Although rumors have already indicated that Apple and TSMC have already begun trial production of the next-gen quad-core A6 chip, a new report from CNET now suggests that full production on the new chips won’t begin until Q2 2012, delaying any device using that chip until at least June 2012.
While Apple so far has only released two iPads, the company nevertheless seemed to be establishing an annual release cycle for the iPad. If the A6 timeline holds true, however, Apple might have difficulty meeting their March-April release for the iPad 3, assuming it will be based on the A6.
At the current pace of development, although it appears delayed, the A6 will still be one of the very first 28nm mobile processors to enter production, even though it may end up somewhat delaying Apple’s product plans. The report also claims that the A6 chip will be quad-core, and will feature “3D transistor technology” similar to the Tri-Gate technology that Intel announced in May.
It’s possible that Apple could release a modified and more powerful version of the A5 processor to speed along the iPad 3’s release, and it’s possible that the production timeline on the A6 could shorten, but it’s currently to early to draw any real conclusions.
