Alleged images of the iPad Air 2’s chipset have been leaked

Last year, both the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini used nearly the same A7 chip that you saw in the iPhone 5s. That wasn’t exactly a problem, but it was a bit disappointing if you were hoping for some extra oomph in bigger iOS devices. You may not have to worry about getting similar parts this year, though. Taiwanese site Apple.club.tw has posted photos that reportedly show the next big iPad’s motherboard, including what looks like a shiny new A8X processor.

Ahead of next Thursday’s Apple event, new images purportedly showing parts for the new, full-sized iPad have emerged. Photos re-published by blog apple.club.tw show a full logic board for the new iPad Air as well as parts for the new Home button, glass screen cover, and audio control components. At first glance, the new iPad Air logic board does not reveal too much new, but adjusting the colors of the image shows a fairly unexpected addition: an A8X system-on-a-chip. With the first-generation iPad Air last year, Apple utilized the A7 processor, the same chip used in the iPhone 5s. With Apple introducing the A8 chip with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September of this year, it would make sense for Apple to use the same A8 component in the new iPad Air. But this new A8X chip indicates that Apple, once again, is moving to separate, more powerful processors for iPads.