Apple iOS 14.4.2 has landed and it contains an essential security upgrade for all iPhone users, but the real crowd-pleaser is iOS 14.5. Not just because it is packed full of new features, but because in its latest beta code Apple has accidentally leaked radical new hardware.
Apple iOS 14
Apple
Spotted by 9to5Mac, iOS 14.5 beta five contains references to a new Apple A14X chipset codenamed “13G” which – despite its similar naming convention to the A14 chip in the iPhone 12 range – will be unlike any previous iOS-based hardware.
“According to our research, we also found that the A14X is based on the T8103, which is the codename for the Apple M1 chip used in the first Apple Silicon Macs,” explains 9to5Mac writer Filipe Espósito. “This corroborates a recent Bloomberg report that claims the next-generation iPad Pro will have ‘an updated processor that is on par with the faster M1 chip’.”
For the uninitiated, Apple’s M1 chip is the game-changing architecture inside its new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models introduced late last year. Breaking away from Intel, the M1 delivers startling power and efficiency gains, competing with its rival’s flagship chips despite running cool and quiet in ultraportable laptops which offer up to 20 hours of battery life.
Apple’s M1 chip is game-changer
Apple
9to5Mac states that this new M1-based A14X chip is destined for Apple’s next-generation iPad Pro models (codenames J517, J518, J522 and J523) and the fact the chip has now been quietly referenced in iOS 14.5 also implies we won’t have to wait long for their arrival.
Apple broke the mold when it launched the M1 chip and rivals are still trying to work out how to counter its remarkable power and efficiency. Seeing Apple transition the iPad Pro line-up in this direction is only likely to increase its stranglehold on the tablet market, but how these developments could influence future iPhones is likely to be even more exciting.
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