A look beyond the iPad – Apple’s own CPU

The 1GHz A4 comes from an earlier Apple acquisition

World is excited today with the iPad finally landed. This revolutionary multi-touch capable device promises to revolutionize the way touchscreen operates at a cost that does not going to burn a hole in anyone’s pocket. But there is one more feat Apple achieved with the iPad is that it is powered by Apple’s own A4 processor – well not organically own, because the 1GHz A4 is actually manufactured by PA Semiconductor, a company Apple acquired recently.

Technical details are not yet available, but it should be highly energy-efficient, looking at iPad’s promise of 10hrs battery life. Also Tomshardware believes it can kick the butt of the likes of Cortex or Snapdragon. Remember it is an ARM-based processor, so 1GHz is quite high – the only other 1GHz that exists in the market is the Snapdragon CPU powering HD2 and Nexus One.