fred’s spilled alphabet soup

Steve Jobs incorrectly addressed Apple A4 as a CPU. We're not sure was this to keep the mainstream press enthused, but A4 is not a CPU. Or we should say, it's not just a CPU. Nor did PA Semi/Apple had anything to do with the creation of the CPU component.

Apple A4: latest SOC that ARM added to its family of IP customers - not only with the CPU but with GPU IP as well

A4 is a System-on-a-Chip, or SOC, that integrates the main processor [ARM Cortex-A9, identical to ones used in nVidia Tegra and Qualcomm Snapdragon] with graphics silicon [ARM Mali GPU], and other functions like the memory controller on one piece of silicon - not unlike what Intel is trying to achieve with its future "Moorestown" Atom processor that debuted inside LG's Smartphone.

蘋果使用在iPad上的A4處理器不只是處理器，而是單晶片系統，上面包含Cortex-A9處理器、ARM Mali繪圖晶片、以及記憶體控制晶片等組件。