Purported iPhone 5 logic board shows LTE modem, A6 CPU

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
The flurry of last-minute leaks continues, as a new picture claims to show the logic board from Apple's iPhone 5, complete with a 4G LTE modem chip and a new A6 processor. Separately, a series of pictures appear to show the final design of the iPhone 5.

Logic


The picture, published on Wednesday by HDblog.it only hours before Apple's keynote presentation, shows space for a chip labeled "A6." That suggests the chip is a major improvement from the A5 processor currently found in the iPhone 4S, as well as the upgraded A5X processor that powers the third-generation iPad with Retina display.

Separately, images that appear to show the final design of the iPhone 5 were republished on Wednesday by nowhereelse.fr.

iPhone 5


Various reports have claimed that the A6 will be a quad-core chip. It has been suggested that the ARM processor will be based on Samsung's Exynox 4 architecture.

The A5 chip in the iPhone 4S is a dual-core processor clocked at 800 megahertz. In the iPad 2, the A5 runs slightly faster at 1 gigahertz, thanks to a larger form factor with a bigger battery.'

iPhone 5


The logic board shown in the picture also appears to include a Qualcomm 4G LTE modem for high-speed data connectivity. LTE support in the new iPhone has been widely expected since the third-generation iPad debuted with 4G LTE connectivity earlier this year.

The part shows a Qualcomm MDM9615M chip, which is an LTE modem and an improved version of the chip used in the third-generation iPad. The MDM9615M silicon was rumored in August to appear in the next iPhone.

iPhone 5


Because the MDM chip's die size is smaller than previous iterations, production yield of the modem is said to be higher and is not expected to cause issues with mass production of the iPhone 5, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst with KGI Securities.

Further evidence of 4G LTE support for the iPhone 5 was discovered on Apple's website earlier Monday. Conducting a search for "iphone-lte" returned a link to an inactive page that suggested the new iPhone will have 4G LTE connectivity.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36


    Two hours....

  • Reply 2 of 36
    I think I'll get a case this time
  • Reply 3 of 36
    Aluminum or Steel? That is the question.
  • Reply 4 of 36
    Is it me or does it look like a flat black powdered coating around the antenna band now?
  • Reply 5 of 36


    So it turns out that it's increasingly likely Apple will introduce a new CPU, and the new CPU wil be the main shocker in the hardware department, just like I've predicted. I've read endless threads of people speculating how Apple couldn't possibly have the A6 ready for the new iPhone and how they would have to resort to a souped-up version of the same CPU in the 4S, showing how they were 'falling behind' with the specs. It all makes so much sense, the A5 is decidely 'previous generation' hardware, the A5X makes no sense whatsoever in a phone because it's basically a marginally faster A5 CPU with double the GPU performance, but the GPU in the 4S was already overspecced for the screen resolution.

     


    I for one am loving what I'm seeing. The same timeless design as the 4/4S, somewhat bigger screen without increasing the case size a lot, unibody construction with materials less prone to wear, tear and abuse, and top-notch internals based on current state of the art in production-ready mobile hardware. Hopefully they will also bump the baseline capacity and offer 32, 64 and 128 GB versions (this is the single one of the predictions I made a few months ago that's still up in the air).


     


    Bring it on! :)

  • Reply 6 of 36

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleGreen View Post



    Aluminum or Steel? That is the question.


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by StephanJobs View Post



    Is it me or does it look like a flat black powdered coating around the antenna band now?


     


    It must be steel because to me it looks to be parkerized (maybe bluing but hopefully parkerized because it is more effective than bluing) and only ferrous metals can be parkerized (or blued) which aluminum is non-ferrous. Hopefully I'm right and it is either one of these methods of protection and not powder coated because that would just wear off and chip way too easily and would be a cheap alternative. 

  • Reply 7 of 36
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member


    deleted

  • Reply 8 of 36

    Quote:


    Originally Posted by d-range View Post


    Hopefully they will also bump the baseline capacity and offer 32, 64 and 128 GB versions (this is the single one of the predictions I made a few months ago that's still up in the air).


     


     



     


    This is what I'm hoping for as well. Yes more things are now cloud based, but you need more than 16GB to have a good experience. Videos and pictures over one summer can fill it up quickly.

