot of interest. This is precisely because, Apple chipset configuration may not be top-of-the-shelf on paper, but it manages to perform well and in turn, give solid competition to chipsets from Qualcomm and MediaTek, Phone Arena reported.

The Apple A9 chipset featured in the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6s Plus reportedly scored pretty high benchmark results. Technically, the A9 works in combination with an ARM-based processor, which comes with only two 64-bit CPU cores. This processor setup is apparently clocked at up to 1.8 GHz each. In comparison, Qualcomm's cutting-edge Snapdragon 810 and Snapdragon 808 chipsets come with eight and six cores, respectively.

Moving on to the latest rumor from China’s Weibo, Apple will reportedly increase the upcoming A10’s core count to six. By doing so, the tech giant is believed to heighten the multi-threading performance, G For Games reported.

Speaking of mass production, Phone Arena reported that Samsung and TSMC's latest 14 nm or 10 nm manufacturing processes can be utilized to produce the new chipset for Apple. In the meantime, Intel has also been rumored to partner with Apple to manufacture the powerful chipset, in case Apple gears up to employ the now-famous 14 nm architecture.

Upon housing the hexa-core processor unit, Apple will be able to improve the battery life of iOS devices with the help of efficient power-saving design. In hindsight, Apple has always been criticized for poor battery life when compared to the Android counterparts that are known for employing mammoth battery capacities. Meanwhile, MediaTek is working on a ten-core or deca-core setup for the upcoming Helio X20 processor.

Nonetheless, it is worth reminding that Apple has incorporated a new power saving mode and several performance optimization related tweaks in the current-generation Apple A9 chip. According to G For Games, the A9 has reportedly been built with a 14 or 16 nm FinFET manufacturing process. This chipset can apparently give 70 percent more CPU performance, in addition to offering 90 percent more GPU performance than the A8 SoC.