Geek Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 <div class="KonaBody"><p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/cortex-a9-quad-core-cpu-xcode.jpg" alt="" title="quad-core-ARM-cpu-xcode" width="620" height="409" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21555" /></p> <p>Apple looks to be experimenting with quad-core ARM CPU’s, possibly for future iPhone, iPad, and even MacBook Airs, as references in Xcodes default compiler reveal. This was first discovered by <a href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/09/support-for-quad-core-arm-cpu-shows-up-in-apples-xcode-but-why.ars">ArsTechnica</a>, who proposes three possible scenarios for why the CPU support exists:</p> <ul> <li>Quad-core processor could be included in next-gen iOS devices like the iPad 3</li> <li>The quad-core chip could be coming to the MacBook Air (earlier <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/05/06/apple-moving-macs-from-intel-to-arm-processors/">rumors suggest a move away from Intel</a> is possible)</li> <li>The CPU is being used for iOS and OS X prototypes</li> </ul> <p>Ars concludes the third option is most likely, suggesting that Apple is using the CPU for prototypes:</p> <blockquote><p>“most probable in our opinion, is that Apple is using the Marvell chip in prototypes of future iOS device designs (or even an ARM-based MacBook Air that is rumored to exist somewhere inside One Infinite Loop) for testing purposes. An Armada XP-powered prototype logic board would allow iOS or Mac OS X software engineers to experiment with performance tuning and other optimizations”</p></blockquote> <p>Since the discovery, Apple has been quick to remove the source, <a href="http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/clang/clang-163.7.1.orig/src/tools/clang/lib/Driver/ToolChain.cpp">the original page no longer exists</a> although several references are still found <a href="http://opensource.apple.com/source/clang/clang-163.7.1/src/tools/clang/lib/Driver/ToolChain.cpp">on this page</a>.</p> <p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/page-removed.jpg" alt="page removed" title="page-removed" width="620" height="139" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21556" /></p> <p><strong>Update:</strong> the references have since been removed from the second page as well.</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1qIIVE3-xo_eL-rhOcpVVwwWZrQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1qIIVE3-xo_eL-rhOcpVVwwWZrQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1qIIVE3-xo_eL-rhOcpVVwwWZrQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1qIIVE3-xo_eL-rhOcpVVwwWZrQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=6CUoYMiRTyw:8N6TCJyKbeQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/osxdaily/~4/6CUoYMiRTyw" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article
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