14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has recently shipped a new iOS 14.5 beta build to developers, and while no big changes are visible at first, some important tidbits are hiding under the hood.
More specifically, 9to5mac has discovered that this fifth beta build of iOS 14.5 mentions a chip called 13G, which at this point, is not known to be used on any device already on the market.
Most likely, however, this is the A14X processor that will power the upcoming iPad Pro and which according to information that’s been making the rounds lately, could be announced as soon as April. If this accurate, then the device could hit the shelves by the end of the next month.
M1 performance
The most important tidbit concerns the performance of this new chip. The A14X is said to offer performance figures on par with Apple’s M1 processor announced last fall. And we all know how much Apple has insisted on the performance of Apple Silicon.
“M1 is the first personal computer chip built using cutting-edge 5-nanometer process technology and is packed with an astounding 16 billion transistors, the most Apple has ever put into a chip. It features the world’s fastest CPU core in low-power silicon, the world’s best CPU performance per watt, the world’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, and breakthrough machine learning performance with the Apple Neural Engine,” Apple said last year.
“As a result, M1 delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, all while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than previous-generation Macs. With its profound increase in performance and efficiency, M1 delivers the biggest leap ever for the Mac.”
Of course, the A14X chip is still unconfirmed right now, so take the report with a pinch of salt for the time being.