  • Reply 9 of 36

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by d-range View Post


    So it turns out that it's increasingly likely Apple will introduce a new CPU, and the new CPU wil be the main shocker in the hardware department, just like I've predicted. I've read endless threads of people speculating how Apple couldn't possibly have the A6 ready for the new iPhone and how they would have to resort to a souped-up version of the same CPU in the 4S, showing how they were 'falling behind' with the specs. It all makes so much sense, the A5 is decidely 'previous generation' hardware, the A5X makes no sense whatsoever in a phone because it's basically a marginally faster A5 CPU with double the GPU performance, but the GPU in the 4S was already overspecced for the screen resolution.

     


    I for one am loving what I'm seeing. The same timeless design as the 4/4S, somewhat bigger screen without increasing the case size a lot, unibody construction with materials less prone to wear, tear and abuse, and top-notch internals based on current state of the art in production-ready mobile hardware. Hopefully they will also bump the baseline capacity and offer 32, 64 and 128 GB versions (this is the single one of the predictions I made a few months ago that's still up in the air).


     


    Bring it on! :)



     


    128 GB would be nice...  I wonder what the A6 CPU foretells for the iPad and iPad Mini.

  • Reply 10 of 36
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member


    What's that white band around the screen?

     

  • Reply 11 of 36
    The "bluing" looks like it's chipped right above the volume buttons. Methinks this is just some of that protective film that you remove upon delivery, a la the Apple TV.
  • Reply 12 of 36


    I love reading about these leaks but at the same time I wish there weren't any - there'll be no surprises left in the announcement! I just hope the presentation doesn't fall flat!

  • Reply 13 of 36

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post






    iPhone 5



     


    Ironically, the red arrows point to the corners of an ideal screen. If it was an iPhone-4 case, it could be in between 4" and 4.5". In this elongated case maybe up to 5".


    (No comments on the Home button)

  • Reply 14 of 36
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ex-Windows-Fanboy View Post



    The "bluing" looks like it's chipped right above the volume buttons. Methinks this is just some of that protective film that you remove upon delivery, a la the Apple TV.




    Or that part got rejected because of that defect and that's how they came in possession of it.

  • Reply 15 of 36
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    clemynx wrote: »
    What's that white band around the screen?

    Hopefully a rubber buffer to protect the screen. The old one had a band too but it matched the colour of the phone.
  • Reply 16 of 36
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jason98 View Post


     


    Ironically, the red arrows point to the corners of an ideal screen. If it was an iPhone-4 case, it could be in between 4" and 4.5". In this elongated case maybe up to 5".


    (No comments on the Home button)



     


    Yes, maybe one day they'll revert to a phone that has the size of the 4S while keeping a big screen.


    I still think that the size of the screen on my Nexus S is just perfect. Perfect width, perfect length.


     



     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post





    Hopefully a rubber buffer to protect the screen. The old one had a band too but it matched the colour of the phone.


     


    Hopefully lol I think they just assembled the parts that they had.

  • Reply 17 of 36
    When will they stop making the phone thinner? I cant picture a phone thinner then the iphone 4s being comfotable to hold for any more then 5 min.
  • Reply 18 of 36

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by majortom1981 View Post



    When will they stop making the phone thinner? I cant picture a phone thinner then the iphone 4s being comfotable to hold for any more then 5 min.


     


    Agreed, keep it the same size and keep putting in larger batteries!

  • Reply 19 of 36

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jason98 View Post


     


    Ironically, the red arrows point to the corners of an ideal screen. If it was an iPhone-4 case, it could be in between 4" and 4.5". In this elongated case maybe up to 5".


    (No comments on the Home button)



    Your theoretical ideal screen would be an even taller/thinner aspect ratio than the expected 16:9. I can't imagine Apple doing that.


     


    Looks nice, but it isn't going to win back anyone who went Android to get a large screen.

  • Reply 20 of 36
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    For some reason, I don't know if Apple can bump up the storage amount for SSD memory. I just don't see the prices coming down enough to warrant that when they are doing other things that increase the cost to mfg. Larger screen, case, faster processor, possibly more RAM, better cell chip, possibly dual microphones, and other little things cost money and I think at this point SSD memory is just another thing that might push the cost up to much at this point in time.

    personally, I think people just have to learn to manage the apps and content they carry around. I periodically remove apps if I am not using them.
Sign In or Register to comment.