Apple A5

Apple A5
	Apple A5 (S5L8940 version) chip
General information
Launched	March 11, 2011
Discontinued	October 4, 2016
Designed by	Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer(s)	Samsung Electronics;
Product code	S5L8940X (A5); S5L8942X (A5R2); S5L8947X (A5R3)
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate	800 MHz to 1 GHz
Cache
L1 cache	32 KB instruction + 32 KB data
L2 cache	1 MB
Architecture and classification
Application	Mobile
Technology node	45 nm to 32 nm
Microarchitecture	ARM Cortex-A9
Instruction set	ARM, Thumb-2
Physical specifications
Cores	1 (third-generation Rev A Apple TV); 2 (iPad 2, iPhone 4S, third-generation Apple TV [one core is disabled], fifth-generation iPod Touch, first-generation iPad Mini);
GPU(s)	PowerVR SGX543MP2 (dual-core)
Products, models, variants
Variant(s)	Apple A5X;
History
Predecessor(s)	Apple A4
Successor(s)	Apple A6

The Apple A5 is a 32-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung.^[3]^[4] The first product Apple featured an A5 in was the iPad 2. Apple claimed during their media event on March 2, 2011, that the ARM Cortex-A9 central processing unit (CPU) in the A5 is up to two times faster than the CPU in the Apple A4, and the PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics processing unit (GPU) in the A5 is up to nine times faster than the GPU in the A4.^[5] Apple also claimed that the A5 uses the same amount of power as the A4.

The last operating system update Apple provided for a mobile device containing an A5 (iPad 2 CDMA, iPhone 4S, and first-generation iPad Mini cellular models) was iOS 9.3.6, which was released on July 22, 2019, as they were discontinued with the release of iOS 10 in 2016. The latest operating system update Apple has provided for an Apple TV containing an A5 (third-generation Apple TV and third-generation Rev A Apple TV) was Apple TV Software 7.9, which was released on March 14, 2022.^[6]

^ ^a ^b Gowri, Vivek; Lal Shimpi, Anand (March 28, 2012). "The Apple iPad Review (2012): The A5X SoC". Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
^ "Apple iPad 2 GPU Performance Explored: PowerVR SGX543MP2 Benchmarked". AnandTech. March 12, 2011. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
^ "Updated: Samsung fabs Apple A5 processor". EETimes.com. March 12, 2011. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Apple's A5 chip is built by Samsung". The Guardian. December 16, 2011. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2012. "The powerful A5 processor, which uses technology licensed from Britain's ARM Holdings, is designed by Apple in California, by a team formerly part of PA Semi – an American chip design company that Apple bought in April 2008."
^ "Apple iPad 2 feature page". Apple.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "About Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation) software updates". Apple Support. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2020.