Recently, Apple seeded iOS 14.5 beta 5 to developers and public testers. In the latest beta update, a new ‘A14X’ chip reference is discovered. Research by 9to5Mac reveals that a GPU from an unused chip called ’13G’ is part of iOS 14.5 code and the publisher believes that 13G is A14X Soc, another model of the A14 Bionic chip to be used in upcoming iPad Pro models.
The speculation is based on Apple’s naming system of its processing chips. The current iPad Pro, the Cupertino tech giant changed the name of ‘A12X’ chip to ‘A12Z’ chip. Therefore, the discovery reference supports rumors of the new iPad Pro coming later in 2021.
New chip reference discovered in iOS 14.5 beta 5 code hints at the launch of alleged 12.9-inch iPad Pro model
The report explains:
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. 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.”
As rumors suggest that the only new iOS device to be introduced in the first half of 2021 will be the next-generation iPad Pro, it’s hard to imagine that the A14X chip we’ve discovered is destined for another device — at least for now. 9to5Mac has also learned that the codenames for the new iPads are J517, J518, J522, and J523.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg detailed the features of the alleged new iPad Pro models launching in April.
Apple will be launching a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with mini-LED displays, faster M1-chip class performance, improved cameras, and Thunderbolt port in April. Some of these updates will also be available on the smaller 11-inch iPad, like faster processor and camera improvements. However, the design on both the new iPad Pro models will remain unchanged.
In terms of performance, Apple is looking to include faster new processors, which should have performance comparable to the M1 chip in the new Apple Silicon Macs. As we have covered this many times before, Apple Silicon chips have amazing performance, and this should mean that the new iPad Pro will be faster than most Windows laptops in the market. Apple will also add Thunderbolt support to the USB-C port in the new iPad Pro models, which should allow connecting faster accessories like external SSDs, displays, and more.
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