It's expected that Apple's next mobile iOS processor, which will likely be called the A6, will debut alongside the new iPad 3 that should be introduced sometime in the next month or two. Today we're learning that the latest iOS 5.1 beta includes processing core management controls that support both dual-core and quad-core chips. One would of course conclude that the expectation here is that the A6 processor will be a quad-core chip. There's nothing more than rumor for now, but it definitely wouldn't surprise us, based on Apple's update cycle. There are already quad-core Android tablets floating around, and we find it a little hard to believe (though not impossible) that Apple would stick witha dual-core chip rather than iterating to a quad-core design for the next iPad and the iPhone 5.

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