Apple is reportedly working on the A10X chip, a new super-chip that will likely power the next iPad Pro and blow its predecessors out of the water, according to a rumor post by Dutch tech blog Techtastic.
Last year Apple unveiled its iPad Pro alongside the iPhone 6S. While the 6S was immensely popular, Apple intended the iPad Pro as a more niche, superpowered office-oriented tablet that could replace your laptop. In order to make the tablet as powerful as a full-blown PC, it was given the A9X chip, a component more powerful than the A9 inside the iPhone 6S.
If Techtastic's claims are correct, we could see the release of an A10X chip, the beefed-up version of the A10, which currently powers the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. If the Apple chip trend continues, the A10X will likely find its way into the next iPad Pro models. Techtastic says this tip is from the same source that leaked early information about the A10 chip.
Techtastic used Geekbench tests to show how powerful the A10X is compared to other Apple chips. These benchmark tests have been used to map out performance of all iOS products, and early on showed that an alleged iPhone 7 was more powerful than last year's iPad Pro, which has since been restated. The results show accelerated growth from chip to chip.
The A10X is given a multiprocessor score of 6,588, while the A9X gets 4,990. That's about a 28 percent difference. If these numbers are to be believed and the A10X shows up in an upcoming iPad Pro, it would far surpass the performance of the A9X powered original. This could make a big difference for users running work apps such as Microsoft Office for iOS.
Apple has not officially announced any details about upcoming iPad Pro models, and was quiet about the tablet's future in its September press event. In this vacuum, however, a few rumors have emerged about multiple iPad Pro models on the way. Whether these rumors are true or not, it would be interesting to see what kind of tangible performance difference a next-gen iPad Pro processor could demonstrate.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
