The custom A4 processor in the iPad is in reality a castrated Cortex A8 ARM design, say several sources. Despite speculation that the chip might be based on the more advanced Cortex A9 platform, the A4 is instead said to use a single, 1GHz A8 core, paired with PowerVR SGX graphics technology. The A9 could have allowed Apple to build its first dual-core handheld.
