Apple A6X

The Apple A6X is a 32-bit system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., introduced at the launch of the fourth generation iPad on October 23, 2012. It is a high-performance variant of the Apple A6 and the last 32-bit chip released before they switched to 64-bit. Apple claims the A6X has twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of its predecessor, the Apple A5X.[5] Software updates for the iPad 4th generation ended in 2019 with the release of iOS 10.3.4 for cellular models, thus ceasing support for this chip.

Apple A6X
The A6X chip used in the fourth-generation iPad
General Info
LaunchedNovember 2, 2012
DiscontinuedOctober 16, 2014
Designed byApple Inc.
Common manufacturer(s)
Product codeS5L8955X
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate1.4 GHz[1] 
Cache
L1 cache32 KB instruction + 32 KB data[2]
L2 cache1 MB[3]
Architecture and classification
ApplicationMobile
Min. feature size32 nm.[4]
MicroarchitectureSwift[1]
Instruction setARMv7-A:[1] ARM, Thumb-2
Physical specifications
Cores
GPU(s)PowerVR SGX554MP4 (quad-core)[1]
Products, models, variants
Variant(s)Apple A6
History
PredecessorApple A5X
SuccessorApple A7

Design

The A6X features a 1.4 GHz custom Apple-designed ARMv7-A architecture based dual-core CPU called Swift,[1] introduced in the Apple A6.[6] It includes an integrated quad-core PowerVR SGX554MP4 graphics processing unit (GPU)[1] running at 300 MHz and a quad-channel memory subsystem.[1] The memory subsystem supports LPDDR2-1066 DRAM, increasing the theoretical memory bandwidth to 17 GB/s.[3]

Unlike the A6, but similar to the A5X, the A6X is covered with a metal heat spreader, includes no RAM, and is not a package-on-package (PoP) assembly. The A6X is manufactured by Samsung on a High-κ metal gate (HKMG) 32 nm process. It has a die with an area of 123 mm2, 30% larger than the A6.[4]

Products that include the Apple A6X

See also
  • Apple Silicon, the range of ARM-based mobile processors designed by Apple for their consumer electronic devices.

References
  1. Lal Shimpi, Anand (November 2, 2012). "iPad 4 GPU Performance Analyzed: PowerVR SGX 554MP4 Under the Hood". AnandTech. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  2. "iPad (4th generation)". Geekbench. September 12, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  3. Lal Shimpi, Anand (December 6, 2012). "iPad 4 (Late 2012) Review: CPU Performance". AnandTech. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  4. "Inside the Apple iPad 4 – A6X a very new beast!". Chipworks. November 1, 2012. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  5. "Apple Introduces iPad mini". Apple. October 23, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  6. Lal Shimpi, Anand; Klug, Brian; Gowri, Vivek (October 16, 2012). "The iPhone 5 Review - Decoding Swift". AnandTech. Retrieved September 17, 2013.


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