Apple is reportedly prepping a new iPod touch that features a 1,136-by-640-pixel display.
According to Will Strafach – aka Chronic – the upcoming iPod touch will be powered by an S5L8942X processor, a less powerful chip than the S5L8950X CPU which is reportedly found in the next iPhone.
Strafach also claimed the new iPad, identified in software as “iPod5,1,” is known internally at Apple by its code name “N78AP.”
As the folks at AppleInsider point out, Strafach’s claims seem to coincide with a recent analysis published by Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Indeed, Kuo said he expected the iPod touch to feature components from existing iOS products, such as the A5 processor currently found in the iPhone 4S.
“The S5L8942X code name aligns with the updated 32-nanometer A5 chip found in the currently available iPad 2 as well as the Apple TV,” writes AppleInsider.
“The smaller iPad 2 A5 CPU, which debuted in March, was viewed as a test by Apple in utilizing Samsung’s 32-nanometer chipmaking process. Hardware testing done after the release of the revised iPad 2 found that the more efficient chip improved battery life by as much as 16 percent.”
It should be noted that the 32-nanometer A5 chip powering the Apple TV set-top box varies slightly compared to the processor found in the iPad 2. To be sure, the chip has one core disabled, allowing it to run without a thermal pad even as it outputs high-definition 1080p video.
In other Apple related news, JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz says he believes Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 is likely to negatively affect PC manufacturers and existing LTE phones. According to Moskowitz, the next-gen iPhone will “sustain the land grab of smartphones taking IT dollars from PCs, dampening PC-related growth prospects at Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and other PC makers.”
On Monday, JP Morgan said massive sales of Apple’s next iPhone may even boost the US gross domestic product, with economist Michael Feroli estimating sales could add between one quarter and one half a percentage point to fourth-quarter annualized US GDP growth in 2012.
Apple’s next-gen iPod touch is expected to launch this Fall alongside the iPad Mini.
