Observers puzzled by the relatively scarce 512MB of RAM built into Apple's A5 processor used in this year's iPad 2 and iPhone 4S have received an explanation of sorts from an unlikely source: Microsoft.



From Apple Insider:

Apple itself has never announced the amount of RAM built into the iPad or iPhone, forcing curious parties to poke its software and examine X-rays of its chips to arrive at the conclusion that the company's latest A5 chip has the same 512MB as the last generation A4 chip of the original iPad and last year's iPhone 4 (albeit RAM of the faster LPDDR2 type).

Competing smartphones and tablets commonly claim a full GB or more of RAM, which some pundits have identified as an area of superiority over Apple's offerings. In keeping with its tightly controlled, highly secretive design process, Apple has never acknowledged or commented on why the A5 (shown below) has so little RAM on board.

  Limited RAM in Apple's A5 chip in iPad 2, iPhone 4S motivated by battery life concerns